2025 CIEEM Scotland Conference - Source to Sea: Working Across Landscapes

                                                                                                                                                                                 Sponsored by:

Summary

The Source to Sea: Working Across Landscapes conference will explore the interconnectedness of lochs, rivers, oceans and their contributing watersheds/catchments, emphasizing the need for integrated approaches to managing these ecosystems holistically. The Scottish Biodiversity Strategy has set an ambitious goal for Scotland to become Nature Positive by 2030 and to have restored and regenerated biodiversity by 2045. Achieving this vision requires a collaborative, multi-sectoral approach to address the environmental challenges ahead. How do we broaden the scope of existing management frameworks to work beyond traditional, independent management of land, rivers and marine ecosystems.

Description

This conference aims to explore strategies, practices, and case studies that bridge working across landscapes, ensuring better ecological outcomes and the long-term health and resilience of interconnected ecosystems.

Sessions will cover:

1. Strategic landscape and catchment-scale solutions

This session will highlight the growing importance of strategic action, including implementing nature networks, strategic partnerships and nature-based solutions (NbS), to ensure ecological connectivity across landscapes, support biodiversity, resilience, and ecosystem services and address environmental challenges like flood management, habitat restoration, and climate change resilience. 

2. Integrating terrestrial, freshwater and marine planning. 

This session will explore how integrated planning across terrestrial, freshwater, and marine environments can meet shared ecological goals.

3. Nature finance and natural capital accounting. 

This session will explore emerging trends, challenges, and opportunities in nature finance and natural capital accounting, with practical lessons from case studies integrating finance into biodiversity restoration and conservation across freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems.

Programme

Confirmed speakers include:

• ‘Ecological Engineers and Delivering Integrated Catchment Planning: Peatlands, SuDS and Wastewater Ecosystems’ – Miss Alexandra Combes GMICE, Principle Ecological Engineer – Nature-based Solutions, Scottish Water. This will be a workshop.​
• ‘A New Framework for River Restoration Planning at Catchment Scale in the UK’ - Joshua Robins, Senior River Restoration Adviser, the River Restoration Centre. 
• 'Shared Ambition - How Public & Private Research Collaborations can Accelerate Nature Conservation and Restoration in Scotland' - Mr Peter Baker, Business Development Executive - Nature & Biodiversity, Edinburgh Innovations/The University of Edinburgh & Professor Caroline Nichol, University of Edinburgh. This will be a workshop. 

Student Draw

If you are a CIEEM Student Member and would like to enter our free draw to win 1 of 5 student delegate spaces, then please email annierobinson@cieem.net. The draw closes on Thursday 14th August and winners will be notified by Monday 18th August. 

 

Call for Posters

Posters will be on display throughout the event and there will be a dedicated poster session for you to share your work.

If you would like to display a poster at the conference, please submit your response by 1^st July using this form.

If you are selected to share your work, please note that you will need to book a place on the conference. 

 If you have any further queries about the presentations, workshops or posters, please contact training@cieem.net.

Tickets