Consultancy - Engagement to understand community aspirations around projects to restore/enhance the marine environment in Scotland

Description

Consultants will be required to develop and undertake engagement with community groups and relevant stakeholders, analyse outcomes and produce a report with key recommendations. This should build on previous work, focusing on the areas where Crown Estate Scotland may influence. Crown Estate Scotland has a duty under the Scottish Crown Estate Act 2019 to maintain and enhance the value of the marine estate and to manage it in a way that will contribute to improvements in economic development, regeneration, social and environmental wellbeing for Scotland. Our Corporate Plan 2020-23 commits Crown Estate Scotland to ‘Promote sustainable use of natural resources and position Crown Estate Scotland as a leader in natural capital management with a focus on biodiversity, soil and water health, biosecurity, carbon and environmental / ecosystem resilience’. In 2020, we created a Sustainable Communities Fund which provides support for sustainable development projects delivering local regeneration and environmental benefits. We are involved in various initiatives relating to marine enhancement, including work in the Solway Firth, the Scottish Marine Environmental Enhancement Fund (SMEEF) and have also contributed to partnership projects such as Oceans of Value. Crown Estate Scotland are interested in understanding how we can best support communities to achieve their aspirations for marine restoration/enhancement projects within the context of the duty described above. Consultants will be required to develop and undertake engagement with community groups and relevant stakeholders, analyse outcomes and produce a report with key recommendations. This work will take place between September 2022 and January 2023 with all outputs delivered by 13 January 2023.