Programme announced for Rural Housing Summit

The main five days of the summit will explore the themes of Community-Led Housing; Quality Homes; Affordable Homes for All; Resourcing for Rural Housing; and The Future of Rural Places, through a mix of webinars, panel discussions, workshops, and one-to-ones.

Kirsten Gow, communication and membership officer, Rural Housing Scotland, said: “We’re going to be making the most of the technology we have available to share knowledge about policy and practical solutions to tackling rural housing need.

“Having to rethink our annual conference in light of the pandemic has presented us with opportunities to engage with a wider range of speakers, contributors and audiences for 2021. We’re looking forward to showcasing a wide range of approaches taken by governments, housing associations, businesses, communities and organisations like ours to tackle rural housing need in their areas, in order to learn from each other and take more effective action.”

The summit format allows attendees to create their own schedule of events, tailored to their specific interests, with sessions ranging from practical ‘How to Build a Community-Led Housing Project’ workshops and ‘Ask an Expert’ sessions to panel discussions on homes for health and wellbeing and webinars exploring the issue of land for housing.

As the summit is being run with support from UN-Habitat and sponsorship from Ecology Building Society, sessions will be free to attend and open to all, with bookings open in early 2021.

The summit will also coincide with the Rural Housing EXPO which will give attendees the opportunity to learn more about companies supporting the sector – from finance providers and architects to builders and suppliers – via one to one networking sessions.