Heloise Le Moal

Designed to encourage young people to get involved in land reform and contribute to the commission’s work, the single award of £1,000 is open to all students studying at a Scottish academic institution who undertake a land reform related piece of research.

Hamish Trench, CEO of the Scottish Land Commission, said: “The way we own and use land is central to Scotland’s big policy issues such as reducing inequality, supporting climate action and giving people and communities in Scotland the ability to bring about positive change.

“We want to develop new approaches to make the most of Scotland’s land and help to build future research capacity to support land reform.

“The student award gives young people the opportunity to get involved in this – exploring, researching, debating, challenging, and generating change – is key to developing future leaders in this field.”

Heloise Le Moal was the 2020 recipient of the commission’s national student award and used the award to explore comparisons between community forestry in France and in Scotland.

Her report is entitled Municipal Forests vs Community Woodlands – Three case studies in Le Mans (France) and Inverness (Scotland).

She said: “This experience really helped me to get a better understanding of Scottish as well as French democracy and land use, and I am really grateful to have received the Scottish Land Commission Student Award without which I would never have carried out the research.”

To find out more and download an application form, interested students should visit landcommission.gov.scot. Applications close on Monday 19 April 2020.