RAAG attended the Autumn meeting of the Scottish Freshwater Group held at Stirling University campus on 26th October 2023. The theme of the meeting was Citizen Science – very apt for a community group campaigning for better river management.
The work by the SFG Citizen Science Action Team was introduced by its lead Roger Owen set the scene for later speakers who shared their experience, learning and challenges on citizen science projects from all over Scotland, the rest of the UK and as far afield as Malawi and New Zealand. There was the opportunity to try out the VR headsets being used in a citizen science project in Guyana and examine equipment used in river fly surveys on the Spey.
Topics ranged from digital data collection by trout fishers on the Tweed, health interventions with Blue Green prescribing, community justice struggles and DNA sequencing to support river monitoring.
The opportunities RAAG learned about from attending the event will stand us in good stead for future community action.