A successful stakeholder engagement day was held for the NBN Atlas Scotland on 21 June at the Battleby Conference Centre, near Perth. Twenty-three stakeholders from across Scotland attended to share their views on the future development and uses of the NBN Atlas Scotland.
Following an update on recent developments with the NBN Atlas and NBN Atlas Scotland, we heard from Tessa Coledale, Senior Data Manager with RSPB, who outlined her perspectives on the NBN Atlas and how it can support the work of RSPB, and from Elspeth Haston, Deputy Herbarium Curator with the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh, about the importance of their plant specimen collection, and the 180,000 specimen records that they have just shared with the NBN Atlas.
After the talks, we worked together and in groups to create and prioritise a wish-list of around 40 development suggestions. The process prompted much discussion, which was extremely interesting and useful. The suggestions will now be taken to the NBN development team and the NBN Atlas and NBN Atlas Scotland steering groups to discuss, prioritise and identify the next steps in taking them forward.
Our final speaker of the day was Ellen Wilson, the chair of SBIF, who presented an update on the SBIF Review. The day closed with a collective brainstorm about measuring success and user engagement.
The event was a great opportunity to hear from the Scottish data community and we are very thankful to all who came along and had their say on the future direction of the NBN Atlas Scotland. We would also like to thank our speakers, Tessa Coledale, Elspeth Haston and Ellen Wilson, and also Wilma Harper, one of the NBN’s Trustees, who chaired the event and provided valuable support that ensured the event ran smoothly. Thanks also to Scottish Natural Heritage for providing the venue.