Join SEDA in person or online for the premier screening of 2045: The Big Conversation: The Movie, followed by a discussion.

Two years ago the Scottish Government funded SEDA to bring together people from across the built environment sector to discuss the challenge of climate change.

The biggest threat to Scotland’s future is climate change. Scots are already losing their jobs, homes and lives. Nature is pushed towards extinction.  Greenhouse gasses are still increasing. 40% of Scotland’s emissions come from the built environment. And we don’t have a plan to stop them.

Councils Need to Buy Better is the second in the CHAMPIONING THE LOCAL series of SEDA Land Conversations.

Online – free admission

This Conversation will highlight the role that local authorities of the critical role they can play in enhancing local economies.

The Scottish Government is committed to integrating social value and wellbeing into public procurement through not only the Procurement Reform (Scotland) legislation, but also the Scottish National Performance Framework strategy.

In April 2023 the Scottish Government published the first Public Procurement Strategy for Scotland. Local authority procurement – on the long-term contractual basis – can give communities the much needed confidence to invest and kickstart new enterprises.

Building vibrant local economies is the first in the CHAMPIONING THE LOCAL series of SEDA Land Conversations.

Online – free admission

This Conversation is aimed at helping community groups realise their ambitions 

We will explore alternative business models, including co-operatives, social enterprises and employee-owned businesses, and how they can make LVC’s possible, as well as the best scale at which such issues can be addressed – local, regional or national. 

Join SEDA during the visit to the regenerated eco home and explore use of cast hemp, reused steel and open loop heat pump.

You are invited to a new regular night in Edinburgh, where you can meet like-minded people interested in eco design and climate mitigation.

You are invited to a new regular night in Edinburgh, where you can meet like-minded people interested in eco design and climate mitigation.

Blue Sky Architecture began as a design/build firm during the 1970s on Hornby Island, one of the archipelago to the west of British Columbia. The 1980s brought significant international recognition. By the early 1990s their practice was well established in West Vancouver, where it thrives today.

2.5 hours of talks and screen presentations followed by 1 hours tours round the Briggait guided by the architects of the various phases

Consider how to build on Jim’s legacy including visiting and holding the event in one of his earliest projects

The RIAS Bookshop and SEDA invite you to join Professor Susan Roaf for a discussion of her research around adaptive thermal comfort

Join us on Thursday 30th April when Professor Susan Roaf will be discussing the research behind her latest book Adaptive Thermal Comfort: At the Extremes with architect Gloria Lo.

Doors open: 18:00
Talk begins: 18:30

Venue: RIAS Bookshop, 15 Rutland Square, Edinburgh, EH1 2BE

Tickets: £3 (FREE for RIAS and SEDA Members)

Forest schools and outdoor nurseries are becoming more prevalent in Scotland and their benefits are well-known, so why are they not being systematically rolled out or integrated into the Scottish education system?  

How can natural building methods respond to real client needs while delivering measurable health benefits?

A new lunchtime CPD seminar series dedicated to one of the most enduring yet ever evolving materials in our built environment: Stone

Overview

A documentary on grassroots resistance to extractivism through Italy, Serbia, and Sápmi. The event is hybrid.

Food and refreshments available for a donation

Get ready to dive deep into the world of environmental standards in our upcoming webinar

The Webinar will provide an overview of Environmental Standards Scotland, including our core functions and statutory powers. We’ll share real case examples from completed investigations, explain how individuals can raise concerns with us, and conclude with an interactive Q&A session.

A new lunchtime CPD seminar series dedicated to one of the most enduring yet ever evolving materials in our built environment: Stone

Join us for the discussion about the use and potential of biobased materials and offsite production in housebuilding.

SEDA's annual informal night showing members work.

Members are being invited to show off your work, research and interests to the others, catch up over some food and drinks.

A new lunchtime CPD seminar series dedicated to one of the most enduring yet ever evolving materials in our built environment: Stone

A new lunchtime CPD seminar series dedicated to one of the most enduring yet ever evolving materials in our built environment: Stone

Across the autumn and winter, Scotland East Region, Scottish Ecological Design Association (SEDA) and Historic Environment Scotland (HES) are excited to launch a new lunchtime CPD seminar series dedicated to one of the most enduring yet ever evolving materials in our built environment: Stone

SEDA’s green careers fair will run from 10am to 4pm on Wednesday 24th September 2025, during

the week of the University of Glasgow’s Careers and Internship.

The fair will showcase small and medium sized enterprises, as well as large corporations, in order

to highlight the full range of green jobs available. Only people or companies run along ecological

principles have been invited.

It is SEDA’s wide network of connections in ecological and sustainable sectors that will make this

event different from normal careers fairs. We have invited many people not normally represented

such as community renewable energy practitioners, hemp insulation manufacturers and green

health prescribers.

Only students who have signed up in advance on Eventbrite will be allowed entry.

Good ventilation is essential for healthy, comfortable, and resilient buildings—but as mechanical systems become more dominant, it's critical to ask: are we designing for long-term wellbeing, or creating new dependencies?

This event explores why ventilation matters—not just for compliance or technical performance, but for occupant health, comfort, and the psychological benefits of environmental control. As buildings increasingly rely on mechanical systems, understanding building physics, material choices, and passive design strategies becomes more important than ever.

Through case studies and discussion, we’ll demonstrate how to design for indoor air quality while considering flexibility as well as ethics. We’ll look at how passive and natural ventilation, and low-impact construction materials can support both regulatory standards and 'passive survivability'—the ability for buildings to remain safe and comfortable during power outages or emergencies.

The session will highlight practical examples from engineering and architectural practice, with a focus on avoiding 'eco-bling' and prioritising real, long-term benefits for occupants. Participants are invited to bring project-specific questions for open discussion.

With Jonathan Watts, the Global environmental correspondent for The Guardian and author of “The Many Lives of James Lovelock: Science, Secrets and Gaia Theory”

Saturday 9 th August 2025

12noon – 2pm

EVENT INFORMATION

James Lovelock is best known for his association with the Gaia Hypothesis - which proposed that living organisms interact with their surroundings to create a self-regulating system and thereby maintain conditions suitable for life on Earth. This event will look at his life and legacy and whether Lovelock’s pioneering environmental work offers us guidance now.

As with the previous eco-pioneers investigated in this series (Rachel Carson, Barry Commoner, Ian McHarg, Sherry Arnstein and Fritz Schumacher) Lovelock influenced a generation. Lovelock perhaps uniquely also spawned a vast array of Gaia related businesses from coffee shops, to research institutes and even big pharma. Amongst the earliest were Gaia Architects in Scotland and Norway.

The Eco Max series is dedicated to Howard Liddell who was the founder and principal of Gaia Architects from 1990 until his death at the age of 67 in 2013. Howard book Eco-minimalism: the Antidote to Eco-Bling (2008, 2013 was always intended to be the first half of the story. He was aiming to write a further book Eco-Max based on the legacy of his eco-heroes. His widow, Sandy Liddell Halliday, founded and sponsors this series of talks, in collaboration with the Scottish Ecological Design Association, of which Howard was a founder member.

Lovelock remains a controversial figure, a uniquely gifted independent scientist, inventor and thinker who, amongst other things, invented the electron capture detector that allowed him to detect the widespread presence of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in the atmosphere. He infuriated many of his Gaia-fan followers by his abiding techno-optimistic approach, including his support for nuclear power and space travel.

Jon Watts, the global environmental correspondent for the Guardian, was given unique access to author Lovelock’s official biography. He will present an overview and there will be a structured interview ollowed by an open Q& A session and a book signing.

Please book early so that we can get a clear idea of numbers.

Join us for an exploration of what it takes to create thriving intergenerational communities at the Radical Housing Conference Scotland Part 3: The Zoomers & Boomers Soirée!

Part 3 of the Radical Housing Conference Scotland 2025 will be an informal soirée with food and drink, poetry and music, being held at the Augustine United Church, on George IV Bridge, Edinburgh, on 11 June, as part of the Architecture Fringe. 

Learn from experts in the field and connect with like-minded individuals. Whether you're a housing advocate, community representative or policymaker – or simply interested in learning more about the pros and cons of intergenerational living, this is the event for you.

We will discuss the benefits of intergenerational living – how it strengthens the broader community and helps tackle loneliness. We will also look at the obstacles to more intergenerational living. Why do we have a culture that doesn't promote this and what can be done to change the culture?

“I believe that integration across traditional silos - such as age groups - must be a vital focus for a country burdened by an obsession with the ‘nuclear family ’” – Savannah Fishel, Churchill Fellow, and speaker at the conference.

The evening will be filled with insightful discussions and networking opportunities – a must-attend for anyone passionate about intergenerational housing in Scotland.

Introduction:
The important questions of the future cannot be answered with construction technology alone. Rather, this technology and a positive view of the future require a correspondingly new architecture.
Architect Reinberg shows his idea of this new architecture using projects from his office and thus puts this type of building up for discussion.

This is the second part of the 2025 Radical Housing Conference Scotland – an all-day event that will include a series of engaging discussions and presentations led by people who are helping to fix the housing crisis. Whether you're a housing advocate, policymaker, a community-led housing activist, or simply interested in learning more about housing in Scotland, this is the conference for you.

 Part 2 will be an all day hybrid event at Birnam Arts in Dunkeld, Perthshire.

The conference is organised by SEDA Land and Agile Homes.

This online event will explore where the money to finance nature recovery should come from, and how rural communities can thrive as Scotland’s natural environment is improved.

Should we rely on the public sector to step up to the challenge of reaching Net Zero and bring socio-economic benefits? If so, how do we raise the taxes to pay for that in a fair and equitable way, for example on the "polluter pays" principle, through a carbon land tax or through other property taxes? Which specific tax reforms are most likely to hasten nature recovery in Scotland?

Without finance, achieving these goals is nigh on impossible, so it comes down to the age- old question: Where does the money come from?

Join us in January for this free online event exploring innovative, affordable and low-carbon solutions to Scotland's rural and urban housing crises. 

This all-day event will include a series of engaging discussions and presentations led by people who are helping to fix the housing crisis. Whether you're a housing advocate, policymaker, a community-led housing activist, or simply interested in learning more about housing in Scotland, this is the conference for you.

The conference is organised by SEDA Land, part of the Scottish Ecological Design Association, and Agile Homes. Part 2 of Radical Housing Conference Scotland will be an all-day, in person event on 2 May at Birnam Arts in Dunkeld and Part 3 is an evening in-person event held in Edinburgh in June, which will form part of the Architecture Fringe (exact date to be confirmed).