We awarded a grant to Plantlife who convened a multi-stakeholder civic mediation project: Finding the Common Ground on Sustainable Upland Deer Management.

Upland deer management in Scotland has been undergoing significant transformations due to policy changes and environmental, economic, and social shifts. Effective management of these changes required cross-sector collaboration at various levels. Although there have been improvements in collaborative upland deer management, considerable distrust, misunderstandings, and conflicts persisted among the various stakeholders. Acknowledging this, representatives from different sectors involved in upland deer management came together in early 2021 to address these issues.

Following an assessment stage, a 10-month civic mediation process from August 2022 to June 2023, involving 85 participants from 65 organisations, was conducted through five workshops. The process was led by a Steering Group and facilitated by mediators from Centre for Good Relations.

Outcomes

The project has served to bring together people from the upland deer management community to build relationships and improve understanding so they can work more collaboratively and constructively in the future. The main successes of the process include improved relationships amongst the participants involved as well as better understanding and perceptions around different people’s roles in upland deer management. The group have since committed to continue to work together, building on this momentum as the Common Ground Forum.

View the final project report.