In 2020, the Buchanan Institute was commissioned by the Scottish Policy Foundation (SPF) to come up with '10 Big Ideas for Scotland in 2025'.
10 young researchers worked together to come up with 10 innovative and unique policy proposals that envision and explore how Scotland can become a better place to live and a leader in innovative policy-making.
Published
2021
Employment, Education, Health, Sustainability
Authors
Ella Henderson
Jessica Smith
Lauren Del Fabbro
Lynn Stevenson Hatayama
Flora Brown
Grace Shooks
Emma Mathews
AIlie Ross-Oliver
Juliette Briey
Arpan Sircar
Executive Summary
Tasked by the Scottish Policy Foundation, we, as ten members of Scotland’s only student-led think-tank The Buchanan Institute, have created ‘10 Big Ideas For Scotland 2025’. We are informed by our unique position as students from varied backgrounds and subject areas, bolstered by our investment and belief in Scotland as a place for innovative and bold policy moves. As such, below we delineate our 10 recommendations which cover a broad range of policy areas, both emphasising the significance of current legislation and highlighting legislative gaps that could be addressed. Recurring throughout our recommendations are themes relevant to all proposals, namely the aims of: closing the urban/rural divide in Scotland, supporting the objective of Net Zero 2045, and education reform.
Our recommendations are in the following areas:
Demystifying Railways
4-Day Work Week
Cultural Education for Communities
Data literacy in schools
Homelessness and Housing
Promoting high-quality asylum claim processing
Tackling health inequalities
Mental health
A push towards agroforestry
Renewable Energy