My goodness, Scotland is a wonderful place.
This is my first trip here, and I’ve found the people welcoming and the architecture and ‘feel’ simply awe-inspiring. My hosts were just fantastic and took excellent care of me, which was important, because my schedule was draining.
I’ve had several speaking engagements while here. The two I want to tell you about are the events at Stirling University (arranged by Going Carbon Neutral Sterling or GCNS) and the very next one at Wallace (as in William, it seems) High School, hosted by both GCNS and the Assistant Chief Executive of the Stirling Council.
At the first event, we had a capacity crowd and several other panel members that came down to lob a few questions after my talk. In this panel were prominent local businesspeople and a member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP).
The presentation went well, the questions were excellent, and I was most impressed with the line of questions and insights offered by the MSP. They displayed a well-beyond-average awareness of the situation and a willingness to look at the hard issues.
In fact, thinking back across the whole spectrum of questions, it became clear to me that Scotland is waaaaay ahead of any other place I’ve visited so far.
They have the enviable position of having a relatively low population and abundant natural resources. Of course, they are worried about keeping them, in the same way that Canada might worry a bit at the margins about having a larger and more powerful neighbor to the south.
by pinecarr