Scottish Carbon Reduction Summit & Best Practice Exchange
Wednesday 22nd April 2009, Thistle Hotel Glasgow

Over one hundred and thirty participants took part in the first staging of the Scottish Carbon Reduction Summit and Best Practice Exchange in Glasgow on 29 April 2008.

Philip Wright, Head of Climate Change, Environment and Rural Affairs Department, at the Scottish Executive gave the keynote address, which was followed by briefings on the likely impacts of regulatory initiatives including: the EU-Emission Trading Scheme, Display Energy Certificates and the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC).

The programme also included a wide-range of roundtable discussion groups and pre-arranged meetings at which participants shared best practice, discussed the challenges faced and developed actionable ideas to reduce their organisation's carbon emissions. This is how participants described their experience:

"A fantastic day, really worthwhile. Looking forward to the next one!"
Bruce Spence, Regional Service Manager - CSR, Royal Mail

"Well organised worthwhile event, with excellent speakers and a good range of subjects and case studies."
John Stewart, Project Manager, GE Aviation Services - Caledonian

"A worthwhile and informative event and an opportunity to share knowledge and experience."
Gordon Hayles, Senior Project Officer, Glasgow City Council

"A must for carbon reduction leadership."
Colin Lazenby, Production Director, Kelvin Kitchen, Bedroom & Bathroom Systems Ltd

"As this was my first event I was unsure of what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of the speakers and the roundtable discussion. The personal networking worked very well."
Bill Henderson, Energy and Water Manager, City of Edinburgh Council

"High level guidance."
Danny Craig, Project Officer, Glasgow Housing Association

"A worthwhile event which will grow in importance as acceptance of the need for radical action to develop a low carbon economy increases among organisations and the general public."
Warren McIntyre, Carbon Management Programme Project Leader, Glasgow City Council

"Very good planning and arrangements. Good chance to mingle with people from various sectors."
Mathew Varughese, Researcher, Robert Gordon University

"Members of the Scottish Construction Forum welcome the opportunity to engage in the meaningful topics covered by the conference."
Archie Ferguson, Chair, Scottish Construction Forum

"Useful opportunity for networking between knowledge providers and those seeking novel solutions. The knowledge is out there to solve most of the problems it just has to be transferred form source to user."
Alan Harper, Technology Manager Scotland, Resource Efficiency Knowledge Transfer Network

"The event was interesting and educational. There was a real opportunity to meet professionals working towards the same goal."
Joan Chalmers, Energy Manager, Scottish Agricultural College

"An opportunity to listen to, discuss with, and learn from a broad group of concerned and informed individuals. Thank you!"
Gary Cummins, Assistant Transport Planner, JMP Consultants Ltd

"The only means to reduce Carbon Emissions is to educate and then innovate. If you want to be educated, then start networking at the Low Carbon Innovation Exchange!"
John Counsell, Director of BRE, Strathclyde University

"Tremendous opportunity to meet up with peers on equal footing and discuss what really did work - and what maybe didn't!"
David Somervell, Energy & Sustainability Manager, University of Edinburgh

"A well organised event that provided an excellent overview of the forthcoming climate change legislation and the opportunity to network with like minded professionals."
John Boyce, HSEQ Manager, Dales Engineering Limited

The next staging of the Low Carbon Best Practice Exchange in Scotland takes place in Glasgow on 22 April 2009. If you are interested in contributing to the programme or becoming a sponsor for the next Scottish meeting for members of the Network, please send an email to martyn@carbon-innovation.com