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February 7, 2018
Hook up with academia
Effective working relationships between colleges and universities and our sector have always been poor but since the policy landscape has become so dynamic and fast changing, it’s been surprising how rarely we hear from the academics who design and deliver the course content. You’d think they’d want to make sure that their courses (and students) were bang up to date with what’s happening in the real world. So great news last week of a new partnership being developed between DTAS and a newly established, Scottish University Land Unit.
The Scottish University Land Unit (SULU) has been set up to encourage law students across Scotland to take an active interest in land reform, community empowerment, and community rights in respect of land; and, working in partnership with the Development Trusts Association Scotland (DTAS) and the Community Ownership Support Service (COSS), to provide practical support to community bodies looking to exercise these rights.
Fundamentally, this is intended to be a two-way relationship which, on the one hand, gives DTAS/COSS access to the unparalleled wealth of legal knowledge and research skills that law students have while, on the other hand, giving students an opportunity to learn from DTAS/COSS experience in this area, and gain an invaluable insight into how the land reform/community empowerment agenda works in practice.
Ultimately, it is in everyone’s interest for tomorrow’s lawyers to take on board the principles of land reform/community empowerment, and to be well versed in both the letter and spirit of the legislation. It is hoped that partnership working between DTAS/COSS and SULU will positively contribute to this.