I walked into the Loch Leven Community Library, reflecting on the early days of the Leven LENs project. Back then, I would come to the library to work, explore the Kinross Museum, and connect with the people who ran and used the library. Now, standing here, I felt a sense of fulfilment seeing how much the project has grown and how my own understanding and relationship with the catchment—and the people living and working within it—have evolved.
Tonight, I was in the library to speak about Leven LENs and Forth Rivers Trust wider work in the Leven catchment at the Kinros-shire Climate Café. This event is one of many community engagements we have undertaken as part of our work with Leven LENs, which, with the support of LENs Company, is one of the first LENs project to explore how communities beyond farmers and land managers can be involved. We have been connecting with community groups, exploring models for integrating community involvement, and spreading awareness about LENs locally.
The awareness-raising was exactly what I was hoping to do that evening at the Kinross-shire Climate Café.
Formed in May 2021, the Kinross-shire Climate Café is a vibrant community initiative focused on climate change. They host speaker events on the first Tuesday of each month, exploring topics ranging from water management and sustainable heating to active travel and more. With good conversations, a cup of tea, and home-baked treats, the evenings always wrap up with a cozy, welcoming atmosphere.
On this first Tuesday in October, Leven LENs was honoured to be the guest speaker, sharing insights into our project and our approach to catchment-based regeneration. As the attendees settled in with their refreshments, I began the presentation. One highlight of the evening was sharing the roadmap we’ve developed for a holistic approach to the catchment’s regeneration. I also used this opportunity to gather feedback from the group—something that’s central to how we work.
The roadmap outlines the long-term goals we would like to work towards in collaboration with others to support a thriving Leven catchment. These include fostering local stewardship, supporting healthy ecosystems, reducing environmental pressures, connecting habitats, and securing sustainable finance to ensure lasting regeneration. It also details the steps we need to take and how we aim to support others along the way. For a deeper dive into how we created this roadmap, you can read more in this blogpost.
But it wasn’t just me sharing thoughts that evening. Collaboration is essential to delivering long-term benefits for the catchment, so we wanted to capture the community’s vision as well. At the start of the session, I asked everyone to write down their thoughts on slips of paper, with two guiding questions:
What is your vision for the regeneration of the Leven catchment over the next 10 years? How do you think you can contribute to that vision?
We’ve posed these questions at previous workshops, and the responses have been very valuable to inform our thinking.
After my talk, we all stayed for a bit, enjoying more conversation about catchment management, building stronger community connections, and exploring how we can foster collaboration in the future.
If you live or work in the Leven catchment and want to share your vision for a thriving Leven Catchment with us, then we’d love to hear from you! Send us an email at levenlens@forthriverstrust.org
