Community Partnerships Adviser (Natural Capital)

Introduction

Community Land Scotland is recruiting an Adviser as part of our Natural Capital Community Partnerships team (NCCP).

This new role will cover Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park and will make a key contribution to the new Loch Lomond and the Trossachs Landscape Connections Initiative. The role will be based with Loch Lomond & the Trossachs Countryside Trust.

The Natural Capital Community Partnerships (NCCP) project launched at the beginning of 2025 to build partnerships between Scotland’s community, private and public sectors. Led by Community Land Scotland in partnership with the Scottish Land Commission, the project is helping deliver Scottish Government expectations that communities are involved in decisions and benefit from Scotland’s land.

The Scottish Government’s Natural Capital Market Framework sets out its expectations for responsible, high-integrity private investment to address the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss. This includes an expectation that investment in, and use of Scotland’s natural capital should create benefits that are shared between public, private and community interests, contributing to a just transition.

The Natural Capital Community Partnerships project brings together a wide range of stakeholders to help support the practical delivery of the Natural Capital Market Framework. It aims to ensure the investment in natural capital required to address the twin crises is managed in a fair and just way, and that the communities affected share in the benefits it delivers.

Loch Lomond & The Trossachs Countryside Trust (LLTCT) was established in 2012 as a charitable company focussing on improving the natural environment, connecting communities and delivering health and well-being activities within the National Park. LLTCT is a small team of experienced staff supported by committed volunteers delivering a wide range of benefits to nature and people. We have brought extensive experience, knowledge and connections through working with over 30 land managers, community groups, charities, local businesses and statutory bodies on Wild Strathfillan (a 50,000-hectare nature restoration project).

Working in partnership with Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park Authority and RSPB Scotland, LLTCT has committed to the exciting new Loch Lomond & The Trossachs Landscape Connections (LLTLC) Initiative, funded by The National Heritage Lottery Fund. This focuses on accelerating restoration of our woodland mosaic, addressing shared threats, and maximising shared opportunities for people and communities across three existing landscape partnerships (Wild Strathfillan, The Great Trossachs Forest, Lomond Rainforest).

About Community Land Scotland

Community Land Scotland was established in 2010 to provide a collective national voice for community landowners in Scotland. We have over 140 member organisations across Scotland, ranging from large crofting estates in the Outer Hebrides to inner city community hubs. Collectively, members own and manage over 550,000 acres of land and a wide range of buildings in rural and urban areas.

Community Land Scotland is a small organisation with a big impact. It works to: be a collective voice for community owners; encourage more community ownership of land and buildings; facilitate mutual support and knowledge exchange between community landowners and collaborate with other organisations to ensure community landowners get the support they need.

Community ownership has shaped Scottish land reform and played a key role in the Community Empowerment Act. Over 500 community organisations now own land or buildings across rural and urban Scotland. Further information about Community Land Scotland and community ownership can be found at: www.communitylandscotland.org.uk.

Natural Capital Community Partnerships

The Scottish Government is committed to using Scotland’s land to address the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss but recognises that there are a wide range of stakeholders impacted by land use change and that the benefits and risks from such changes needs to be shared fairly.

The Natural Capital Community Partnerships team provides on the ground practical support to landowners, investors and communities to build relationships and partnerships to ensure the benefits of investment in, and use of natural capital are shared proportionately and fairly.

The funders supporting the project are Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, Foundation Scotland, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Scottish Forestry and South of Scotland Enterprise. The project is also working in collaboration with the Scottish Land Commission, Cairngorm National Park Authority, Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park and Loch Lomond & The Trossachs Countryside Trust.

The Natural Capital Community Partnerships project is supported by the Natural Capital & Community Benefits Partnership Board comprising a range of organisations.

The Natural Capital Community Partnerships team is supported by Community Land Scotland’s Director of Communities and Operations. The Natural Capital Community Partnerships team currently includes a manager and three advisers – one with a focus on nature finance, one covering the South of Scotland and one with a focus on supporting peatland restoration projects.

Job Purpose

The main focus for this role is work with communities to establish the structures and frameworks that enable meaningful sharing of power and benefits (financial or otherwise) with local communities. We want communities to have the capacity, capability and knowledge to participate as equal partners, who both benefit from, and bring benefit to, landscape scale nature restoration initiatives.

Specifically, this role will work with LLTCT and the National Park Authority to identify and understand the needs of communities within the three geographies (Wild Strathfillan, The Great Trossachs Forest, Lomond Rainforest) which could be met through community benefits. This role will help design and embed a meaningful and proportionate community governance and benefits framework for the Loch Lomond and Trossachs Landscape Connections Initiative by co-designing a Community Advisory Panel (or similar), establishing clear community benefit principles and integrating benefit opportunity tracking across the Initiative resulting in transparent, accountable and community-informed decision-making during delivery phase.

The role will explore opportunities for productive collaboration between local communities, landowners, developers and nature finance investors to deliver socially just land-use change for nature restoration across Scotland. It will also develop, test and share learning to maximise community benefits and community wealth building outcomes from land use change and nature restoration.

The post holder will contribute to an 18-month Development Phase within budget and to the required specification. This includes ensuring the projects stay within scope, aligning programs to strategic goals, managing timelines, milestones, risks and reporting. This post will be embedded within both the Natural Capital Community Partnerships Team and LLTCT’s People and Communities Team, although will work across both organisations and their partners.

Key Responsibilities and Tasks:

• Understanding our communities: Use desk-based research (e.g. Local Place Plans) and direct engagement to understand community needs, ambitions, and views on decision-making, working closely with LLTCT’s Community Development Officer and feeding issues back to the National Park Authority where out of scope.
• Understanding best practice: Research and learn from best practice in community benefits, governance, participation, and shared decision-making in nature restoration and land-use change, and distil and share learning across NCCP, Community Land Scotland, LLTCT, and Initiative partners.
• Establish appropriate structures: Co-design and establish a Community Advisory Panel (or similar), including clear Terms of Reference and conflict-of-interest arrangements, and develop governance, monitoring, and evaluation frameworks for community voice, benefits, and the Future Nature Fund.
• Communications & wider programme work: Build and maintain strong relationships with local and specialist stakeholders, act as an ambassador for community-centred land-use change, develop accessible communications on community benefits and governance, and share learning nationally through monitoring, evaluation, and case studies.
• General contribution: Support organisational and programme delivery across Community Land Scotland and LLTCT, align with wider community empowerment activity in the National Park, contribute to national policy development, strengthen cross-sector relationships, and undertake related duties as required.