Helping young people to develop a sense of place is the aim behind a series of ten outdoor journeys for second year pupils at Kingussie High School.

Organised by RSPB Scotland and led by 14 artists and writers from the SpeyGrian network, more than 90 pupils and ten teachers, plus members of the local community will spend a day exploring their local environment by pony, by foot, by canoe and by bike.

For more information, take a look at the press release and project description.

We are pleased to announce that our annual course for educators 'Creative Connections' will run on the island of Eigg from 23rd -30th July 2011. More information will follow soon!

In the meantime, take a look at the photo gallery from this year's course.

This year the annual 'Creative Connections' course was followed by an event for members and associates of the SpeyGrian network.

Held on the beautiful island of Tanera Mor near Ullapool, Wild Connections 2010 included informal journaling workshops by craftworker Jan Kilpatrick and writer Christian McEwen.

Seventeen people came for the week, with a further 6 arriving by sea kayak to spend a few days on the island. A course gallery will be up soon, so keep your eyes peeled!

Book here for next year's Wild Connections event on Tanera Mor, which will run from 23rd - 30th July. Cost is £350 which includes full board and workshop fees. Click here to see a flyer for 2011's course.

The core group of the SpeyGrian network first came together in 2000 for a journey by open canoe from Ruthven Barracks to Spey Bay. To celebrate our 10th birthday, we are planning an exciting initiative in summer/autumn 2010 called ‘Creative Journeys'.

The initiative begins with another journey from Ruthven Barracks and involves a diverse group of professional and amateur artists, ecologists, storytellers, historians and educators including two from the United States and two who currently work with Dartmoor National Park. Some of the participants will be local and the others drawn from the SpeyGrian network.

The group will travel by pony on the Minigaig Pass (an ancient drove road connecting Speyside to Atholl) and the Shinigaig Pass (a coffin road connecting Blair Atholl and Glen Brerachan). The theme of this 'mobile conference' will be exploring how a road is more than a line of communication between two places, but has a life of its own, with unique stories to tell, linking people, places and journeys over time.

Ponies and cattle will be provided by Ruaraidh Ormiston from Newtonmore who will be accompanying us on our journey - which we believe will be the first drove to travel on the Minigaig Pass for over 100 years! Ruaridh's family have bred ponies and cattle in Speyside for several generations and have some fascinating links with the drovers. Click here to here Ruaridh's own thoughts about this unique journey

Update: the Creative Connections 2010 course is now fully booked - please check back later for details of future networking events

SpeyGrian is pleased to announce that its annual Creative Connections course will be once again running. This year the course takes place between July 24th and 31st, on the Isle of Eigg.

You can take a look at the Creative Connections brochure here or contact Joyce Gilbert if you have a more specific question.

In 2009, students from Alford Academy set sail on a "Classroom at Sea" - a SpeyGrian-endorsed trip encompassing all aspects of the curriculum. Leaving from Oban, the nautical classroom visited islanders on Eigg, Kinloch Castle on Rum and each part of the journey was documented by the young crew. The trip was commended in the Times Educational Suppliment - take a look at the full article here.

On 21st October 2009, SpeyGrian held a workshop at Battleby Conference Centre entitled "Finding Our Place". Addressing the global challenge climate change and the methods in which nature conservation will respond and adapt, the worshop was a great success.

A report detailing the workshops speakers, presentations and findings is available here.