Highlands and Islands Students’ Association (HISA) hosts annual Students’ Association Conference in Inverness
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The three-day Students’ Association Conference in Inverness focusses on the theme of climate change and sustainability
The conference began at the Mercure Hotel on Wednesday.
It will see interactive workshops, keynote speakers and various activities designed to help students of the University of the Highlands and Islands make the most of their student experience.
With approximately 80 students in attendance, this year's event is the largest so far, with students from 12 out of the 13 UHI partner institutions travelling from as far afield as Shetland, Orkney, Oban, and Stornoway.
PhD Researcher at Perth College UHI, Rod Lovie, delivered his keynote speech on Climate change, Community Change, and Individual Change.
The event will also see stalls from HITRANS, Highland Council, Paths for All, Greenpeace and Extinction Rebellion among others.
Workshops are being hosted by Police Scotland – on the issues of hate crimes – with others offering meditation for wellbeing plus input from Sports Scotland and the NHS.
A panel discussion on Friday morning will giev students the chance to question local MSPs.
Those confirmed to attend include Labour's Rhoda Grant and John Finnie for the Greens as well as Liam McArthur (Scottish Lib Dems) and Highland councillor Ron MacWilliam (SNP).
HISA vice president of higher education, Andrew Bowie, said: “For this year’s annual HISA partnership-wide student event, we have decided to take things in a radically different direction.
"HISA Con aims to be a diverse, exciting, interactive, and inspiring event. For the first time, we will be offering delegates the chance to choose their own workshops, question regional politicians one-on-one, and propose and vote on new policies for HISA to adopt in the coming year.
"Over three days, our delegates, who will be coming from all across our partnership, will be engaging with this year’s theme of Sustainability, and we have taken some bold steps to commit to this theme as much as possible. Our conference will be nearly paper-free, with a ban on flipcharts and free notebooks, along with other sustainable features and quirks.
"We hope that our programme of engaging workshops, exciting sessions, and inspiring speakers will leave everyone who attends with a new energy and passion for fighting for all of our students at UHI, and perhaps even give rise to the HISA local and regional officers of the future.”
Dr Iain Morrison, Dean of Students, said: “It is wonderful to see so many students gathered from all over the Highlands and Islands to share their experiences, democratically hold the students’ association to account, and shape the future direction of both HISA and the university. We have a strong and effective partnership with HISA and this conference will play a critical role in ensuring that we continue to deliver the best possible experience for every one of our students.”
