Jessie Stevens

My main role at CLIMAVORE has been supporting the team with community engagement and digital communications for the Bivalve Murals Project. My working pattern has been a mixture of working from home and attending in-person meetings, helping construct the murals in the workshop and assisting at community events.

During my time with CLIMAVORE, I helped to manage their social media pages, write engaging posts about upcoming events and also research elements of Gaelic heritage.

Planning and supporting the delivery of community events was a big part of the role:

• My time at CLIMAVORE started with Coitcheann: Collective Commons, a day of events on the Sleat Peninsula. The event was centred around local food production and wild foods, with guided foraging walks and a communal meal.
• CLIMAVORE organised the screening of a documentary about intensive aquaculture, in collaboration with local environmental groups. The event was well attended and a lively discussion followed the screening, culminating in the restarting of the Scottish Salmon Think-Tank.

The internship was an invaluable experience which has helped me bridge the gap between volunteering and a job in the sector. With the support of Shona Cameron, Director of CLIMAVORE CIC, I was able to take on new challenges and build skills. These included budgeting, liaising with key stakeholders, taking minutes at a board meeting and writing newsletters. Shona’s style of management allowed me to take ownership and responsibility of tasks, while always being there to offer guidance and answer questions.

When I joined CLIMAVORE, the organisation had recently joined the Coastal Community Network (CCN), something I had links to through previous volunteer placements. Shona identified this and suggested I represent CLIMAVORE and attend CCN meetings during my internship. The opportunity to learn more about broader conservation projects across Scotland was really interesting and useful for future work opportunities. Coming from a conservation background, I found it interesting to learn about how art and the environment are so inextricably linked, and how creative practice can be an invaluable tool in creating change and communicating the challenges we are facing.

I had the opportunity to spend time in the workshop assisting in the construction of large scale murals made from innovative Bivalve Terrazzo. As an organisation, CLIMAVORE straddles multiple sectors, arts, heritage, conservation. Seeing how all these areas fed into the organisation’s work was fascinating, particularly learning about the nuances of working in a Gaelic speaking community.

The biggest challenge I faced was finding accommodation on Skye due to the ongoing housing crisis and issues with over tourism. I initially secured a room in Portree and lodged there for two months, however the living situation became difficult and I decided to finish my time with CLIMAVORE working remotely from my family home in Devon. This was a shame, as so much of community engagement comes from living and working in working in the community, however in this instance I had to put myself first. I am really grateful for Shona’s flexibility which made this move home possible.

Over the 6 months, I gained greater levels of confidence in my ability to work and contribute within communications and conservation. My knowledge grew considerably – learning about Gaelic Heritage, the food chain associated with industrial aquaculture and the pressure of over-tourism on small communities. All things which will inform my work in the future.

I plan to continue working within conservation and marine heritage, hopefully in Scotland. I’d be keen to spend more time in the future working on projects surrounding conservation, heritage and art. I find the interplay between these areas interesting and thought provoking.

I want to thank the Pebble Trust for making this internship possible, and for the team at CLIMAVORE for enabling and supporting me. I am so grateful for the opportunity and all the growth and development that has happened over these past 6 months.