Con­tents

Cairngorms Nation­al Park Author­ity Ugh­dar­ras Pàirc Nàiseanta a’ Mhon­aidh Ruaidh

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CEO and Convener’s foreword……………………………………………………………………………………………………….5

Equal­ity Advis­ory Panel’s foreword………………………………………………………………………………………………..7

Chapter 1 — About the Cairngorms Nation­al Park Authority………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………9

Our purpose…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..9

Our vision………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………9

Our mission……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………9

Our principles………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………10

Nation­al Park Part­ner­ship Plan 2022 – 2027…………………………………………………………………………………..10

Cor­por­ate Plan for 2023 – 2027………………………………………………………………………………………………………12

Cairngorms 2030 programme………………………………………………………………………………………………………12

Park Author­ity Board…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..13

Chapter 2- Main­stream­ing equal­ity with­in the Cairngorms Nation­al Park Authority…………………………………………………………………………………………….15

Sec­tion 1: Engage­ment and participation……………………………………………………………………………………….15

Equal­ity Advis­ory Pan­el (EAP)……………………………………………………………………………………………………….15

Lived exper­i­ence panel………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….16

Equal­ity Advocacy group………………………………………………………………………………………………………………17

Schools and young people…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..18

Out­door learn­ing travel grants……………………………………………………………………………………………………..18

Youth employ­ment strategy………………………………………………………………………………………………………..19

Rur­al skills……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………20

Cairngorms Nation­al Park Author­ity Ugh­dar­ras Pàirc Nàiseanta a’ Mhon­aidh Ruaidh

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Your Future Here – Careers in the Cairngorms…………………………………………………………………………….20

Cairngorms Youth Action Team (CYAT)……………………………………………………………………………………….20

Rangers sup­port in schools………………………………………………………………………………………………………….21

Juni­or Ranger project…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..21

Volunteering………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..22

Volun­teer Rangers……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….22

Volun­teer exper­i­ence programme………………………………………………………………………………………………..24

Health Walks…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………25

Com­munity engagement…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….26

The Cairngorms 2030 (C2030) programme…………………………………………………………………………………..26

Act­ive communities……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..28

Cycle Friendly Cairngorms…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….29

Deer lar­der launch……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….29

Loc­al Devel­op­ment Plan………………………………………………………………………………………………………………29

Staff engagement…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………30

Staff Con­sultat­ive For­um (SCF)……………………………………………………………………………………………………..30

Equal­ity mon­it­or­ing survey………………………………………………………………………………………………………….31

Best Com­pan­ies survey…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………32

Peer Sup­port Networks………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..32

Equal­it­ies partnerships………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..33

Non-Depart­ment­al Pub­lic Body (NDPB) Equal­ity Forum…………………………………………………………………34

Sec­tion 2: Cor­por­ate func­tions and processes………………………………………………………………………………34

Equal­ity impact assessment………………………………………………………………………………………………………….34

Grant funding……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….34

Rangers………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..34

Third party………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….35

Cairngorms Trust…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..35

Com­munity Led Vis­ion (CLV) Fund………………………………………………………………………………………………..38

Cli­mate Adapt­a­tion Cap­it­al Fund………………………………………………………………………………………………….39

Procurement………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..39

Cor­por­ate communications………………………………………………………………………………………………………..40

Brand­ing and publications…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..40

Digit­al engagement……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..41

Meet­ings / campaigns………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….42

Cairngorms Nation­al Park Author­ity Ugh­dar­ras Pàirc Nàiseanta a’ Mhon­aidh Ruaidh

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Sec­tion 3: Ser­vice provision…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..42

Plan­ning service……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………42

Recre­ation and out­door access……………………………………………………………………………………………………43

Stat­utory duties…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..43

Path investment………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….44

Com­munity path leaflets……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..45

Vis­it­or infrastructure………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….45

Gath­er­ing evidence……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..46

Com­munity grants programme……………………………………………………………………………………………………46

Consultations……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..46

Events………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….46

Vis­it­or and res­id­ents survey…………………………………………………………………………………………………………47

Lead­er­ship and staff awareness…………………………………………………………………………………………………..47

Equal­ity training………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….47

E‑learning……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..47

LGB­TQ+ Charter……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………48

New policies……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….50

Recruitment………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..51

Equal oppor­tun­it­ies mon­it­or­ing in recruitment…………………………………………………………………………..52

Chapter 3 — Our staff……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………54

Employ­ee data……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..54

Flex­ible working…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..55

Mater­nity leave (numbers)…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..56

Patern­ity leave (numbers)……………………………………………………………………………………………………………56

Shared par­ent­al leave (numbers)……………………………………………………………………………………………….56

Staff devel­op­ment statistics………………………………………………………………………………………………………..56

Gender pay gap see Appendix 3 for full report…………………………………………………………………………..57

Occu­pa­tion­al segregation…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….58

Board equal­ity data……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..59

Chapter 4 — Equal­ity outcomes…………………………………………………………………………………………………..60

Cairngorms Nation­al Park Author­ity Ugh­dar­ras Pàirc Nàiseanta a’ Mhon­aidh Ruaidh

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Sec­tion 1: Update on pre­vi­ous out­comes (detailed update table can be found in Appendix 5)………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………60

Out­come 1………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….60

Out­come 2………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….61

Out­come 3………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….63

Out­come 4………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….64

Cairngorms 2030 con­tri­bu­tion to the deliv­ery of the Outcomes………………………………………………..65

Sec­tion 2: Equal­ity out­comes 2025 – 2029 (sum­mary of out­come and evid­ence, with full out­come action plan set out in Appendix 6)………………………………………………….67

Equal­ity out­come 1……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………67

Equal­ity out­come 2……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………69

Equal­ity out­come 3……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………73

Cairngorms Nation­al Park Author­ity Ugh­dar­ras Pàirc Nàiseanta a’ Mhon­aidh Ruaidh

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Cairngorms Nation­al Park Authority’s Pub­lic Sec­tor Equal­ity Duty Report 2025 – 2029

CEO and Convener’s foreword

This report is a com­pil­a­tion of our equal­ity, diversity and inclu­sion work over the last two years. This is a col­lab­or­at­ive doc­u­ment, with con­tri­bu­tions by a large num­ber of dif­fer­ent staff on the work they have done to main­stream equal­it­ies. Our eth­os is that equal­ity is everyone’s busi­ness, and a fun­da­ment­al thread run­ning through all we do.

The last two years have seen some impress­ive equal­it­ies work and there have been sev­er­al key high­lights: • We developed a Lived Exper­i­ence Pan­el which com­pli­ments the great work that our Equal­ity Advis­ory Pan­el (EAP) con­tin­ues to deliv­er. • In col­lab­or­a­tion with staff and Board, we developed a new set of organ­isa­tion­al prin­ciples — Pas­sion and ded­ic­a­tion, Com­munity, Pion­eer­ing, Inspir­ing lead­er­ship, which sup­port a cul­tur­al drive toward equal­it­ies and an organ­isa­tion­al com­munity of open­ness, respect and inclus­iv­ity. • We developed innov­at­ive new policies, includ­ing sup­port for neurodi­versity, sup­port for staff under­go­ing fer­til­ity treat­ment, men­stru­al health and endo­met­ri­os­is sup­port as well as preg­nancy loss. • We have delivered a large num­ber of inclus­ive com­munity engage­ment events through the Cairngorms 2030 pro­gramme. • We have inves­ted in improved vis­it­or infra­struc­ture via grant aid which has included deliv­er­ing not just stand­ard access­ible / dis­abled toi­lets as a min­im­um level of pro­vi­sion but also invest­ment in an addi­tion­al Chan­ging Places toilet.

Cairngorms Nation­al Park Author­ity Ugh­dar­ras Pàirc Nàiseanta a’ Mhon­aidh Ruaidh

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• We achieved LGB­TQ+ Charter accred­it­a­tion at Found­a­tion level.

These are just a snap­shot of our suc­cesses, with many more set out in this doc­u­ment. We acknow­ledge this is a com­pre­hens­ive doc­u­ment, but we are eager to share the full breadth of our work. We plan to share the stor­ies of our equal­it­ies work in inter­act­ive, visu­al media over the com­ing year.

We have achieved many of the tar­gets we set out to achieve but real­ise we can­not become com­pla­cent. We remain con­vinced of the import­ance of invest­ing staff time, and lead­er­ship with the know­ledge that as we deliv­er the Nation­al Park Part­ner­ship Plan this is strengthened when we engage and involve as wide a sec­tion of the pop­u­la­tion as possible.

People and nature thriv­ing togeth­er is the long-term vis­ion for the Cairngorms Nation­al Park. That means we must engage as many people as pos­sible, which is what we have been doing over the past two years covered by this report, and will con­tin­ue to do over the com­ing years.

Grant Moir, CEO Cairngorms Nation­al Park Author­ity (CNPA)

Sandy Brem­ner, Board Con­vener Cairngorms Nation­al Park Author­ity (CNPA)

Cairngorms Nation­al Park Author­ity Ugh­dar­ras Pàirc Nàiseanta a’ Mhon­aidh Ruaidh

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Equal­ity Advis­ory Panel’s foreword

As a mem­ber of the Cairngorms Equal­ity and Inclu­sion Advis­ory Pan­el (EAP) for approx­im­ately five years I have been impressed and encour­aged with the approach and import­ance the Cairngorms Nation­al Park Author­ity takes to main­stream­ing equal­ity and inclu­sion with­in their devel­op­ing strategies, pro­jects and oper­a­tion­al plans. The range of pro­jects with­in Cairngorms 2030 is inspir­ing and the EAP has been presen­ted with real (and timely) oppor­tun­it­ies to scru­tin­ise these plans, offer advice and sign­post to best prac­tice in equal­ity legislation.

Oppor­tun­it­ies to engage in such an open and con­struct­ive man­ner are rare and in my exper­i­ence the Park Author­ity is an exem­plar in tack­ling equal­ity issues across their work. This includes con­ten­tious and sens­it­ive top­ics while ensur­ing people and place remain at the core of their plans, pro­jects and actions.

I have been impressed with the appet­ite to engage mean­ing­fully and the will­ing­ness to listen and devel­op plans informed by the know­ledge and lived exper­i­ence of EAP mem­bers. We turn up because we know our voice mat­ters and will inform and influ­ence the work of the Board. We have bene­fit­ted from being involved at the early stages in advising pro­ject officers to ensure equal­ity and inclu­sion lies at the heart of pro­jects. I truly feel this has res­ul­ted in bet­ter pro­ject out­comes that will make our Nation­al Park more access­ible and wel­com­ing for everyone.

Per­son­ally, I have found the team at the Park Author­ity to be excel­lent at ensur­ing pro­jects deliv­er the require­ments of stat­utory reg­u­la­tions such as the Equal­ity Act 2010, the Pub­lic Sec­tor Equal­ity Duty and oth­er legis­la­tion. It’s encour­aging to see equal­ity and inclu­sion so firmly embed­ded in their cor­por­ate plan­ning pro­cess and to work with a team focussed on going bey­ond min­im­um requirements.

Linda Bam­ford (she / her), mem­ber of the Cairngorms Nation­al Park Authority’s Equal­ity Advis­ory Pan­el (EAP)

Cairngorms Nation­al Park Author­ity Ugh­dar­ras Pàirc Nàiseanta a’ Mhon­aidh Ruaidh

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Cairngorms Nation­al Park Author­ity Ugh­dar­ras Pàirc Nàiseanta a’ Mhon­aidh Ruaidh

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Chapter 1 — About the Cairngorms Nation­al Park Authority

The Cairngorms Nation­al Park Author­ity was estab­lished in 2003. The Cairngorms Nation­al Park is the UK’s largest nation­al park and cov­ers five loc­al author­ity areas. It is home to 18,000 res­id­ents and wel­comes two mil­lion vis­it­ors each year. Nearly half of the Nation­al Park is con­sidered wild land, and it con­tains one quarter of Scotland’s nat­ive forest and a quarter of the rare and endangered spe­cies in the UK.

The Park Author­ity was set up to ensure the unique aspects of the Cairngorms, both the nat­ur­al envir­on­ment and loc­al com­munit­ies, are cared for, sus­tained, and enhanced for cur­rent and future gen­er­a­tions to enjoy.

Our pur­pose

The pur­pose of the Cairngorms Nation­al Park Author­ity is to pro­mote part­ner­ship work­ing and give lead­er­ship to all bod­ies and agen­cies involved in the sus­tain­able growth and devel­op­ment of the Cairngorms Nation­al Park. Through coordin­at­ing devel­op­ment and col­lect­ive agree­ment of the Cairngorms Nation­al Park Part­ner­ship Plan (NPPP), the Park Author­ity aims to ensure the col­lect­ive and co-ordin­ated deliv­ery of the four aims of the Nation­al Park, which are:

1. To con­serve and enhance the nat­ur­al and cul­tur­al her­it­age of the area
2. To pro­mote sus­tain­able use of the nat­ur­al resources of the area
3. To pro­mote under­stand­ing and enjoy­ment (includ­ing enjoy­ment in the form of recre­ation) of the spe­cial qual­it­ies of the area by the public
4. To pro­mote sus­tain­able eco­nom­ic and social devel­op­ment of the area’s communities

Our vis­ion

An out­stand­ing nation­al park, enjoyed and val­ued by every­one, where nature and people thrive together.

Our mis­sion

1. Bring­ing people togeth­er towards a com­mon purpose

Cairngorms Nation­al Park Author­ity Ugh­dar­ras Pàirc Nàiseanta a’ Mhon­aidh Ruaidh

1. Enhan­cing the Nation­al Park for everyone
2. Inspir­ing new gen­er­a­tions to be nation­al park champions

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Our prin­ciples

A year-long pro­gramme of activ­ity across the organ­isa­tion and board in 2024 has res­ul­ted in the devel­op­ment and adop­tion of a new set of Prin­ciples, sup­port­ing a cul­tur­al drive toward equal­it­ies and an organ­isa­tion­al ​“Com­munity” of open­ness, sup­port, respect and inclusivity.

The newly developed prin­ciples are

1. Pas­sion and dedication
2. Com­munity
3. Pion­eer­ing
4. Inspir­ing leadership

Appendix 1 sets out what is meant by each principle

Nation­al Park Part­ner­ship Plan 2022 – 2027

The Nation­al Park Part­ner­ship Plan (NPPP) sets out how all those with a respons­ib­il­ity for the Nation­al Park will coordin­ate their work to tackle the most import­ant issues. Fol­low­ing an extens­ive con­sulta­tion, through which nearly 1,500 people respon­ded to the con­sulta­tion, the NPPP for the peri­od 2022 – 2027 was approved by our Board in June 2022 and signed off by Ministers.

The full plan can be accessed in the fol­low­ing link:

Cairngorms Nation­al Park Part­ner­ship Plan 2022 – 27

The nature and cli­mate crisis is at the core of the new Cairngorms NPPP, which sets out how we will look after the Nation­al Park and how we devel­op and deliv­er a well-being eco­nomy that works for the people of the Cairngorms whilst also restor­ing nature and deliv­er­ing net zero.

The Cairngorms NPPP focuses on the three core areas of nature, people and place.

1. Nature

Cairngorms Nation­al Park Author­ity Ugh­dar­ras Pàirc Nàiseanta a’ Mhon­aidh Ruaidh

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The Cairngorms is the UK’s largest nation­al park, home to one quarter of the UK’s rare and endangered spe­cies. We’ll take action to pro­tect and enhance the area’s nat­ur­al her­it­age. Pri­or­it­ies Include: a) Going bey­ond net zero b) Expand­ing wood­land c) Restor­ing peat­land d) Help­ing hab­it­ats thrive e) Redu­cing deer Impacts f) Man­aging land sus­tain­ably g) Green Investment

1. People We want people and nature to thrive togeth­er in the Cairngorms Nation­al Park. To achieve this, we will devel­op and sup­port a loc­al eco­nomy that works for all our com­munit­ies. Pri­or­it­ies include: a) A thriv­ing pop­u­la­tion b) Focus­ing on well­being c) Devel­op­ing green jobs d) Being a Park for All e) Empower­ing com­munit­ies f) Improv­ing people’s health g) Sup­port­ing volunteers
2. Place Any­one that wishes to live in, work in or vis­it the Nation­al Park should be able to do so, but we recog­nise that a num­ber of bar­ri­ers still exist. We will tackle them through: a) More afford­able hous­ing b) Trans­form­ing trans­port c) Con­nect­ing com­munit­ies d) Redu­cing tour­ism impacts e) Wel­com­ing vis­it­ors f) Help­ing com­munit­ies thrive g) Cel­eb­rat­ing cul­tur­al heritage

Cairngorms Nation­al Park Author­ity Ugh­dar­ras Pàirc Nàiseanta a’ Mhon­aidh Ruaidh

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Cor­por­ate Plan for 2023 – 2027

The Cor­por­ate Plan was developed in the con­text of the Min­is­teri­al approved Nation­al Park Part­ner­ship Plan 2022 – 2027. The Cor­por­ate Plan sets out how the Park Author­ity will help to deliv­er the NPPP and will also con­tin­ue to strive to be the best small pub­lic body in Scotland.

Our ambi­tion is set out across the three themes of the NPPP and the Cor­por­ate Plan sets out the role of the Nation­al Park Author­ity in help­ing to deliv­er the object­ives set out in that doc­u­ment. This is under­pinned by our cor­por­ate func­tions and com­mu­nic­a­tions and engage­ment work.

The detailed Cor­por­ate Plan can be accessed in the fol­low­ing link:

233024 CAIRNGORMS NATION­AL PARK AUTHORITYBdPaper2 Annex1DraftCorporatePlan.pdf (cairngorms​.co​.uk)

Cairngorms 2030 programme

If we’re going to be suc­cess­ful in deliv­er­ing the Cairngorms NPPP, we need to change the way we do things. Our Cairngorms 2030 pro­gramme is cent­ral to this. Inspired by the Gael­ic word dùthchas, mean­ing the deep-rooted con­nec­tion between people and nature, the pro­gramme puts the power to tackle the cli­mate and nature crises in the hands of people who live, work, and vis­it here. Across 20 long-term pro­jects, Cairngorms 2030 will bring about trans­form­a­tion­al and inclus­ive change in the Cairngorms, bene­fit­ing health and well­being, deliv­er­ing on cli­mate change, and enhan­cing nature across the Nation­al Park. Cairngorms 2030 is an unpre­ced­en­ted part­ner­ship of over 70 organ­isa­tions and is sup­por­ted by The Nation­al Lot­tery Her­it­age Fund.

In par­tic­u­lar, the £43 mil­lion Cairngorms 2030 pro­gramme will focus on: a) Put­ting res­id­ents at the heart of decision-mak­ing and giv­ing them more say in future fund­ing decisions. b) Work­ing with land man­agers to explore new ways of man­aging land, as well as restor­ing and enhan­cing large areas of peat­land and wood­land. c) Work­ing with com­munit­ies and part­ners to improve pub­lic trans­port and bet­ter con­nect the Nation­al Park. d) Devel­op­ing an eco­nomy that bene­fits people and nature, and provid­ing green solu­tions to pub­lic health issues includ­ing social isol­a­tion and dementia.

Cairngorms Nation­al Park Author­ity Ugh­dar­ras Pàirc Nàiseanta a’ Mhon­aidh Ruaidh

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The pro­gramme devel­op­ment phase star­ted in Octo­ber 2021 and ran to August 2023. The deliv­ery phase com­menced in Janu­ary 2024 and will run to Decem­ber 2028.

The Nation­al Lot­tery Her­it­age Fund have six pri­or­ity out­comes, of which the first one is ​“a wider range of people will be involved in her­it­age”. In the deliv­ery phase the engage­ment team con­tin­ue to tri­al dif­fer­ent mod­els of engage­ment with com­munit­ies and indi­vidu­als; with a par­tic­u­lar focus on con­nect­ing with hard to reach groups, identi­fy­ing bar­ri­ers that will pre­vent people from being able to engage, and find­ing ways to over­come these bar­ri­ers. Included in the pro­gramme are pro­jects to devel­op new act­ive and sus­tain­able travel options in the Nation­al Park, with under­ly­ing design prin­ciples that every devel­op­ment will be access­ible to all users. Oth­er pro­jects include devel­op­ing NHS part­ner­ships focused on green health refer­rals and sup­port­ing a new out­door demen­tia resource centre to ensure that par­ti­cip­a­tion in nature activ­it­ies is widened to be as inclus­ive as pos­sible. More inform­a­tion about some of these pro­jects is set out in this document.

Park Author­ity Board

The role of the Park Author­ity Board is to agree long term object­ives for the Nation­al Park through the NPPP and to set the pri­or­it­ies of work for the Park Author­ity. In addi­tion to approv­ing the stra­tegic dir­ec­tion of the organ­isa­tion, the Board is also respons­ible for ensur­ing high stand­ards of gov­ernance, mon­it­or­ing and over­see­ing the deliv­ery of agreed object­ives and com­pli­ance with stat­utory responsibilities.

For details of our Board mem­bers go to Park Author­ity Board — Cairngorms Nation­al Park Authority

Nine­teen mem­bers make up the Cairngorms Nation­al Park Author­ity Board: • Sev­en mem­bers appoin­ted by Scot­tish Min­is­ters, to bring a nation­al per­spect­ive to the Board and spe­cif­ic expert­ise from a range of sub­jects rel­ev­ant to the Nation­al Park. • Five mem­bers are elec­ted loc­ally, which brings to the Board the valu­able per­spect­ive of the Nation­al Park’s loc­al com­munit­ies. • Sev­en mem­bers are nom­in­ated by the five coun­cils in the Cairngorms Nation­al Park. These mem­bers are expec­ted to cement the key stra­tegic rela­tion­ships between the Park Author­ity and its part­ner loc­al author­it­ies: High­land (2), Aber­deen­shire (2), Moray (1), Angus (1), Perth and Kinross (1)

Cairngorms Nation­al Park Author­ity Ugh­dar­ras Pàirc Nàiseanta a’ Mhon­aidh Ruaidh

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For the four years to 2023, the Board com­prised 10 female and nine male mem­bers, achiev­ing the 50:50 by 2020 gender equal­ity tar­get. How­ever, ²⁰²³⁄₂₄ brought changes as there were six new min­is­teri­al appoint­ments, and there were also elec­tions for the five elec­ted pos­i­tions. The board com­pos­i­tion as of Janu­ary 2025 is sev­en female and 12 male members.

For the min­is­teri­al appoint­ments, the Park Author­ity has a role to play in identi­fy­ing the skills gaps in the col­lect­ive board. This is done through a skills sur­vey that is self-pop­u­lated by board mem­bers, and which feeds into a col­lect­ive skills mat­rix that is shared with the Scot­tish Gov­ern­ment Appoint­ments Com­mit­tee who are respons­ible for recruit­ing and appoint­ing the min­is­teri­al appointments.

For the loc­al elec­tions, we arranged a num­ber of pub­lic meet­ings in set­tle­ments across the Nation­al Park. In addi­tion, we developed videos which show­cased a vari­ety of res­id­ent voices from across the Nation­al Park, speak­ing in their own words about why it was import­ant to stand, and later vote, in the elec­tions. The High­land Coun­cil (who were over­see­ing the elec­tions) sent a Park Author­ity-designed door drop to every house­hold in the Nation­al Park explain­ing the elec­tions pro­cess and encour­aging them to stand. This included a prom­in­ent head­line say­ing, ​“We are seek­ing people from a wide range of back­grounds to apply”. We included a full art­icle on the elec­tions pro­cess as part of Cairn magazine, which is a Park Author­ity designed and writ­ten magazine that is sent to every house­hold in the Nation­al Park. This included a spe­cif­ic sec­tion of the art­icle explod­ing myths about the ​‘type of per­son’ who usu­ally applies and why we’re keen to broaden it out. Our press release used the same kind of lan­guage. We cre­ated a series of simple ​‘explain­ers’ on social media to break­down the pro­cess of stand­ing and vot­ing into plain Eng­lish. We also worked with the High­land Coun­cil to ensure the whole elec­tions pro­cess was broad­cast live on You­Tube, help­ing demys­ti­fy the pro­cess of vot­ing / stand­ing in elec­tions of this type.

There were a total of 20 can­did­ates for these five places. Of the 20 can­did­ates 60% were men and 40% were women (in com­par­is­on to 75% male and 25% female at the last elec­tions in 2019). The final out­come was that of the five elec­ted mem­bers, three were men and two were woman (in com­par­is­on to 2019 when two men and three women were elected).

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Chapter 2 — Main­stream­ing equal­ity with­in the Cairngorms Nation­al Park Authority

This sec­tion of the report demon­strates what the Park Author­ity has been doing to main­stream the equal­ity duty into our daily work. It details how we have integ­rated this into our nat­ur­al think­ing, plan­ning and deliv­ery cycle. We have split this into three sec­tions: • Engage­ment and par­ti­cip­a­tion • Cor­por­ate func­tion and pro­cesses • Ser­vice provision

Sec­tion 1: Engage­ment and participation

Equal­ity Advis­ory Pan­el (EAP)

The Park Author­ity estab­lished an extern­al Equal­ity Advis­ory Pan­el in 2020. The aim of the pan­el is to provide informed, evid­ence-based feed­back, guid­ance, and advice to sup­port the Cairngorms Nation­al Park Author­ity to: • ensure stat­utory pub­lic sec­tor equal­ity duties are delivered in accord­ance with The Equal­ity Act 2010 (and oth­er rel­ev­ant equal­ity legis­la­tion); • embed equal­ity and inclu­sion in their strategies and cor­por­ate pro­cesses; • crit­ic­ally assess and appro­pri­ately mit­ig­ate the impact of Cairngorms Nation­al Park Author­ity decisions on equal­ity groups through robust equal­ity impact assess­ment pro­ced­ures; • ensure best prac­tice in equal­ity and inclu­sion approaches to their work; • pro­mote equal­ity and inclu­sion work of Cairngorms Nation­al Park Author­ity and part­ners with­in the Nation­al Park.

The pan­el is chaired by Han­nah Grist, the Cairngorms Nation­al Park Authority’s board equal­it­ies cham­pi­on. It com­prises 16 mem­bers, rep­res­ent­ing expert­ise and enthu­si­asm across a vari­ety of equal­it­ies spe­cial­isms. Mem­bers are volun­teers and recruited through an open recruit­ment pro­cess. The pan­el meets vir­tu­ally every month and had its first face to face meet­ing in Septem­ber 2022.

For details of the pan­el and its mem­ber­ship, go to Equal­ity Advis­ory Pan­el — Cairngorms Nation­al Park Authority.

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Over the last 12 – 18 months, the pan­el has made sig­ni­fic­ant con­tri­bu­tions by: a) advising on the pri­or­it­ies and access­ib­il­ity con­sid­er­a­tions for the new Park Author­ity web­site. b) advising on the word­ing and con­tent of sev­er­al new policies, includ­ing the Gender Diversity Policy; Neurodi­versity Policy; and Sup­port­ing Staff Through Preg­nancy Loss Policy. c) advising on the most appro­pri­ate word­ing for the equal­it­ies mon­it­or­ing sec­tion of both the Vis­it­or Sur­vey and the Res­id­ent Sur­vey. d) advising on the most access­ible ways to dis­trib­ute the sur­veys, so as to best cap­ture data across the equal­it­ies groups. e) hear­ing about and con­trib­ut­ing to the con­sulta­tion on devel­op­ing a Park Pride Fest­iv­al in 2025. f) advising on the Act­ive Cairngorms Action Plan; the Old Log­ging Way Action Plan and the Core Paths Plan review. g) con­sult­ing on and inform­ing the devel­op­ment of the equal­ity out­comes (2025- 2029) for the Park Authority.

In March 2024, the EAP par­ti­cip­ated in train­ing led by Tal­at Yaqoob, an inde­pend­ent con­sult­ant, train­er and social research­er. Tal­at is also Co-chair of the First Minister’s Advis­ory Coun­cil on Women and Girls, whose work focuses on inter­sect­ing inequal­it­ies, women’s inequal­ity and anti-racism. The ses­sion dis­cussed what inter­sec­tion­al­ity is and how it applies to work related to equal­ity and diversity. It focussed on the prac­tic­al applic­a­tion of devel­op­ing policies, pro­grammes and ser­vices for those who exper­i­ence mul­tiple inequal­it­ies, and thereby helped provide an under­stand­ing of the con­cepts and also gen­er­ated ideas for how the EAP could take this forward.

Lived exper­i­ence panel

Work­ing closely with industry experts Tal­at Yaqoob and Iffat Shahnaz, the Park Author­ity has cre­ated a lived exper­i­ence group as part of its Cairngorms 2030 pro­gramme, sup­por­ted by The Nation­al Lot­tery Her­it­age Fund.

The group is made up of between 10 and 15 people from a range of eth­nic minor­ity back­grounds who do not have equal access to oppor­tun­ity or influ­ence. This group is made up of indi­vidu­als who would like to be more involved in the Nation­al Park and with the Park

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Authority’s work, but who do not have a his­tory of (or exper­i­ence in) engage­ment in the outdoors.

The pur­pose of the group is to influ­ence the work of the Park Author­ity and its part­ners through the Cairngorms 2030 pro­gramme, to ensure we bet­ter deliv­er for the often over­looked com­munit­ies that group mem­bers are from. Our aim is for the group to feel empowered to push for change and inclu­sion both with­in the pro­gramme and across the Nation­al Park as a whole.

The group will work over a longer-term peri­od to provide an ongo­ing space for con­sulta­tion, influ­ence and co-pro­duc­tion on Cairngorms 2030 activ­it­ies (both intern­ally and extern­ally), and indeed wider Park Author­ity / part­ner activ­it­ies. They sit along­side our Equal­ity Advis­ory Group and provide per­son­al insight into par­tic­u­lar aspects of our EDI work.

Equal­ity Advocacy group

The Park Author­ity estab­lished an intern­al equal­ity, diversity and inclu­sion advocacy group in Novem­ber 2021 com­pris­ing staff. With the over­arch­ing pur­pose to cham­pi­on the integ­ra­tion of equal­ity, diversity and inclus­iv­ity prin­ciples into daily work­ing life at the Cairngorms Nation­al Park Author­ity at an organ­isa­tion­al level, it has con­trib­uted sig­ni­fic­antly to enhan­cing the organisation’s approach to equal­ity and diversity.

The group has evolved since it was first estab­lished and under­went a review in 2024. As a res­ult of the review and approved terms of ref­er­ence, the oper­a­tion­al prin­ciples iden­ti­fied that the group will: • estab­lish a space where mem­bers can com­ment on mat­ters covered by the remit of the group, fully con­fid­ent that con­tri­bu­tions will remain con­fid­en­tial, and that diverse per­spect­ives and opin­ions will be respec­ted at all times. • main­tain a sup­port­ive space in which mem­bers of minor­ity groups feel able to share their exper­i­ences if they wish to, and all group mem­bers feel that their con­tri­bu­tions are val­ued, encour­aged and listened to. • oper­ate as an advocacy group to feed into the devel­op­ment, imple­ment­a­tion and embed­ding of equal­ity, diversity and inclu­sion actions with­in the organ­isa­tion. • report obser­va­tions, thoughts and recom­mend­a­tions into the form­al gov­ernance and con­sultat­ive struc­tures of the organisation.

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Over the last 12 – 18 months, the group has had a key role to play in: a) identi­fy­ing and sup­port­ing the devel­op­ment of sev­er­al new equal­it­ies and well­being policies, includ­ing Sup­port­ing Staff Through Preg­nancy Loss Policy; Neurodi­versity Policy; Reas­on­able Adjust­ments Pass­port Policy; Gender Diversity Policy. Men­stru­al Health and Endo­met­ri­os­is Sup­port Policy; Fer­til­ity Treat­ment Policy. b) sup­port­ing the devel­op­ment and deliv­ery of the action plan to achieve accred­it­a­tion of the LGB­TQ+ Charter at Found­a­tion Level, which was awar­ded to the Park Author­ity in May 2024. c) facil­it­ated a train­ing ses­sion on how to show lead­er­ship in ensur­ing we encour­age inclu­sion. d) informed the inclu­sion and devel­op­ment of as well as the action plan for the Organ­isa­tion­al Devel­op­ment Strategy theme of well­being, resi­li­ence and diversity. e) advised on how the Park Author­ity would pro­mote Pride Month. f) advised on sup­port­ing the Park Authority’s pres­ence at the Inverness Pride fest­ivals in 2023 and 2024. g) helped devel­op a new Equal­ity Impact Assess­ment (EqIA) form, and an asso­ci­ated guid­ance note to sup­port staff in under­go­ing the EqIA pro­cess. h) advising on sev­er­al cor­por­ate EqIA’s, includ­ing for the Act­ive Cairngorms Action Plan, the Loc­al Devel­op­ment Plan Evid­ence Report.

The organisation’s equal­ity lead has been invited to speak at sev­er­al nation­al equal­it­ies’ con­fer­ences, shar­ing our approach to key equal­it­ies themes, includ­ing Neurodi­versity in the Work­place; Men­o­pause in the Work­place; Women’s Health at Work.

Schools and young people

Out­door learn­ing travel grants

The Cairngorms Out­door Learn­ing Travel Grant con­tin­ues to be very suc­cess­ful enabling people to vis­it the Nation­al Park who wouldn’t ordin­ar­ily have the chance to do so. The grant is avail­able to edu­ca­tion­al organ­isa­tions, vol­un­tary and com­munity groups.

In ²⁰²³⁄₂₄ a total of 47 grants were awar­ded totalling £12,800 across 35 primary schools, 10 sec­ond­ary schools and two vol­un­tary groups.

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In ²⁰²⁴⁄₂₅ a total of 34 grants have been awar­ded totalling £8,727 across 19 primary schools, 12 sec­ond­ary schools and three vol­un­tary groups.

The main activ­it­ies that take place are schools out­door learn­ing ses­sions and res­id­en­tials as well as days out con­nect­ing to nature for health benefits.

Youth employ­ment strategy

The Park Author­ity is com­mit­ted to sup­port­ing young people into employ­ment and has form­ally adop­ted a youth employ­ment strategy. In Janu­ary 2022, we also signed up to the Young Person’s Guar­an­tee, through which we have com­mit­ted to cre­at­ing and sup­port­ing a vari­ety of oppor­tun­it­ies for young people who are try­ing to estab­lish their careers. The sup­port we have provided in the last 12 – 18 months includes: a) We recruited two gradu­ate train­ee account­ant posts in 2022. Both were short term con­tracts, but both were con­ver­ted to per­man­ent con­tracts. b) We have sup­por­ted sev­er­al intern­ships, includ­ing in 2024 a six-month GIS intern­ship; a six-month con­tent cre­ation intern­ship and two four-month intern­ships which were recruited dir­ectly through Black Pro­fes­sion­als UK and sup­por­ted two young people from an Eth­nic minor­ity back­ground. One of our interns has used the exper­i­ence to suc­cess­fully secure a pro­moted pos­i­tion to a per­man­ent role with­in the organ­isa­tion c) We have sup­por­ted sev­er­al careers events at loc­al high schools and had a stand at the Your Future Here careers event, which show­cased loc­al employ­ment oppor­tun­it­ies in the Nation­al Park. Through this event we hos­ted two week-long work exper­i­ence place­ments, which the young people had to apply and be inter­viewed for. d) We hos­ted two addi­tion­al young people on work exper­i­ence place­ments, one of whom worked with our Admin team one day / week dur­ing term time, and anoth­er with our IT team, to increase their con­fid­ence and skills. e) We employed four train­ee rangers in 2023 and also in 2024. In addi­tion to get­ting exper­i­ence in ran­ger­ing skills, they also received train­ing on trans­fer­able skills to enhance their employ­ab­il­ity. In 2021 we hos­ted four train­ee rangers through the Kick­start pro­gramme. Two of the four returned in 2022 and 2023 as sea­son­al rangers, and both have gone on to secure pro­moted pos­i­tions with the

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f) Park Author­ity in 2024. The oppor­tun­ity to be a train­ee ranger is a key career pipeline to fur­ther con­ser­va­tion jobs. We have sup­por­ted sev­er­al uni­ver­sity stu­dents with work place­ments, which give them a feel for the type of work the Park Author­ity car­ries out and appro­pri­ate career paths for this work; and sup­ports man­dat­ory work exper­i­ence required to gain their qualifications.

Rur­al skills

The Park Author­ity fund Coun­tryside Learn­ing Scot­land (CLS) to employ a Path­ways to Rur­al Work Region­al Coordin­at­or to deliv­er the Cairngorms ​“Path­ways to Rur­al Work” ini­ti­at­ive. The role works to increase aware­ness of, and access to, rur­al oppor­tun­it­ies, qual­i­fic­a­tions, train­ing and careers, to help reduce the attain­ment gap through provid­ing great­er school to work trans­ition oppor­tun­it­ies for pupils and stu­dents from all back­grounds and abil­it­ies. In the peri­od April to Octo­ber 202