The Scottish Ecological Design Association

The Scottish Ecological Design Association Scottish Ecological Design Association SEDA was formed in 1991. The primary aim is to share knowledge, skills and experience of ecological design.

SEDA is a network and links those seeking information and services with those providing them. SEDA members (predominantly in Scotland) include academics, architects, artists, builders, planners, students, ecologists, landscape designers, materials suppliers, woodworkers, and many more whose work or interest is concerned with design for a sustainable future. TO JOIN SEDA VISIT - http://www.seda.uk.

net/index.php?id=52

SEDA is a charity and is run by a board of directors who are elected at annual general meetings. The board is advised by a voluntary steering group which meets eight times a year for discussion and for planning the activities of the Association. All members are welcome to take part in these meetings. SEDA registered as a Company Limited by Guarantee in February 2011. SEDA has a part-time membership secretary / marketing officer funded from its own resources.

Forest schools and outdoor nurseries are becoming more prevalent in Scotland and their benefits are well-known, so why a...
19/02/2026

Forest schools and outdoor nurseries are becoming more prevalent in Scotland and their benefits are well-known, so why are they not being systematically rolled out or integrated into the Scottish education system?

Join us for a conversation covering the benefits of outdoor learning, both at primary and secondary level, and how local authorities and the Scottish government can be persuaded to recognise the part it could play in a more enlightened curriculum.

Outdoor learning is not limited to rural schools. We will explain how, with a little imagination, it can be done in a tarmacked playground.

This will be an informal discussion with leading UK educationalists and practitioners – including nursery school managers and rangers.

In-person in Edinburgh and online ~ link in bio 🌿

Tomorrow lunchtime is the 1st of our online CPD series, STONE FUTURES! Join Imogen Shaw and Charlotte Taylor for "The De...
05/10/2025

Tomorrow lunchtime is the 1st of our online CPD series, STONE FUTURES!
Join Imogen Shaw and Charlotte Taylor for "The Development Potential of Stone"

Visit tinyurl.com/stonefutures to find out more.

CIAT Scotland East Region, SEDA & Historic Environment Scotland are bringing you a free lunchtime CPD seminar series dedicated to one of the most enduring yet ever evolving materials in our built environment: Stone

Online / 1pm / 1st Monday each month.

Join us this Sunday 5th Oct for a visit to@sustainablethinkingscotland 's Walled Garden in Bo'ness. Register here or at ...
30/09/2025

Join us this Sunday 5th Oct for a visit to@sustainablethinkingscotland 's Walled Garden in Bo'ness.

Register here or at the link in our bio
seda.scot/seda-conference-2025

As part of this years conference, you will have the opportunity to purchase signed copies of some of our guests' books! ...
29/09/2025

As part of this years conference, you will have the opportunity to purchase signed copies of some of our guests' books! Please bring your pennies, as its cash purchases only!

FRIDAY:
Material Cultures - Material Reform - Amica Dall

Common Treasures - vol 1 Land, Food and Farming & vol 2 Housing, Planning and Contruction - Edited by Amica Dall, Giles Smith, James Binning & Sara Pereira

Form Follows Function - Florian Urban and Barnabas Calder

SATURDAY:
The Story of Upfront Carbon: How a Life of Just Enough Offers a Way Out of the Climate Crisis - Lloyd Alter

📌 Edinburgh & ONLINE
📆 Friday 3rd - Sunday 5th October
🎟 seda.scot/seda-conference-2025

Thanks to .cocon & for sponsoring this years event.

“This is such an interesting vital theme to cover, I'm very much looking forward to hearing all the SEDA Speakers and me...
29/09/2025

“This is such an interesting vital theme to cover, I'm very much looking forward to hearing all the SEDA Speakers and meeting the attendees, We don't know what our future holds, but we should keep informed to allow us to do what we can to reduce our impact on our planet and help others to do the same.”

Kathy Li is a founding member of Missing in Architecture, a collaborative compromising of architects and educators at Glasgow's Mackintosh Schhol of Architecture.

Not long to go now until our 2025 Annual Conference 2025 where we will focus on "Sufficiency" - exploring what it means to have "enough" rather than pursuing endless growth and consumption.

Find out more and book tickets here:
https://seda.scot/seda-conference-2025 or from the link in our bio.

Across the autumn and winter, .scotland.east , (that's us!), and (HES) are excited to launch a free lunchtime CPD se...
24/09/2025

Across the autumn and winter, .scotland.east , (that's us!), and (HES) are excited to launch a free lunchtime CPD seminar series dedicated to one of the most enduring yet ever evolving materials in our built environment: Stone.

Join us online, at 1pm on the first Monday of every month and bring your curiosity and discover how stone is being reshaped for the future.

Visit tinyurl.com/stonefutures to find out more

Talk 1 - Stone Futures 1 - Development Potential of Stone - is on October 6th with Imogen Shaw, Building Stone Scientist at British Geological Survey & Charlotte Taylor, PhD Researcher at University of Bath

Imogen Shaw is a Building Stone Scientist based at the British Geological Survey in Edinburgh. She provides scientific expertise on the geological properties and context of Scotlands current and historic building stones to a wide range of stakeholders, including conservation professionals, quarry operators, and local government. Her talk will present the results of a recent investigation into the current status of historic building stone quarries in Scotland, the economic context of the UK building stone industry, and an analysis of whether any of Scotland's disused historic quarries have the potential to successfully supply building stone to a modern market.

Charlotte Taylor is currently completing her PhD in the Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture at the University of Bath. Her research investigates the UK construction sector's zero-emissions resource pool in a fossil-free economy to 2050. Focusing on structural stone, load-bearing straw, and the structural re-use of construction materials, she uses interdisciplinary methods to map available resources and understand the barriers to scaling up. Ultimately, her work reflects a wider interest in land and resource use in the UK, and the societal implications of transitioning to more regenerative, self-sufficient material production. Alongside her PhD, Charlotte teaches on the MArch Architecture Year 2 programme at Central Saint Martins.

We look forward to seeing you all there on October 6th for the first of this wonderful series!

We are delighted to have Prof Lorna Dawson, CBE, FRSE, FRSA, FRSB, FRSGSattending on Day 1 of this year's conference.Pro...
20/09/2025

We are delighted to have Prof Lorna Dawson, CBE, FRSE, FRSA, FRSB, FRSGS
attending on Day 1 of this year's conference.

Professor Lorna Dawson is Head of the Centre for Forensic Soil Forensic Science at the James Hutton Institute and has over 30 years’ experience in managing and conducting research in soil and plant interactions, in particular its application in the criminal justice system. She was awarded a CBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours list in June 2018 for her services to soil and forensic science.

📌 Edinburgh & ONLINE

📆 Friday 3rd - Sunday 5th October

🎟 seda.scot/seda-conference-2025 or from the link in our bio!

Thanks to .cocon & for sponsoring this years event.

Look at this lineup!Something is shifting in the sustainability world, and we are excited about it.For too long, we've b...
20/09/2025

Look at this lineup!
Something is shifting in the sustainability world, and we are excited about it.

For too long, we've been stuck in "less bad" thinking - reduce waste, increase efficiency, consume more consciously. All good things, but... not enough.

This year's SEDA Conference is exploring something deeper: sufficiency.

Not as deprivation, but as wisdom. Not as doing without, but as knowing what "with" actually means.

Through talks, site visits, student presentations and awards, we are approaching with is an active way. Not just theory, but poetry and music.

The speakers include Turner Prize winners from Assemble Studio (who transformed abandoned Liverpool streets into thriving community), ocean rights advocates working at UN level, and disability justice researchers ensuring that climate caring solutions don't leave anyone behind.

Are you ready to move beyond "sustainable" to "regenerative"?

📌 Edinburgh & ONLINE
📆 Friday 3rd - Sunday 5th October
🎟 seda.scot/seda-conference-2025

Thanks to .cocon & for sponsoring this years event.

Across the autumn and winter, SEDA, CIAT Scotland East Region, and Historic Environment Scotland (HES) are bringing you ...
20/09/2025

Across the autumn and winter, SEDA, CIAT Scotland East Region, and Historic Environment Scotland (HES) are bringing you STONE FUTURES,
a new lunchtime CPD seminar series dedicated to one of the most enduring yet ever evolving materials in our built environment.

Join us at 13:00 on the first Monday of every month and bring your curiosity and discover how stone is being reshaped for the future.

https://tinyurl.com/STONE-CPD

From its role in the earliest architecture to its potential in a low carbon future, stone carries its story of resilience, craft and innovation. This series will open up fresh perspectives on how stone can shape tomorrow’s buildings whilst drawing from its rich history.

Across the sessions, we will explore:
- History and heritage – lessons from the past that that inform and inspire present-day practice

- Environmental and embodied carbon – challenges of quarrying and processing stone, looking at the role stone can play in reducing the environmental impact and supporting more sustainable construction.

- Development potential – explore new opportunities for local stone and how it can be integrated into projects at all scales.

- Inspiring and innovation – how designers and engineers are re-imagining its use within contemporary architecture.

Whether you’re a technologist, architect, designer, engineer or simply curious about the possibilities of this timeless material, these seminars are designed to inform, challenge and inspire.

Shaping discussions AND bringing their own expertise to this years conference are our Panel Chairs: Florian Urban and Je...
19/09/2025

Shaping discussions AND bringing their own expertise to this years conference are our Panel Chairs: Florian Urban and Jessica Noel-Smith.

Florian Urban is Professor of Architectural History, and Head of History of Architecture and Urban Studies at the Glasgow School of Art. He was born and raised in Munich, Germany, and holds an MA in Urban Planning from UCLA and a Ph.D. in History and Theory of Architecture from MIT.

Jessica is an architect specialising in design ethics and accessible and age inclusive design practice. She is founder of Beyond Access, PhD Researcher at the University of Stirling, an Associate of DSDC (Dementia Services Development Centre), and a proud member of SEDA’s Health and Wellbeing Group.

📌 Edinburgh & ONLINE
📆 Friday 3rd - Sunday 5th October
🎟 seda.scot/seda-conference-2025 or from the link in our bio!

Thanks to .cocon & for sponsoring this years event.

Address

41-43 George IV Bridge
Edinburgh
EH1 1EL

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