The 2025 Scotland’s Land Reform Futures International Symposium hosted by the James Hutton Institute on 11th and 12th November, with funding from the Scottish Government, provided a valuable overview of land tenure issues and land reform in the Global North. The Symposium was organised by the Scotland’s Land Reform Futures research project team, in conjunction with a stakeholder advisory group and members of the Scottish Government’s Land Reform policy team. Outputs can be found here. 
The main theme of the symposium was Achieving collaboration, cooperation, and a just transition in land: lessons from and challenges facing Scottish land reform. Key questions included:
- What can we learn from other countries to support land access for new entrants to agriculture, climate-friendly food production, and the Just Transition?
- What can Scotland offer in terms of knowledge and leadership in global discussions around land and rural development?
- What are the opportunities and challenges in ensuring land data transparency in Scotland and internationally?
- How do models and methods that aim to support equitable land access work in other countries, and what is the role of the public sector?
Speakers included the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands, Ms Mairi Gougeon MSP, and Mr Michael Russell, chair of the Scottish Land Commission, as well as land researchers and experts from across the United Kingdom, Canada, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, and Japan.
The Symposium Programme contains details on the speakers and sessions.