Rewilding Affric Highlands – Learning from hill to grill
Rewilding Affric Highlands (RAH) aims to bring together communities, landowners and businesses in a shared mission to restore habitats across more than 200,000 hectares of the central highlands.
The goal of RAH is to create a resilient, regenerating landscape where people and nature can thrive. RAH was awarded £2,000 in 2025 towards their Hill to Grill project. The award was a contribution to the cost of delivering an educational programme on land management, conservation, and sustainable food practices, including workshops, field experiences, cooking demonstrations, and a community showcase event.
The Great Glen Energy Co-op funding enabled the design and delivery of a three-day experiential education programme of ‘Hill to Grill’ delivered to the S2 year group (38 students) at Glen Urquhart High School, Drumnadrochit in March 2026, followed by a community showcase event attended by 80 people.
RAH Engagement Manager, Amy Clarkson, said:
| “The funding from the Great Glen Energy Co-op supported the design, development and delivery of Hill to Grill: an experiential educational programme designed to connect high school students and the wider school community to their local landscapes by spotlighting the purpose and practices of contemporary deer management and its wider implications to healthy ecosystems, local livelihoods, and sustainable food supply. The funding enabled Rewilding Affric Highlands to provide a programme that was delivered by industry experts, with a flair and passion for their subjects, which in turn demonstrably inspired and enthused the high school students, equipping them with new skills, knowledge and ideas for their futures to come.” |
Rewilding Affric Highlands initially applied to Foundation Scotland for £6,365. Due to demands on the Great Glen Fund and the desire of the board to support a range of projects, an award of £2,000 was granted. RAH was able to secure some of the project support in-kind and also amended some of their delivery plans so that the project could still go ahead, more or less as envisaged. They produced resource materials for the project, and a film was also made of the Hill to Grill programme, which was delivered as follows:
Day 1: school-based introduction to the project, as well as health and safety briefings and equipment etc.
Days 2 and 3: Class was split into smaller groups who spent one day camera stalking on the local Glen Cannich Estate under the supervision of professional stalkers and qualified Mountain Leaders to learn about Estate management, land use, deer and deer management, including basic map reading and navigation skills. They also saw a deer larder and finished off with some butchering and a hands-on cooking demonstration from Tim Maddams.
The other day focused on learning about habitat monitoring and woodland ecology. This session was designed to be as interactive as possible, with an emphasis on experiential learning and getting hands-on with plants through games and challenges. There was also a session on the use of technology in deer management, which included an introduction to flying a drone.
Day 4: In teams of 4, back at school, the pupils competed to cook a street-food venison burger and sausage roll from scratch and then made a final presentation of their unique business venture and their understanding of the ecological story to a panel.
The presentations and the cooking were all performed to an excellent standard with brilliant contributions from each of the students. At the end of the session, the students were invited to write a postcard to future participants of Hill to Grill. This worked really well as a method of seeing how the experience was for the participants. The programme concluded with a community showcase event at Glen Urquhart High School, which was attended by 80 people.
Amy was asked about what they learned from the project and what the next steps would be.
“The organisational capacity and experience of Rewilding Affric Highlands has increased through the successful development of learning materials, presentations and bespoke educational workshops. Hill to Grill 2026 provided an opportunity for Rewilding Affric Highlands to work closely with Glen Urquhart High School and the S2 students. Following the excellent feedback from the school, the deputy head is keen for us to develop an additional education programme for the geography department, potentially based on peatland restoration or on other local environmental restoration initiatives. In addition, a local primary school expressed interest in us delivering a version of the Hill to Grill programme.
The community showcase event provided an excellent opportunity for the local community to come together around food and share conversations about deer management and the local landscape. Within the room, attendees raised questions and ideas which have provided valuable insight to Rewilding Affric Highlands as an organisation. For example, the idea of a community Hill to Grill was proposed by several participants. This is an idea which can be developed for 2027. In addition, one community member enquired about the possibility of training in butchery and many participants expressed interest in being able to source local wild venison. Now that we know that there is a high level of interest, Rewilding Affric Highlands plan to develop the programme further and will offer an expanded version of Hill to Grill in 2027 that leads into development opportunities such as local supply of wild venison.” |
On project impact, Amy said:
| “The Hill to Grill project successfully delivered on our intended outcome of increased knowledge and skills, providing young people with hands-on learning experiences that connected landscape management, biodiversity, food production and rural careers in a practical and engaging way. “ |
Following participation, 94% of pupils reported at least a mostly improved understanding of how deer management affects habitats, biodiversity and healthy ecosystems, while 88% reported a better understanding of rural careers, including ecology, deer stalking, land management, butchery and professional cooking.
In addition, the programme inspired curiosity and further interest in environmental and land-based subjects. 82% of participants said that Hill to Grill increased their interest in learning about nature, ecology or food systems, and 82% reported that they had gained new knowledge and skills overall. In addition, the vast majority would recommend the programme to other students.
And most importantly, what did the young people themselves have to say about taking part in Hill to Grill?
| "Hill to Grill is an amazing experience! It is really interesting to find out about our local community and how it's managed. I loved seeing the deer on the hill." |
| "I think the best part of Hill to Grill is when you went up the hill and looked for deer." |
| "Hill to Grill is the best thing ever! You learn about deer, cook deer meat and get cameras to take photos of your friends.” "Hill to Grill is the best thing ever! You learn about deer, cook deer meat and get cameras to take photos of your friends.” |
| "I really enjoyed the cooking and presentation. Making the burger and sausage roll was definitely stressful but still super fun!" |
More information can be found here:
Read more about the Great Glen Energy Co-operative Fund.