The Scottish Outdoor Access Code Education Resource Pack

In Scotland, everyone has the right to be on most land and inland water for recreation, education and for going from place to place providing they act responsibly. These access rights and responsibilities are explained in the Scottish Outdoor Access Code.

The Scottish Outdoor Access Code is relevant to everyone in Scotland, wherever they live. If young people have an understanding of their rights and responsibilities under the Code, they will be more able to enjoy Scotland’s outdoors – responsibly!

This resource has been developed to help youth workers and teachers support young people to explore and understand their rights and responsibilities in the outdoors and apply them to their daily lives. It provides activity ideas that are designed to be fun and thought provoking and add value to a number of curricular areas and cross curricular themes of the Curriculum for Excellence, including Learning Outdoors and Citizenship.

The best way to learn about the Scottish Outdoor Access Code is in the outdoors in a real and relevant situation. The indoor activities in this pack should complement, not replace, direct, first-hand experience in your local area. See the resources for leaders section for inspiration about outdoor spaces and support for taking groups outdoors. School grounds are an ideal space for many of these activities.

This pack can be used by anyone working with young people, including youth workers, teachers, leaders of uniformed groups, rangers and outdoor educators. Some of the activities will be especially useful in preparing for an outdoor learning session, programme or event, by helping young people to explore and understand their rights and responsibilities in the outdoors and apply them to their daily lives. The activities have been designed to be thought provoking and encourage debate.