In this blog, we meet Eric Marshall, a volunteer who alongside studying sociology with quantitative methods is currently helping to organise our very first Digital Mapping Hackathon!

Eric is passionate about making sure individual voices are heard in quantitative data collection. He likes visiting new places, taking the time to talk to people and really getting to understand their concerns. Eric enjoys playing volleyball and helps out with a homeless shelter in his free time. Read on to find out more!

Tell us a bit about yourself

I’ve lived in Edinburgh for around 10 years now. For the past couple of years I’ve been studying sociology with quantitative methods at the University of Edinburgh.

I would say that my passion, especially related to planning, is quantitative data collection and the ways you can collect lots of information while keeping the individual voices.

Outside of work and studying, I like to play volleyball for fun. I also volunteer for homeless shelters.

What do you like to do in your free time?

I have volunteered extensively for a student organization called Slurp. They do a lot of homelessness advocacy. I helped to set up a new soup kitchen in the Leith Community Centre which still runs on Tuesdays.

How did you get involved with Planning Aid Scotland?

So in my first year of university, I went for lunch with someone from one of my tutorials and mentioned to him that I wanted to become a planner. He told me about Planning Aid Scotland. I thought it would be a great opportunity to further my career and learn about the different roles that planning has to offer.

What has been your favourite experience as a volunteer?

My favourite experience has definitely been organising the Digital Mapping Hackathon (more information coming soon!) as it combines both of my passions: quantitative data and planning. I’m excited to see how it turns out. I believe that it will push planning in a really cool direction and hopefully we’ll get something good out of it.

Any top tips you’ve learnt from volunteering with Planning Aid Scotland?

I’ve learnt how valuable it is when you’re working in a new location to visit and speak with the people that live there. Getting a feel for their concerns, the problems, and just getting a better sense of the nature of the place that you’re working in.

I vividly remember going to Macmerry and hearing about the legacy of mining in that town. It’s such a rewarding practice to spend an afternoon there, by the end you really feel like you’ve learned a lot of new things about a place that you’ve never visited before.

I think it’s important for planners and people interested in planning to have that local perspective if they want to make meaningful improvements to a place. It’s not just learning about the place for your own interest, it’s about seeing why certain issues affect people in the way that they do, and how national issues that we understand from an academic standpoint play out in these communities.

What do you find inspiring about planning in Scotland?

As a resident of Edinburgh, I think it has to be the regeneration of Leith.

I don’t think I could just label it with only one word like ‘inspiring’ or ‘impressive’ because I think there is definitely a conversation to be had about gentrification and who’s benefiting from the regeneration, but the contrast is huge compared to maybe 5-8 years ago when so many shops were boarded up and nothing was really there.

The local economy in Leith and around Leith Walk was in a decline compared to now with the trams running down the walk and shops seemingly flourishing. I think that’s been a real success for Edinburgh.

I think a great indicator of how well it is doing is that you now have tour buses going down to the pier and down Leith Walk, which has its pros and cons, but I think it has been economically beneficial for the area.

Any fun facts about planning?

Yes, I do! In Scottish planning the public are required to have a say in any public planning proposal. I think that’s a very important part of Scottish planning law!

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