Heriot-Watt University's Scottish Borders Campus has hosted the first of a series of meetings where Lord Smith of Kelvin meets stakeholders around the country to discuss further powers to be devolved to the Scottish Parliament.
As I have always said, this process cannot, and will not, simply be by politicians for politicians. It has to reflect the opinions of all strands of Scottish society and my visit to the Galashiels campus was part of that process.
Lord Smith, who is one of Scotland's leading business figures and who was chair of the organising committee for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, was asked to convene cross-party talks to agree recommendations for further powers following the independence referendum.
To help inform that work Lord Smith is keen to hear the opinions and ideas of individuals and stakeholders and will be attending stakeholder meetings across Scotland to hear views directly and listen to the conversations happening between people and groups about the powers they think should be devolved and why.
At this first in the series of meetings at the University's Scottish Borders Campus he met with staff and student representatives from the University as well as students and representatives from Borders College and representatives from local business and industry.
Lord Smith said, "It was a real pleasure to visit the Galashiels campus of Heriot-Watt University and I would like to thank everyone who made my visit so enjoyable and worthwhile.
"I was able to hear the views of academics, students and the wider community. As I have always said, this process cannot, and will not, simply be by politicians for politicians. It has to reflect the opinions of all strands of Scottish society and my visit to the Galashiels campus was part of that process.
"I was particularly impressed by the students I met and I was delighted to hear that 97% of them will get jobs after completing their course, many of them having come from abroad specifically to study at Heriot-Watt.
"This proves that Scotland has a world-class learning facility right here in the Borders."
Further information on devolution can be found at The Smith Commission - Resources and for more detail on the party proposals you can visit The Smith Commission - Proposals from Political Parties.