International students have toured some of Moray’s most historic attractions to draw up a vision for their future.
Visitors from Germany, Denmark and France went to landmarks in the Forres area as part of a Glasgow School of Art (GSA) project.
The enthusiasts drew up designs for sites including Kinloss Abbey, Sueno’s Stone, Brodie Castle and Findhorn village.
Sir James Duncan-Nasmith , a member of Kinloss Abbey Trust, said: “When I first met the students I had no idea what they wanted to get from their visit.
“The project was not necessarily about architecture but about the influence such buildings had on the neighbourhood and how that influence might be made more widely understood and appreciated.
“The ideas they presented were fascinating and most imaginative. Not all would be appropriate to every project but they will stimulate future thoughts for months to come.”
Sir James believes the proposals could help firm up a possible bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund from campaigners.
The project, which also included visits to Burghead, Forres Town Hall and Spynie Palace, was part of the GSA’s Winter School.
More than 120 academics and students from the International School of Design in Cologne, the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture and the Audencia Business School in Nantes spent two weeks in the region as part of the initiative.
The visitors discussed the Moray attractions with local students before running workshops to showcase their design concepts.
It was the third time the Winter School has been run at GSA’s campus at the Altyre Estate near Forres.
Academic Carvalho de Almeida, who visited from the University of Aveiro in Portugal, said: “The focus on the region’s specific issues shows and huge respect for its socio-economic ground and the future of cultural traditions, which is a timely and pressing agenda.
“The crossing of different cultural backgrounds makes it possible to better understand the global conditions in which we live.”
Gordon Hush, head of Innovation School at GSA, added: “It is a terrific opportunity to bring together international design expertise to address at issues of importance the Highlands and Islands and particularly for us all to work in partnership with our local community to co-design responses to those issues.”