Scottish Canals will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Millennium Link, the scheme that reconnected Scotland's Lowland canals, with a programme of events and community activities this year.

Commemorations will run along the Forth & Clyde and Union canals, led by Scottish Canals with support from local groups.

Plans include heritage walks and talks, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) sessions in educational settings, a canal clean-up, orchard and hedgerow restoration, and opportunities for people to share memories of life on and beside the waterways.

The boating community is being encouraged to stage its own celebrations over the summer, including boaters' gatherings and mini flotillas moving along the Lowland network.

Built as vital cross-country transport routes, the Forth & Clyde Canal stretches from the Firth of Clyde at Bowling to the Firth of Forth at Grangemouth, while the Union Canal runs from Edinburgh to Falkirk, where a flight of 11 locks once dropped boats to meet the Forth & Clyde.

After the rise of the railways, the canals declined and closed in the 1960s. They lay drained and neglected until the Millennium Link began in 1999. The £83.5 million project — the largest canal restoration undertaken in Britain — revived the Forth & Clyde and Union Canals, with The Falkirk Wheel as its centrepiece.

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Replacing the former locks, The Falkirk Wheel lifts boats 35 metres from the Forth & Clyde to the Union Canal. Its distinctive fusion of art and engineering created a working sculpture — the world's only rotating boat lift.

The waterways reopened in 2001 and now support thriving social, economic and community activity.

Scottish Canals CEO John Paterson said: "We are delighted to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Millennium Link and all those who contributed to bringing the derelict Forth & Clyde and Union Canals back to life.

"Through our continued investment over the last 25 years, the canals and The Falkirk Wheel are now vibrant green-blue spaces and valued national assets, unlocking billions of pounds in economic value for canal side communities.

"Our thriving, nature-filled waterways are a powerful legacy of the Millennium funding from the National Lottery. This transformation has touched so many lives. 1.5 million people live close to a canal in Scotland – more than a quarter of the population. The canals now attract over 20 million visits per year and provide an active travel network for cyclists and walkers, alleviating our roads and getting closer to 20-minute neighbourhoods."

Senior Project Manager, George McBurnie, who joined Scottish Canals 45 years ago, reflected on his experience of the network's transformation: "When I joined Scottish Canals – British Waterways, as it was then – the canals were redundant, derelict, unloved places that had lacked investment for many decades. It was through the Herculean efforts of a small group of canal associations and enthusiasts as well as the vison of staff at the time, that we managed to bring our Lowlands network back.

"I was part of the engineering team and a project manager at that time, and I'm now privileged once again to be managing our gate replacement programme on the Forth & Clyde Canal – the biggest engineering project since the Millennium Link. As one of several generations in my family that have worked on the canals, I look back with pride, and I look forward with great optimism for the future and longevity of our network."