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27th March 2024
Governments like to have one or two ‘big ideas’ to distinguish their time in office – think Cameron’s ‘Big Society’ or Blair’s ‘Education, Education, Education’. Their purpose seems to be to inject some personality and colour onto the more mundane canvas of running a country. But the fact that so many of them are quietly ditched when the realpolitik of delivery becomes too difficult also carries real risks to reputation and credibility – most recently illustrated by the Scottish Government’s much lauded climate targets having been officially adjudged as ‘unachievable’. Nonetheless, another longstanding ‘big idea’ to transform Scotland into a Wellbeing Economy and transition from GDP as the primary marker of economic health by building community wealth instead, still holds some allure – albeit now just a little harder to believe. Yesterday I was at the Scottish Parliament sharing some thoughts on how the mechanism at the heart of a Wellbeing Economy – community wealth building – might actually be delivered. In our response to last year’s consultation, we outlined the extent of whole system change that would be necessary. Paradoxically, others will claim that it’s already happening – and presumably also that the emperor has new clothes. As ever, this will come down to political will.
In the most recent briefing…
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On the ground
Read moreFor as long as communities have been self-organising and taking action to address their needs, they’ve been publishing plans of one sort or another that reflect their aspirations and priorities. These ‘community plans’ are rarely if ever acknowledged by local authorities or any of the other public agencies that participate in that great policy misnomer, Community Planning Partnerships. However, an opportunity, albeit a slim one, has presented itself in which the connection between ‘community’ and ‘planning’ could become a little more meaningful. Beth Landon, a Masters student at UHI explores how to join some of those policy dots.
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On the ground
Read moreThe saga of whether one of Scotland’s oldest community controlled housing associations should be subsumed into one of the new breed of UK-wide social housing behemoths continues to rumble on. From a distance it resembles a tug of war between those who believe in the heart and soul of community control and those who believe that efficiencies and good order come from large scale management systems. In this open letter, David Bookbinder, Director of GWSF considers many aspects of the case and speculates what the reaction would be if some of Scotland’s iconic community landowners faced the same threat.
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On the ground
Read moreThe concept of rewilding differs from other forms of ecological restoration because it aspires to reduce human influence on ecosystems. And this Many believe that we should focus more on repopulating remote areas rather than turning them into protected wildernesses. It’s also contentious because Scotland’s largest landowner happens to be passionate about rewilding and buys up any land that is contiguous to his already sizable land holdings to serve his passion for rewilding. But there is another side to rewilding which seems more proportionate both in scale and ambition.
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Policy talk
Read moreSomewhat overdue, the Scottish Government has published its Land Reform (Scotland) Bill – its latest attempt to address the historic inequalities in the patterns of land ownership in Scotland. However, a recent analysis by Andy Wightman, published in the Guardian over the weekend, of progress achieved after twenty years of land reform makes for a dispiriting read – patterns of ownership appear to have become even more concentrated with ‘green capital’ investors becoming increasingly dominant in the market, pushing land prices ever higher. Calum McLeod, writing in the WHFP, wonders whether we will ever see the radical land reform that’s been promised.
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Policy talk
Read moreAs one climate target after another was missed, the prospect of hitting the 2030 target of reducing our carbon emissions by 75% was becoming an ever more distant prospect. Until last week that is, when the Scottish Government’s official advisor on climate change – the Climate Change Committee – finally declared the targets to be no longer realistic. The Scottish Government should have published its Climate Change Plan last year but constant delays have left these targets with no possible means of delivery. Many voices from civil society and beyond are now calling for an emergency response from the First Minister.
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Policy talk
Read moreListening to yet another debate recently on the parlous state of the nation’s public finances and the implications of that for the future of public services, the only conclusion I could draw was that few people, if any, truly understand how our public finances work. All of which is very unhelpful when trying to make sense of the true state of affairs in our public services. Which is why The State of the State report caught my eye. An exhaustive polling exercise of those who run our public services and those who use them. Some interesting findings.
Featured anchor organisation:
South West Arts & Music Project
A forward-thinking community development trust, registered charity and SQA-approved organisation that took a dilapidated building within the community and redeveloped it into a dynamic creative media centre. SWAMP uses accredited training, outreach, film, music, digital technologies, gardening and other creative arts to support local residents – especially young people – to enable social change. The trust is proving that the arts, community involvement and provision of accredited training can be positive tools for change. SWAMP was one of the first organisations in Glasgow to use creative media, digital arts and new technologies as tools for community engagement, combining them with…
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