CDAS NEWS

 

Report from conference on Community Empowerment and Renewal Bill

 

On 28 June, CDAS held a conference at Anniesland College, Glasgow (with the support of the College, the Scottish Government  and SCDC) at which almost 100 participants representing a wide range of organisations and individuals held lively debates about the wide range of proposals contained in the Scottish Government  consultation on a proposed Community Empowerment and Renewal Bill.

 

Here are some of the presentations and reports on discussions from the conference. These will be used to inform a CDAS response to the consultation. In the meantime we would be happy to receive further comments or copies of people’s own proposed submissions.

• Presentation by Kate Thomson-McDermott, Scottish Government
• Presentation by Ade Kearns, University of Glasgow
• Notes of workshop discussions
• Notes of plenary sessions
• Written comments by participants on “Key points you would like to see CDAS make in a response to the consultation on the proposed Bill”

CDAS Members respond to Strategic Guidance

 

CDAS member organisations discussed the new Strategic Guidance for Community Learning and Development at a Members’ Meeting shortly after it was published. This note of the discussion raises some fundamental questions, including: does an emphasis on learning support or detract from good community development? Some argued that “People do not achieve change in communities through learning, but learn through action.”

 

POLICY AND PRACTICE DEVELOPMENTS

 

Bill deadline extension

 

The Scottish Government has extended the consultation period on the Community Empowerment and Renewal Bill proposals for a month, until 26 September 2012.

 

National Standards for Community Capacity Building: Scoping Exercise

 

Education Scotland commissioned an investigation from the Scottish Community Development Centre to obtain an initial indication of the scope that might exist to develop something like a set of ‘National Standards for Community Capacity Building’. They have now published the report of the investigation and promised to “work with partners in the coming months to explore the best way to move this discussion forward – using the research report as a springboard for further discussion – in parallel with the implementation of the strategic guidance.” [Declaration of interest: I am co-author of this report].

 

There was almost universal acknowledgement of the importance of action to strengthen the skills, organisation, involvement and influence of people in communities, and also almost universal agreement that there is not a sufficiently clear and consistent understanding of what CCB involves. The report recommends that Education Scotland should work with partners to launch a national dialogue and consensus building process about the actions needed to strengthen communities. A key element of the process should be the development of a statement of principles, along with supporting material, drawing on the experience of communities. The report presents an initial distillation of what issues and principles might be covered by guidance, as a guide to discussion. under the following headings:

1. Communities
2. Building on strengths and assets
3. Types of capacity
4. Community leadership
5. Purposes of capacity building
6. Outcomes of capacity building
7. Types of capacity building
8. Levels of capacity building
9. Inclusion
10. Support and advice
11. Planning
12. Long term commitment.

A series of meetings will be held this autumn (2012) to explore the way forward.

 

Consultation on Children and Young People Bill

 

The Scottish Government has launched a consultation on a Children and Young People Bill (closing 25 September). This will bring together earlier plans for separate legislation on children’s services and children’s rights into ‘a single, comprehensive framework’. The proposals therefore combine embedding the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in Scots law with provisions to require fuller implementation of the Getting it right for every child approach – e.g. by ensuring that a single planning process is in place to support children and young people who need the involvement of a range of services, and with changes to care, including raising from 21 to 25 the age at which young people leaving care have the right to ask for help from a local authority.

 

National discussion on CLD guidance

 

The Scottish Government’s Strategic Guidance for Community Planning Partnerships: Community Learning and Development was published in June. Education Scotland has announced that they will be producing an implementation plan early in the autumn.    “We want to involve you and your organisation in dialogue about what this should contain and how we can work together to put it into practice. It will address issues such as:

• Promoting of the key principles of the guidance across the wider landscape of CLD practice.
• Establishing project work which delivers specific commitments made in the guidance.
• Ensuring that the strategic approach is closely linked to other legislative and policy developments.
• Co-ordination of action which flows from the guidance to challenge, support and improve practice.
• Reporting to Government on progress in implementing the guidance, the impact of this, any barriers encountered and proposals for ensuring continued progress”.

 

If you have any queries, please contact Colin Ross, colin.ross@educationscotland.org.uk or Mick Doyle, mick.doyle@educationscotland.org.uk. The Government has also published a report, by the Centre for Research in Education, Inclusion and Diversity at the University of Edinburgh, which analyses the findings of the national discussion that led up to this.

 

Land Reform developments

 

The Scottish Government has announced a new Land Reform Review Group, which will oversee a wide ranging review of land reform in Scotland. The Government promises a ‘radical rethink’. The Group will pay particular attention to looking at ways in which the growth of successful community land buy-outs in rural Scotland can be replicated in urban communities. By the end of next year, it is anticipated that the group will have finalised a report recommending legislative changes.

 

The Group will be chaired by Dr Alison Elliott, Convener of SCVO, and will include the author and long standing critic of current land policy Professor James Hunter of the University of the Highlands and Islands and also Dr Sarah Skerratt of the Scottish Agricultural College. Future additions will include advisers with expertise in land ownership, economics, legal issues, community-led organisations, forestry and land access. Land reform campaigner Andy Wightman argues that the proof of the pudding will be when the group’s full membership and remit is made known.

 

The Scottish Government has also produced a research paper ‘Overview of Evidence on Land Reform in Scotland’ summarising the implementation of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003.

 

Meanwhile, the new £6 million Scottish Land Fund has opened for applications. The Fund, delivered by Big Lottery Fund Scotland and Highlands and Islands Enterprise, will work with existing representative community bodies such as voluntary organisations, social enterprises or community councils to develop initial ideas about community ownership and consider the feasibility of taking a project forward. Applications can be made here at any time until 30 November 2014. Eligible organisations must:

• Be community-led and community-controlled
• Have a social purpose.
• Have an open membership defined by a geographical area.
• Not be profit-distributing.

 

Change Fund: Enhancing the Role of the Third Sector

 

A Programme to boost the influence and impact of the sector within the Reshaping Care for Older People (RCOP) Change Fund programme is being funded by the Scottish Government Third Sector Division and Joint Improvement Team. It is delivered in partnership between Long Term Conditions Alliance Scotland (LTCAS), Voluntary Action Scotland (VAS), Coalition of Care and Support Providers in Scotland (CCPS), Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) and Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (SFHA).  The programme aims to:

• Provide a central policy, research and evaluation resource to the sector in relation to health and social care
• Support sharing of learning, exchange of good practice and ‘scaling up’ of successful approaches
• Build on existing research to provide a picture of the third sector’s experience of the Change Fund and reflect this back to the Scottish Government
• Seek to develop closer linkage between national and local third sector organisations, including Third Sector Interfaces
• Work with third sector organisations to increase the voice of older people and unpaid carers within the RCOP agenda

 

Parliament reports on public service reform

 

The Scottish Parliament’s Local Government and Regeneration Committee, in its report on strand 1 of its inquiry into public service reform, which focuses on Partnerships and Outcomes, argues that a “cultural change” is necessary in order that public bodies can work together to successfully deliver public services. Strand 2, starting in September, will look at ‘benchmarking and performance measurement’ and Strand 3 at ‘developing new ways of delivering services’.

 

Another Community Councils network folds

 

Following last year’s demise of the Association of Scottish Community Councillors, an attempt was made to keep a National Network of Community Councillors going as an online forum for debate. This too has just taken the decision to fold. One of the active members blogs that at government level “the whole concept [of Community Councils] has been quietly shelved, with no will or intent to work for meaningful structural change” but also that “The community council concept was flawed from the start.”

 

Europeans support Rural Parliament

 

The idea that there should be a Rural Parliament in Scotland received broad support at a recent event organised by Scottish Government.  The Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Richard Lochhead MSP reiterated his support and speakers from rural parliaments in Sweden, Estonia, Slovenia and Netherlands enthusiastically urged Scotland to go ahead.

 

Resilient Scotland opens for business

 

Resilient Scotland, also known as the Jessica Scotland Trust, is an independent endowment of £15m from the Lottery, available for investment into local communities in 13 of Scotland’s most disadvantaged areas. Its first programme – Start and Grow - consists of relatively small packages of grants and loans ranging from £10k – £60k. A programme of much larger investments into community anchor organisations is to follow.

 

Achieving Community Empowerment support for community groups

 

Community groups in Scotland are invited to apply for support as part of the Achieving Community Empowerment (ACE) programme funded by the Big Lottery Fund.  It will provide at least 10 days of support for at least 10 groups a year. The support will focus on the following areas:

• Helping groups to identify what they’re good at and where they need to improve/become more effective
• Helping groups to develop a plan of action in order to make their required changes
• Supporting groups to put their plan into action
• Sitting down with groups at the end of the year to review progress and identify what needs to be done next
• Networking at the end of the year to share learning and experiences

 

Second phase of Supporting Communities to tackle Sectarianism

 

SCDC is inviting expressions of interest by 31st August for the 2nd phase of its Supporting Communities to tackle Sectarianism Programme which is funded by the Scottish Government.  This supports community-led projects which recognise sectarianism as an issue in their community and want to explore approaches to tackling it effectively.  The support programme will run from October 2012 until March 2013.

 

Health boards urged to work with third sector

 

New guidance from the Scottish Government and SCVO “Working with the Third Sector in Health and Social Care” encourages Health Boards to improve how they work with the third sector to develop preventative community services. “In some parts of Scotland and some areas of public service, engagement and joint working between the public and third sectors is very well developed, in the rest the maturity of relationships is variable,” states the guidance.

 

Review of Unified Voluntary Sector and CLD HQ Funds

 

The Unified Voluntary Sector Fund (UVSF) and the CLD Head Quarters (CLD HQ) fund were reviewed for Ministers by an Expert Group. Following public consultation, it has reported, and recommends that a clear vision for the use of the funds should be developed. This should be related to the national priorities and policies that relate to outcomes for children and young people, particularly in terms of prevention and early intervention. It should recognise that prevention and early intervention may be required at any point in a young person’s life. Alongside that, there should be a distinct vision for adult learning and community capacity building that articulates the importance and value of this work within a wider national context. The funds should continue to support organisations that deliver at a national level.

 

In response, the Scottish Government by announcing a new £20 million funding stream for the third sector.  The early intervention fund will be developed over the next two years to support voluntary groups working with children, young people and their families.  The current Unified Voluntary Sector Fund (UVSF) and Early Years Early Action funds will continue until March 2013 at which point the new fund will come on stream.

 

New categories in 2012 SURF Awards

 

The 2012 SURF Awards for regeneration will include the following new categories in addition to the established ones:

• Community Led Regeneration
• Sustainable Place
• Infrastructure and Regeneration
• Creative Regeneration
• YESS to Jobs (Youth Employability and Skills Services.

An information and application form is available from the SURF website.   The closing date for applications is noon on Monday 17 September

 

SFA Football Equity Survey

 

The Scottish FA has created a Football Equity Team in partnership with Black and Ethnic Minority Infrastructure in Scotland (BEMIS) charged with the responsibility of increasing participation and improving the awareness of Scottish FA provision for grassroots football amongst diverse groups. In order to begin to understand how a variety of groups feel about current opportunities for engaging with the sport and how they can improve and make them more visible they are conducting a Football Equity Survey – ‘Make Your Voice Heard‘.

 

SCDC and CHEX partners in European community development network

 

SCDC and CHEX are to be partners in a European network for community development with marginalised social groups through a European Commission funded Grundtvig project. They will be taking part along with three European partners: the Hungarian Association for Community Development, Sustainable Community Transformation Strategies Cooperative (Barcelona) and the Association of Local Democracy Agencies, which is based in France and works in the Balkans and Caucasus. The aim of the project is to allow for mutual learning about innovative tools of community work, to strengthen the capacity of the organisations involved, combat poverty and support the social integration and participation of excluded social groups. A practical guide on community development with marginalised social groups will be developed to share the learning, along with short films from the projects visited in each country.

 

Volunteers asked to share experiences

 

Volunteers are being invited to share their experiences in a new campaign launched by Volunteer Development Scotland. 100 Words will take a snapshot of volunteering as it exists at grass roots level in Scotland today, by capturing the thoughts of volunteers in a hundred words or less.

 

“Turn down this investment”

 

The UK government plans to invest substantially in the UK’s credit union movement. John Patton, Secretary of the Scottish League of Credit Unions, is convinced that the move should be resisted.  The cash will be offered to a ‘carefully’ selected group of credit unions, for lending and expansion – provided that they comply with changes to their business and culture. These plans, he argues, are at total variance with the status and objectives of Credit unions as not-for-profit, fully autonomous financial co-operatives which are committed to the service of members, promoting small savings and access to low cost credit.

 

Nobel winner Yunus in Glasgow role

Nobel Peace Prize winner and founder of the Grameen Bank Professor Muhammad Yunus has been appointed Chancellor of Glasgow Caledonian University. Described as ‘the world thought leader in social business and international anti-poverty campaigner’, he already has a well-established working partnership with GCU.  In March he announced at the University details of a new charity, the Grameen Scotland Foundation.  The Foundation, supported by the Scottish Government, is the cornerstone of a microfinance bank branch in Glasgow designed to alleviate inequalities in some of Scotland’s poorest communities.  GCU is also working with Professor Yunus and the Grameen Trust to set up the Grameen Caledonian Partnership.

 

UK Government sets up Early Intervention Foundation

 

The Government ‘plans to procure’ an Early Intervention Foundation. The plan is part of Iain Duncan Smith’s Social Justice Strategy (news story). The new foundation will have two key roles:

• providing advice and support to local commissioners on evidence, social finance and payment by results relating to early intervention to assist their own procurement and evaluation, and
• building the evidence base on what works in early intervention in the UK.

The contract will run for up to 2 years after which it will become self financing, and government funding will cease.

 

WithScotland

 

The Multi-Agency Resource Service (MARS) and the Scottish Child Care and Protection Network (SCCPN) have joined forces to form ‘WithScotland’, to create a national resource for the benefit of everyone in Scotland involved in protecting children and develop stronger connections between child, adult and public protection.

 

Did community work prevent riots?

 

The city of Leeds avoided significant trouble during last year’s English riots, in spite of a racially charged murder and other potential factors. According to an analysis by the Guardian “A key factor, according to all sides, was West Yorkshire police’s decision to allow community workers to conduct some urgent outreach work on the night of the murder, dissuading potential rioters.” The chief constable of West Yorkshire police is credited with pioneering the use of neighbourhood policing teams, and Chapeltown police have invested heavily in improving relations with community mediators.

 

Sustainable Communities Act

 

The Government in England have published regulations (following on from the Sustainable Communities Act) offering new ways for community groups, social enterprises and volunteers to ensure their bureaucracy cutting proposals get heard. In addition a consultation on whether to allow town and parish councils to submit Sustainable Community Act proposals will end on 5 September.

 

INFORMATION AND RESOURCES

Co-production in health and social care  The Scottish Government has launched a booklet ‘Co-production in health and social care: what it is and how to do it’

 

Putting asset based approaches into action Glasgow Centre for Population Health has launched its second briefing paper focusing on asset based approaches.  ‘Putting asset based approaches into action: identification, mobilisation and measurement of assets’ aims to present and discuss a range of methods and techniques which can be used to mobilise individual and community level assets.

 

Inspiring Impact Scotland Evaluation Support Scotland has teamed up with seven other organisations to take part in a UK-wide collaborative project, Inspiring Impact. Its ten-year vision is to make high quality impact measurement the norm for charities and social enterprises. The project website will bring together resources for good impact measurement from across the sector.

 

Bringing Together Local Authorities and Intergenerational Practice Generations Working Together, in partnership with the National Forum on Ageing Futures Group, came together to develop Guidelines on ‘Bringing Together Local Authorities and Intergenerational Practice’ with the support of Renfrewshire Council. The Guidelines provide a succinct definition of Intergenerational Practice, aligning it with Scottish Government National Objectives along with the strategic priority of Community Cohesion.

 

Learning Link Scotland has produced the third edition of Linked, Linked 2012, which is your opportunity to:

• search for adult education services and organisations across Scotland
• read stories of learner achievements through case studies
• examine data describing learning Link members’ services, delivery methods and work context.

Standards Council YouTube channel The CLD Standards Council for Scotland’s YouTube channel includes:

• films of the speakers at their Annual Conference – Bill Maxwell, Carol Craig, David Cameron, David Anderson, Christine Pollock and Colin Mair and
• films from the ‘Whatever the Problem, Community is the Answer’ seminar – of Margaret Wheatley, Carol Craig and Rory McLeod.

Routes to Sustainability The Third Edition of  CHEX’s  ‘Routes to Sustainability’ publication is now available.  This is a resource pack of pull-out sections which highlight a different aspect of the support services and resources, both national and local, which could help community-led health initiatives with securing long term sustainability.  It has been comprehensively revised to take account of new and essential resources which have appeared in the interim.

 

Community Benefits from Renewables The Scottish Government Register of Community Benefits from Renewables is now live, though it only seems to have five entries so far.

 

Creating climate change parks A new e-resource launched by Greenspace Scotland, in partnership with Scottish Natural Heritage, will help people to create ‘climate change parks’ by adapting the design and management of parks to maximise climate change benefits – these range from relatively simple actions like changing grass cutting regimes, creating wildflower meadows and tree planting, to green roofs for park buildings and water management schemes.

 

Sustainable development initiatives – case study database The Sustainable Development Research Network has launched an online case study database of innovative sustainable development initiatives from across the research, community and business sectors. The case studies are divided into a diverse range of categories, including: green economy, community renewable energy, sustainable local transport, local food production, environmental restoration and volunteering, waste prevention, wellbeing and equality, environmental education initiatives, and responsible business practice and social enterprise.

 

Conference reports

• SURF Annual Conference ‘Reality, Resources, Resilience: Regeneration in a Recession’
• Community Transport Networking Event, May, 2012

Well-being: A guide to measuring meaningful outcomes The Scottish Government has provided more detail behind each of the eight Well-being Indicators for ‘Getting it Right for Every Child‘,  developed as part of work done by Edinburgh University. Though not meant to be seen as official Scottish Government guidelines, this offers a contribution towards assessment and plans made by those with responsibility for children’s services and those working with children.

 

IRISS.FM IRISS.FM – internet radio for Scotland’s Social Services – is now live.

 

Good reporting practice by voluntary organisations Evaluation Support Scotland has published a case study report showcasing examples of good reporting practice that voluntary organisations and their funders have shared with them.

 

Social Enterprise and Sport ‘Position Paper’   At this summer’s second national Social Enterprise and Sport Conference a Social Enterprise and Sport ‘Position Paper’   was launched, setting out a vision of a “dynamic and vibrant sports social enterprise community that is part of the fabric of our communities in Scotland and creating a supportive environment in Scotland in which sports social enterprises are able to flourish”.

 

Easy access to third sector research A website designed to bring together research on the voluntary, community and social enterprise sectors in one online searchable database has been launched by the Third Sector Research Centre. The Third Sector Knowledge Portal brings together academic analysis, government studies, and reports from third sector organisations themselves, in one collection of links and downloads. It has been developed by TSRC, British Library and Big Lottery Fund.

 

“Common Core” published  The Common Core describes the skills, knowledge and understanding, and values that everyone should have if they work with children, young people and their families, whether they are paid or unpaid.

 

Can you plan it? ‘Can you Plan It’ is a fun, accessible resource to assist Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise organisations, and specifically those working with children and young people, to involve service users, stakeholders and a range of staff members in the business planning process. The resource can be used in three main ways:

• As a training tool to familiarise a group of staff, partners or stakeholders with the business planning process
• As a tool to support business planning within your organisation, including the option to customise elements
• As a mechanism to support local networks to explore local opportunities and joint strategic decisions.

Equality Evidence Website  The Scottish Government has developed a new resource to make Scottish equality evidence easier to find and use. The Scottish Government Equality Evidence website features an evidence finder tool which allows users to find information for the 7 protected equality characteristics across 15 key policy areas of Scottish Government.

 

Case Studies on Social Justice New case studies of social justice in action from the Department for Work and Pensions are available on their website.

 

My Community Rights The Community Right to Challenge came into effect in England on 27 June. It enables communities to challenge to take over local council services that they think they can run differently and better. A new support service is being run by Locality (formerly the Development Trusts Association), including a case studies section.

 

DOTCOM: European Online Disability Tool This new online resource offers an extensive database of information about disability laws, policies, strategies and initiatives in the Member States of the European Union, its Candidate and associated countries. For each of the 34 countries, and for the EU itself, it will include summary information on 43 selected policy instruments.

 

RESEARCH AND REPORTS

 

Impact Statement reveals £128m value of youth work volunteers Youthlink Scotland has published research into the work of 33 national youth work organisations. These organisations between them say they are working with 386,795 young people across Scotland – 31% of the overall population of 5-25 year olds. They have just 315 core staff and 3236 paid workers. The rest are 73,000 volunteers., who donate so much time for free that it is worth £128m to Scotland, if costed at an estimated sessional rate of £10 an hour.

 

Social Impact Report on social enterprises Social Investment Scotland have launched their Social Impact Report giving the result of research amongst 58 social enterprises and community organisations that have been supported by SIS over the past ten years.  Customers of these organisations were asked to rate both their impact on the communities or groups which they support and also the impact of working with SIS as a funding partner. They considered their activities to have had most impact on building community capacity (average 7.2 out of 10) and health and well-being (average 7.0). Employment and training (average 6.1) and the environment (average 5.6) were also being addressed. Responses were more varied on these two elements, as some projects saw this as a main focus of their work and others as an additional benefit.

 

Poverty Truth Commission follow up report   The original report from the Poverty Truth Commission was published in April 2011, highlighting child poverty in Scotland as well as the unjust way in which poverty is often portrayed in the media.  A year on, this follow up report provides brief updates on the work of the partner organisations involved in the Commission and outlines the Commission’s future.

 

Why Scotland needs a National Action Plan for Human Rights The Scottish Human Rights Commission has produced a Briefing arguing for a National Action Plan for Human Rights. It previews the publication in October 2012 of the findings of a three year research project in which the Commission has mapped the realisation of internationally recognised human rights in Scotland. This concludes that whilst Scotland has made notable progress, it can do better. It has a relatively strong legal and institutional framework for human rights, some examples of positive strategy and policy direction but the actual outcomes for people often remain inconsistent.

 

CJS is outperforming other employment initiatives Community Jobs Scotland is outperforming other employment initiatives, according to new research from the University of Glasgow. The report  recognises that CJS is a valuable programme that has been well-received by the young unemployed and employers, but also that there are some weaknesses in the programme which will need to be addressed.

 

Clubbing Together: The hidden wealth of communities Citizens who are members of local, social organisations forge relationships throughout their community, which benefit both individuals and society at large. The report from ResPublica, Clubbing Together: The hidden wealth of communities, argues that provoking group instead of individual behaviours, and using groups and clubs to draw in other individuals and communities, should be central to policy initiatives. Existing networks and associations, such as clubs and club-type activity, have the resources and connections to catalyse greater social good in communities. The report concludes that healthy, active communities cannot be defined by volunteering statistics, public service delivery or economic activity alone. National and local policy makers, community leaders and business representatives must acknowledge the inter-related nature of local social activity – which is often a hybrid of group affiliations and club memberships, consumer preferences, and informal bonds. The publication was supported by the Bingo Association (I kid you not).

 

Small Charities, Communities & Localism Report  This report from English capacity building charity the FSI concludes, amongst other things that “The relationship dynamics between local authorities and small charities have significant impact on the perception of Localism

• The impact of budget cuts has caused local authorities to be held with distrust and hostility so that some charities find it hard to collaborate with them.
• Local authorities are disinclined to engage with small charities due to the resultant organisational restructuring and changes in priorities.
• There are variations among local authorities in their culture and attitudes towards the voluntary sector which suggest that the interpretation and implementation of the Localism Act will be just as varied.
• Charities that have had experiences dealing with local authorities seem more confident about being able to influence local authorities.”

Scots IACD members’ presentation at US conference Scots International Association for Community Development committee members Rod Purcell and Dave Beck from the University of Glasgow, Scotland, UK have presented a case study example of community sustainability issues in what is currently termed ‘international mega slums’, at the Community Development Society (CDS) conference in Cincinnati, Ohio. Their presentation, entitled ‘Building community sustainability: Dharavi, Mumbai’, draws on fieldwork undertaken in Mumbai as part of a broader study on the practice of community organising in several countries outside of the USA. (Abstract)

 

Well-being data You may have read reports on the release of the UK Government’s experimental subjective Well-being estimates (reporting high levels in the Western and northern Isles). You can have an interactive look at the data here.

 

EVENTS

 

Community Empowerment and Renewal Bill events Responding to the Community Empowerment Bill consultation the Scottish Orchards network is organising two meetings in Glasgow and Edinburgh for community groups to come together and have their say and to showcase and celebrate local groups who are showing “empowerment” in action.

Glasgow: Saturday, 11^th August, 2012 – 10.30 am to 3.30pm, CCA

Edinburgh: Saturday 4^th August, 2012 – 10 am to 3.30pm, City Chambers

 

CEiS Annual Conference Wednesday 5th September, Grand Central Hotel, Glasgow. Social enterprises and charities £99 + VAT, non-social enterprises £139 + VAT.

The annual social enterprise conference ‘Maintaining, Developing and Growing Social Enterprise in Scotland’ will this year take stock of the outcomes and plans to maintain, develop and grow Scotland’s enterprising third sector. The most significant themes – delivery of public services and social enterprise and youth employment, will be explored together with scene setting for investment in social enterprise through the new Enterprise Growth Fund and the 2014 Commonwealth Games Legacy Programme. Programme  Book your place now

 

 Public Health Information Network for Scotland seminar Friday 7th September, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall

This year’s PHINS (Public Health Information Network for Scotland) seminar will look at:

• Exploring health and its determinants at national, regional and city level
• Early years experiences in Scotland.

Registration

 

Learning Festival – CLD programme The Scottish Learning Festival 2012 will take place on 19 and 20 September in the SECC, Glasgow. This year there will be a much greater presence from Community Learning and Development organisations in a ‘CLD Village’, for which the programme is now available.

 

VRU conference: Scotland and Violence Prevention    Friday 12 – Monday 15 October,  Scottish Police College, Tulliallan, Fife (4-day, residential conference, £350)

Over the past seven years, the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) and partners have been working together to reduce violence in Scotland. One of the VRU’s key initiatives is the Community Initiative to Reduce Violence (CIRV). Delivered in collaboration with partners in Glasgow, CIRV has produced significant reductions in gang related violence and has been the subject of a robust and comprehensive evaluation by the University of St Andrews. As well as workshops by the practitioners who delivered CIRV in Glasgow, some of the leading international authorities on violence will be appearing at the conference. Details and registration

 

FCDL Creating Changes conference 21-22November, Derbyshire

FCDL (the UK’s Federation for Community Development Learning) have announced the date of their international conference. The event will showcase the results of Creating Changes, a project offering free community development training to a wide range of local support and development organisations, so that they can improve their practice in supporting small groups and networks. For updates go to www.fcdl.org/events.