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Developing Community Assets: Innovative ways to empower communities
- 1. Developing community assets: Innovative ways to empower communities Shelley Breckenridge #communityassets
- 2. © Interface AGENDA 14.00 Welcome and introduction Shelley Breckenridge - Interface – The knowledge connection for business 14.05 Challenges of community empowerment Dr Peter Matthews - Institute for Building & Urban Design, Heriot-Watt University 14.25 Building community assets Dr Tom Moore – Geography & Sustainable Development, University of St Andrews 14.45 Innovative assets Dr Peter Matthews – Institute for Building & Urban Design, Heriot-Watt University 15.00 Developing assets with a university Caroline Richards – Prospect Community Housing Association 15.15 Accessing the knowledge and expertise of Scotland’s universities and research institutes Shelley Breckenridge – Interface – The knowledge connection for business 15.30 Live and online Q & A 16.00 Close #communityassets
- 3. Challenge of community empowerment Diverse communities and places Dr Peter Matthews Institute of Building and Urban Design School of the Built Environment @urbaneprofessor
- 4. Credits
- 5. Contents • ScotCERB – main proposals and themes • Whose community are we empowering? • Putting the community in planning • All communities are equal but some are more equal than others • Concluding thoughts
- 6. ScotCERB • Renewing/reinvigorated (restarting?) Community Planning • Reform of community councils • Urban community right-to-buy • Community right to challenge • Miscellaneous
- 7. Tom Parnell: http://www.flickr.com/photos/itmpa/6200745928/sizes/o/in/set- 72157627793156184/ Tom Parnell: http://www.flickr.com/photos/itmpa/6200745928/sizes/o/in/set- 72157627793156184/
- 8. Individuals Percentage of whom live in bottom 15% SIMD areas All Men 14.4% Women 15.7% Health problems / disability Disabled 22.0% Long-term illness 22.5% Disabled AND long-term ill 27.5% Neither long-term ill nor disabled 12.8% Ethnicity White 15.0% All non-White ethnicities 22.9% Religion No religion 14.8% Church of Scotland 12.4% Roman Catholic 26.3% Other Christian 8.6% Buddhist 9.3% Muslim 27.1% Other religions 14.4% Sexual orientation Heterosexual 13.4% Gay / lesbian / bisexual / „other‟ 17.0% Refused 17.6%
- 9. Community? Planning The Commission heard a consistent view that the potential benefits of a local partnership approach are far from being fully realised; that there are significant variations in the effectiveness of community planning partnerships; and that, for the most part, the process of community planning has focussed on the relationships between organisations, rather than with communities... (Christie, 2011: 44; emphasis added)
- 10. ScotCERB “It will be important to ensure that community empowerment takes account of diverse communities and reaches both more marginalised individuals within communities and more marginalised communities within society.” (Scottish Government, CERB Consultation: 7)
- 11. The influence of the middle classes Theory name Definition I’ll stand as the parish council chair That the level or nature of middle class interest group formation allows for the collective articulation of their needs and demands, and that service providers respond to this. I’ll write to my councillor and complain That the level and nature of middle-class engagement with public services on an individualised basis means that services are more likely to be provided according to their needs and demands. I’ll just phone our doctor That the alignment in the cultural capital enjoyed by middle classes service users and service providers leads to engagement which is constructive and confers advantage . I’ll vote for them That the needs of middle class service users, or their expectations of service quality, are „normalised‟ in policy and practice or even that policy priorities can favour middle-class interests.
- 12. Empowering the powerful “Many equality groups and individuals however feel disassociated and disenfranchised from community councils. They have expressed that they are often cliques who do not represent nor discuss anything of relevance to them, and only those with the loudest voices are acted upon.” NHS Lothian
- 13. Strategy of equality “„Local control will result in a postcode lottery‟ – Decentralisation will allow different communities to do different things in different ways to meet their different needs. This will certainly increase variety in service provision. But far from being random – as the word „lottery‟ implies – such variation will reflect the conscious choices made by local people. The real lottery is what we have now, where one-size-fits-all policies are imposed by the centre whether or not they work locally.” (Communities and Local Government, 2010: 5)
- 14. “Under no circumstance should any management of spending be transferred to local area groups. Control of spending at local council and national level is essential to ensure fair and equitable distribution of spending for the entire population of Scotland, rather than for the benefit of individual community groups.” (Arnprior Community Council)
- 15. Concluding thoughts? • Marginalised individuals and communities as King Canute? • Spaces for deliberation • Role of representative democracy and political leadership • You can‟t eat community engagement
- 16. Role of voluntary sector • Community development • As advocates for groups and communities • As anchor organisations • Capital ownership and assets
- 17. ‘Hard-to-Reach’ or ‘Easy-to-Ignore’? - A rapid review of place-based policies and equality Dr Peter Matthews, Dr Gina Netto and Dr Kirsten Besemer, Heriot-Watt University http://bit.ly/hardtoreach "Sharp Elbows": Do the Middle-Classes have Advantages in Public Service Provision and if so how? Annette Hastings, University of Glasgow, Dr Peter Matthews, Heriot-Watt University http://bit.ly/sharpelbows
- 18. Building Community Assets Opportunities and challenges of the Scottish Community Empowerment and Renewal Bill Dr Tom Moore (Centre for Housing Research, University of St Andrews) tm55@st-andrews.ac.uk Developing Community Assets Webinar, May 2013
- 19. Objectives of this session • What do we mean by community assets? • Scale, distribution and policy context of the community asset agenda. • Reflect on the key ingredients and challenges involved with developing and supporting community assets.
- 20. What do we mean by assets? • Ownership of physical assets such as land and buildings that are controlled, managed and owned by place-based community organisations. • No uniform model: • Organisations may be stewards, community developers and entrepreneurs (Aiken et al., 2011). • Assets may be acquired and funded in a variety of ways. • Involved in the ownership of a variety of assets: village halls, housing, community facilities, land.
- 21. Scale and distribution of community assets • Current scale: • 75,891 assets owned by 2,718 organisations. • Combined value of £1.45bn. • 66% of assets found in remote rural areas. • Over 90% of non-housing community assets are found in the 80% least deprived areas of Scotland, while only 3% are found in the 5% most deprived (DTAS, 2012).
- 23. Why community assets? • Economic benefits • Income generation • Reduce grant dependency and create independent revenue streams. • Physical benefits • Reverse local decline and tackle community disinvestment (Satsangi, 2007). • Restoration of disused or underutilised buildings. • Social benefits • Tailored solutions to better reflect local needs (McKee, 2012). • Place-based community organisations that accord key roles to local people in democratic governance structures (Moore and McKee, 2012). • Renewal of local democracy (Satsangi, 2007).
- 24. Policy context • Community assets hold popular currency in policymaking • Land Reform Act (2003) and the right to buy: rural communities offered the opportunity to purchase land when it is up for sale. • Big Lottery: Growing Community Assets. • People and Communities Fund (2012-15) • Scottish Community Empowerment & Renewal Bill proposes: • Introduction of an urban right to buy • Expansion of asset transfer
- 25. The key ingredients of community asset acquisition • Political will and intent (legislation useful but not a panacea - see Macleod et al., 2010) • Appropriate resourcing and support is required. • Finance to support asset acquisition. • Investment into infrastructure and partnerships to nurture community capacity (Moore and Mullins, 2013). • Community-led desire, capacity and strategic realism
- 26. Challenges to the community asset agenda • The constitution and impact of legislation. • Community engagement and challenges of empowerment. • Skills, resources and desires of communities. • Asset or liability? (see Aiken et al., 2011). • Fit with wider policies and strategies.
- 27. Implications for Community Empowerment & Renewal Bill • There is much that is positive about the community asset agenda: • Assets can positively benefit communities, improve local services and boost local resilience. • Not always the most desirable option. • Bespoke rather than blanket solution. • History shows it requires stable, dedicated and targeted resourcing. • Tap into existing support services (DTAS, Community Land Scotland, Highlands & Islands Enterprise). • Community ownership transcends who and where we are and any new legislation needs to accompanied by a recognition of this.
- 28. References Aiken, M, Cairns, B, Taylor, M and Moran, R. (2011) „Community organisations controlling assets: a better understanding‟, York: JRF, http://www.jrf.org.uk/sites/files/jrf/community-organisations-assets-full.pdf DTAS (Development Trusts Association Scotland) (2012) Community ownership: a baseline study. Available from: http://www.dtascommunityownership.org.uk/content/publications/community-ownership-in-scotland-a- baseline-study Macleod, C, Braunholtz-Speight, T, Macphail, I, Flyn, D, Allen, S and Macleod, D. (2010) Post Legislative Scrutiny of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003. Available from: http://www.crrs.uhi.ac.uk/publications/reports/reports-and-other-papers McKee, K. (2012) “Housing Associations and the Big Society: lessons from Scotland‟s community housing sector“. St Andrews: Centre for Housing Research, University of St Andrews. Available from: http://ggsrv- cold.st-andrews.ac.uk/chr/publications.aspx Moore, T. and McKee, K. (2012) „Empowering Local Communities? An International Review of Community Land Trusts‟, Housing Studies, 27, 280-290. Moore, T. and Mullins, D. (2013) Scaling-up or going viral? Comparing self-help housing and community land trust facilitation. Third Sector Research Centre Working Paper 94. Satsangi, M. (2007) „Land tenure change and rural housing in Scotland‟, Scottish Geographical Journal, 123, 1, 33-47.
- 29. Innovative assets Web 2.0 and social capital
- 30. Wacquant (among others...) “By the closing decade of the century, the press of stigmatization had arisen sharply due to the explosion of discourses on the alleged formation of „cité-ghettos‟ widely (mis)reprsented as growing pockets of „Arab‟ poverty and disorder...”
- 31. Dean and Hastings 1999 They are regarded as places of high crime, peopled by the feckless and unemployed, but a key finding is that it is inappropriate to talk of the image of an estate. Rather there are fractured images. Individuals emphasise different aspects of the estate, and perceive it differently, depending on their own characteristics and experiences
- 32. Marked by... • Physicality • Tenure • Disinvestment • Notoriety and myth
- 35. Residents‟ perceptions “when I first lived here Wester Hailes Drive you couldn‟t escape from Wester Hailes that was your address Wester Hailes Drive you know. And I was unemployed a lot of the time you know in and oot o‟ work and sometimes going for a job because of yer address was difficult you know because Wester Hailes had this reputation you were all thieves crooks and drug addicts”
- 36. Residents‟ perceptions “they look doon the hill at us you know they can be we‟re in the middle but they‟re still looking doon the hill at us because we‟re part o‟ Wester Hailes and they do not want to be involved wi‟ Wester Hailes”
- 38. The Wester Hailes Sentinel http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=32 2812907796229
- 39. 2008...
- 47. Promise of web 2.0 • Democratisation of the web • Digital utopians • Digital dystopians
- 50. What‟s happened • Meetings. • A lot of meetings. • Getting planning permission • Getting the totem pole in the ground
- 51. © RCAHMS
- 52. © RCAHMS
- 53. Place attachment and social capital
- 54. Place attachment and social capital • Photos elicit stories • Stories describe complexities place attachment • Is this supporting bonding social capital? • Is there a scope to develop bridging social capital and empowerment?
- 56. Social media is media • Audience is based on content • Banalism o Reminiscence o Narratives of everyday life • Is this a problem?
- 58. Concluding thoughts • University involvement as catalyst • Limit to what we can do • Academics are selfish • Academics are a pain to work with
- 59. Prospect Community Housing Caroline Richards Community Projects Officer
- 60. Prospect Community Housing • Located in Wester Hailes, South West Edinburgh • We provide and manage 899 homes for rent all within Wester Hailes • Set up by local people in 1988, our community attachment will always be strong. We’re still managed by a board made up of people who live in the areas we serve
- 61. Prospect and Wider Role • Core business is housing but building community takes more than homes • Initiate and support projects and services that benefit tenants and the wider community • Wider Role activity complements existing area needs and local priorities • Work in partnership • Able to act as an anchor organisation • Wide range of projects- young people, employability, health, environmental, building capacity
- 62. • Use of social media to engage with local online users • Encourages interaction, builds a network • Sentinel Newspaper archive shows history of estate • Involved in a local partnership developing innovative ways to publicise and use area’s social history • Social history blog and Facebook page • Positive images that celebrate past and redefine present From There To Here: Engagement via memories
- 63. Journey to Partnership • Social History group- local resident who recognised potential value of university involvement • Initial contact via Edinburgh University’s Urban Geography Dept- research on marginality • Limited long term impact but led to partnership with Edinburgh College of Art • Community Hacking project looking for a community to work with • Led to a set of activities/ projects focused on engagement, interaction and capacity building
- 64. Ladder To the Clouds • Tales of Things- collecting memories, linking social history to interactive technology • QR Codes- information and write back • Code Books- QR coded social history walks developed by Eoghan Howard and the Wester Hailes Health Agency • Totem Pole co-ordinated by WHALE Arts Agency • QR Code Wall Plaques- Prospect CH working with RCAHMS • Our Place In Time: local partnership
- 65. Digital Sentinel • Sentinel was an independent community voice • Online resource more sustainable • Co-ordinated by local steering group drawn from Our Place In Time • A live community space for Wester Hailes residents to share current news, views, interests and stories • Content and format being driven by local community • A front page acting as a portal using free to access platforms such as Flickr, Youtube, Audioboo etc • Currently training local residents interested in becoming citizen journalists, uploading content etc.
- 66. Benefits of Partnership • Technical expertise and support- e.g. back office set up for Digital Sentinel, QR codes • Funding- access to new sources • Fresh viewpoint- new ways of thinking and carrying out processes • Linked into a network that presents wider opportunities • Sharing of knowledge and good practice • On-going support in community asset building
- 67. Learning Points • Establish reciprocity from the beginning- what is the community gaining from the relationship? • Partnership agenda should be driven by local partners • Understand that the university partner will be looking for specific outcomes that may be very different to other partners • Your university partner may speak a different language on occasion! • Challenge of differing timescales • Long term commitment from all partners is key to success
- 68. Contact Details Caroline Richards caroline.richards@prospectch.org.uk From There To Here blog: http://hailesmatters.wordpress.com From There To Here Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/FromThereToHerea WesterHailesStory Social History Code Books:
- 69. © Interface Interface Connecting businesses with Scotland’s academia
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- 74. © Interface The match making Academic Partners All Scottish Universities & Research Institutions Direct Contact Via events, social media, word of mouth, press, etc Referrals Via Intermediary organisations Business Community
- 75. © Interface Support for businesses in Scotland’s Academia Research & technology capabilities Contract research Specialist expertise Access to equipment & facilities Consultancy Industrial placements Training, support & development Strategy, marketing & planning support
- 76. © Interface Benefits to business 8 companies registered 49 new patents 27 companies forecasted 334 new licencing deals 43 companies forecasted 225 jobs being safeguarded 10 companies created 25 jobs 33 companies introduced 48 new products 37 companies forecasted 81 new processes being introduced 18 companies safeguarded 57 jobs 71 companies forecasted 218 new products / services being introduced 9 companies reported expansion into 20 new markets 2011/12 annual survey results; n=179
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- 80. © Interface Albyn Housing Society Ltd Benefits • Assess the feasibility of a new innovative model of delivering ALS to vulnerable customers. • Evidence gathered is being used to develop a future project that will develop, implement and evaluate this service model. • The service will allow the company to maintain and/or improve their position in the market, increasing revenue. “Our involvement with Interface has been hugely beneficial for Albyn Housing Society Ltd as their introduction has been fundamental in developing our relationship with the Centre for Rural Health and has led to further joint work with UHI. We have already generated interest from the social housing sector in the work we have done so far” Calum MacAulay, Chief Executive, Albyn Housing Society Ltd
- 81. © Interface Renfrewshire Community Health Initiative Benefits • Greater understanding of the process of change from a voluntary organisation to a social business, leading to improved sustainability and the ability to continue to meet community needs • Relationship with GCU has given RCHI an increased profile and credibility with principal stakeholders • Framed a successful competitive PhD studentship application, allowing the partners to continue to collaborate for years beyond the initial study
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Editor's Notes
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- Scottish Community Empowerment and Renewal BillConsultation in summer 2012Focus on community engagement and empowerment in public service delivery – the promise of community planningVarious proposals to reform community councils, including giving them part of local authority budgetsExtending the rural right-to-buy (or bid) to urban communities to take over underused or unused assetsCommunity right to challenge service providersMiscellaneous other provisions around allotments, processes of community engagement
- Tendency to presume community isn’t “us”. Can be used euphemistically to refer to deprived urban communities to make them the subject of policy intervention.Or an idealistic notion of cohesive rural communities.So first question is – how diverse are these communities?
- N.B. 15% pointNote-High proportion of disabled and long-term illAll non-white ethnicitiesRoman CatholicMuslim“non-straight” sexualitiesMore data from 2011 census when it becomes available.
- Reviews of community planning, including the Christie Commission, have often found it wanting in terms of community partnership. for the most part, the process of community planning has focussed on the relationships between organisations, rather than with communitiesSimilar experiences with Local Strategic Partnerships and neighbourhood management in England before 2010. Helen Sullivan and Vivienne Lowndes concluded that:‘[a] partnership whose strength is to bring together diverse agencies and interests may struggle to establish a clear and common identity, recognisable to sceptical, or uninterested, local citizens. This is likely to be a particular problem for strategic partnerships (like LSPs) given their wide ranging remit and responsibilities.’
- In consultation on Community empowerment and renewal bill SG recognise the weaknesses in Community planningSee comm empower bill as a way to reinvigorate community planningThe ongoing development of community planning and joint working to deliver outcomesAlso in the consultation document, and explicit recognition of diversity and difference and the challenges of this in community empowerment:It will be important to ensure that community empowerment takes account of diverse communities and reaches both more marginalised individuals within communities and more marginalised communities within society -But how realistic is this?
- Review of literature across public services, in UK, US and Scandinavia for studies from 1980s to the present day.Revealed four causal theories by which middle class activism
- The consultation responses to the CERB consultation, and excellent analysis demonstrate great reflexivity on the part of organisations who responded, and a recognition of many of the challenges I have highlighted – and the first causal mechanism. For example NHS Lothian stated quite clearly regarding the proposals to empower community councils:“Many equality groups and individuals however feel disassociated and disenfranchised from community councils. They have expressed that they are often cliques who do not represent nor discuss anything of relevance to them, and only those with the loudest voices are acted upon.” As mentioned, activities of community planning are at a strategic level – “council speak” – so people find it difficult to engage.Third causal mechanism; affluent groups are more able and ready to engage at this level and get outcomes they want from the processThe presumption, even within ScotCERB is that community empowerment through community planning will be strategic and state-initiated. Two problems with this – firstly, it returns to a problem with previous social inclusion agendas, that the community you are engaging with are somehow deficient (not strategic enough) and need support to engage with you and in doing so will be improved themselves.Secondly, ignores community empowerment as instrumental citizen-initiated contact – the second causal mechanism.US evidence shows as household income grows you complain about services more, and more effectively; virtuous circle.There is silence within policy to this type of behaviour and its possible effects.Move to the fourth causal mechanism – the general predisposition we discovered to normalising the problems of affluent people and communities – means the sort of deep deliberation needed for community empowerment to be fair and inclusive will probably not occur. Problems with this around co-producing outcomesAffluent community can co-produce its outcomes by being engaged in the PTA or even taking over its libraryDeprived community can co-produce its outcomes by behaving a bit more like “us” and meeting our expectationsBigger point on the local strategy of equality
- Strategy of equality; strategy of spatial equalityDo we want areas to get the same treatment?Do we want areas to arrive at the same outcomes?Do areas only deserve the services they can afford to pay for?The UK government in it’s Localism proposals explicitly aimed to produce spatial inequality. “variation will reflect the conscious choices made by local people” – our evidence suggests that these local people are more likely to be the most affluent and therefore the most vocal.This version of localism is about a winner-takes-all culture
- As stated earlier – ScotCERB consultation responses show an amazing reflexivity among the respondees. Among the community councils asking for more power and influence was this striking response by Arnprior Community Council in Stirling to the question regarding whether community councils should have power over budgets: “Under no circumstance should any management of spending be transferred to local area groups. Control of spending at local council and national level is essential to ensure fair and equitable distribution of spending for the entire population of Scotland, rather than for the benefit of individual community groups.”
- Can we realistically create spaces for deliberation that allow big debates such as the strategy of equality to take place within community planning structures? E.g. of police constable at NP meetingRole of representative democracy – to make difficult decisions; e.g. of environmental servicesIn current austerity, I also return to an idea from global development – you can’t eat community engagementBedroom tax etc. are we asking too much?
- No uniform model of community assets. Stewards: small, volunteer-run groups that seek to maintain assets. Do not tend to have paid staff or revenue-raising objectives. Community Developers: Normally have paid staff and a range of objectives. Could also be classed as community anchors and will be involved in local service delivery and partnerships. Entrepreneurs: larger, more professionalised social enterprises, still with community roots but possibly have more commercialised purposes and run capital-intensive projects. May seek to grow local economies and be involved in projects that have multiple beneficiaries.
- No uniform model of community assets. Stewards: small, volunteer-run groups that seek to maintain assets. Do not tend to have paid staff or revenue-raising objectives. Community Developers: Normally have paid staff and a range of objectives. Could also be classed as community anchors and will be involved in local service delivery and partnerships. Entrepreneurs: larger, more professionalised social enterprises, still with community roots but possibly have more commercialised purposes and run capital-intensive projects. May seek to grow local economies and be involved in projects that have multiple beneficiaries.
- The community asset sector is one of significant scale and value. The vast majority of these were housing assets, but there is significant evidence of ownership of other types of assets. They are largely found in rural areas and in those areas where there is not significant poverty or deprivation. The reasons for this may be varied and may relate to gaps in capacity, aspiration or mechanisms of support.
- This table from DTAS highlights the recent rise of community assets. You will notice the spike at the turn of the century which coincided with the introduction of the Land Reform Act in 2003 and associated funding streams.
- The community asset agenda has grown in prominence in recent years. I’ll talk shortly about the policy ideas behind this. Assets are supported for a number of reasons. These are just some of the motivations for community asset ownership. Economic benefits: depending on the type of assets involved, they may generate income or surpluses that can be reinvested into the local community. They can reduce grant dependency. In an era when grants are cut some organisations may look at assets as a vehicle for boosting their resilience. Physical: reversal of local decline as in the case of community land ownership, which also reversed patterns of monopolistic land ownership that had a detrimental effect on communities in the Highlands. Restoration of disused buildings, tackling neighbourhood blight and as part of wider regeneration agendas. Social: they can create tailored solutions that reflect the needs, desires, objectives and priorities of a local community. They can localise decision-making and empower communities to take charge of their own destiny.
- There are several examples of this in Scotland. The Land Reform Act offered a significant opportunity for rural communities to take land into community ownership. Some people question the effectiveness of the legislation and most examples of community land purchase have actually occurred outwith the Act. This was coupled with the Scottish Land Fund which offered ringfenced funding. New Peoples & Communities Fund offers finance for community-led organisations, particularly aimed at those helping people with employability and preventative action. Government has recently consulted on the Empowerment Bill This includes the introduction of an urban right to buy. The Govt are currently considering whether it should operate in the same way as the rural right to buy and how ‘community’ can be defined in an urban context. Also focuses on the potential for public sector assets to be transferred into community ownership, particularly where they are under utilised or disused.
- Clearly there has to be some sort of political will to support community assets. By setting the rules of the game in an appropriate manner, government can create an environment in which community assets can thrive. But this isn’t achieved solely through legislation: for example the majority of community land purchases have occurred outside the Land Reform Act. The Land Reform Act has been criticised for its complexity and placing onerous administrative demands on communities. Appropriate resourcing and support is important. This may include finance to support asset acquisition. Many people cite the Scottish Land Fund, with its dedicated ringfenced funding, as being more influential on community land purchase than the legislation itself. But this isn’t ‘blank cheque’ funding – there can be scope for innovation such as revolving loan funds. Scope for infrastructure and support. Again with land reform, the Highlands & Enterprise support service has been hugely important in helping communities navigate the process. This includes access to technical skills and support. This has also been covered in a recent paper we have written on community-led housing and land trusts in England, where intermediary organisations that operate at different geographic scales are crucial to increasing the size and scope of community asset agendas. Partnerships are key. There also needs to be desire from the community and a genuine desire to see things through. Asset acquisition and ownership can be a lengthy and time consuming process which asks a lot of community members and volunteers. Also needs to be considered how and where it fits in with strategic plans for the local area. And to realise that whether it is community, public or private ownership, assets and enterprise still have to be managed in a viable and financially responsible way.
- The geographical distribution of community assets in Scotland suggests that there are significant challenges to be overcome if asset agendas are to take root across the nation. Legislation may be important but it needs to be configured in an appropriate way. Bureaucratic processes with centralised controls will disincentivise community-led approaches. Legislation needs to offer a genuine and realistic avenue for communities to achieve their objectives, not place onerous demands that may stifle community innovation. If asset-based approaches are to be pursued, space needs to be given and time created for communities to engage and involve their community. Asset acquisition is laden with democratic potential but active citizen participation and engagement takes time. This is particularly relevant where a community is not already or easily defined. Skills and resources can be unevenly distributed within and between communities. Asset acquisition, management and ownership places heavy demands on those who are involved. Engagement with intermediary support services can help ease these burdens but it is important to understand asset ownership may not be for every community. But to offer the opportunity to all, there needs to be easily accessible technical support and opportunities for partnership building. Ownership of land and buildings can be a liability for organisations as well as an asset. Ultimately assets still need to be managed in a financially viable and responsible manner. Much of the asset transfer rhetoric focuses on communities taking over disused or under utilised buildings. It depends what the asset is but it should be acknowledged that although they can tackle blight and manage assets effectively, these assets can also turn into liabilities. Furthermore not all communities will want to take ownership of assets. Many will be happy with service from public providers. There may not be demand for asset transfer and it’s important to recognise that this demand needs to come from communities, rather than responsibility for local services being transferred from the public to the community sector. Fit with wider policies: e.g. there are currently concerns on state aid where assets are transferred at less than best value.
- There is much that is positive about community assets. They can yield significant benefits for their communities, whether it be by tackling inequalities in land ownership or undertaking neighbourhood regeneration.But it’s not always the only or most desirable option. Needs to be considered on a case-by-case basis and recognise that the needs and objectives of every community are not the same. It is a bespoke solution, not a blanket solution.Furthermore it requires appropriate resourcing that taps into existing mechanisms and support services. It is also worth examining the geographical reach of existing pillars of support as this may explain the uneven geographical distribution of assets in Scotland, which is heavily weighted towards rural areas. There is not a blanket solution to supporting communities but rather a bespoke service that engages at a local level and supports communities in coming up with tailored solutions.Resourcing isn’t necessarily or solely about asking for grant aid, but about ensuring the appropriate infrastructure is in place to support communities technically and financially. Avoiding bureaucratic hurdles in order to be truly empowering.
- Head office in Edinburgh, a satellite office in Inverness and representation in Glasgow, Dumfries, Perth, Dundee and Aberdeen
- 24 partner Universities and Research Institutes within Scotland
- Survey response figures:Companies sent to:Closed won 293In discussion 142Closed lost 139TOTAL 574Responses receivedClosed won 106In discussion 53Closed lost 20TOTAL 179TOTAL RESPONSE RATE 31%
- Need to include word impact (for REF)
- Albyn Housing Society Limited began in 1973 by building homes for the incoming workers at the Invergordon smelter. From origins of a handful of staff, the Society now has 63 employees and two offices in Invergordon and Inverness. Albyn currently manages over 2,750 properties either through affordable rent or low cost home ownershp schemes.BackgroundAlbyn Housing Society wanted to investigate the feasibility of offering Assisted Living Services to their vulnerable residents through the use of Assisted Living Technologies as part of their suite of services. Assisted Living Technologies (ALT) are defined as those sensors, devices and communication systems that together allow the delivery of Assisted Living Services (ALS) including telehealth, telecare, wellness, digital participation and teleworking services. Interest in telecare is growing due to concern over caring for increasing numbers of older people and the challenges of service delivery in remote and rural areas. Telecare is viewed increasingly as a means of creating efficiencies and cost savings for service providers, prolonging independence and improving quality of life for service users and supporting carers. The Business ChallengeInterface - The knowledge connection for business facilitated a meeting between Albyn Housing Society and the Centre for Rural Health at the University of the Highlands & Islands to discuss the idea of providing Assisted Living Technologies to their vulnerable customers as part of the suite of services that they currently provide. Albyn Housing wanted to explore what the new service delivery model might look like, how it could benefit the business/customer and how it could be implemented and evaluated. They were also interested in opening up possibilities for training and job opportunities for young people in rural areas in line with their interest in the nEET (not in Education, Employment or Training) sector and community regeneration.The Solutionfunded through a Scottish funding Council Innovation Voucher, researchers from the Centre for Rural Health carried out the feasibility study on behalf of Albyn Housing Society. firstly, a brief literature review was conducted to establish how telecare is currently being delivered both nationally and nternationally. This review was combined with an information gathering exercise to find out more on telecare from key stakeholders in rural communities, Highland Council, Highlands and Islands Enterprise as well as the housing and third sectors. Secondly, interviews were conducted with older Albyn Housing tenants and carers. They were asked about their current awareness and use of telecare as well as their attitudes to using it in the future. A workshop with Albyn Housing staff was undertaken to ascertain their views on the issues involved in delivering a new telecare service. The Dementia Services Development Centre in Stirling was visited so that staff from both collaborative partners could see the telecare equipment demonstrated in a realistic home setting. The research data was collated and analysed in order to develop different options for service delivery. Having examined the conclusions and recommendations of the initial feasibility study into telecare delivery, Albyn Housing Society are looking to develop a longer term collaborative relationship that will allow them to proceed with planning and establishing a telecare service to vulnerable customers.
- Since 1998, Renfrewshire Community Health Initiative (RCHI) has been the only voluntary sector community health organisation in Paisley working on health improvement with communities to help people cope with life circumstances, and promote behavioural change and self-help. RCHI focuses on people who do not access services currently and are the hardest to reach. They would like to move to a social business model of practice, operating as a non-profit, non-dividend organisation, but with greater freedom to pursue its mission of health improvement whilst maintaining financial sustainability in an increasingly resource-constrained environment.Renfrewshire Community Health Initiative (RCHI) is seeking to change status from a voluntary organisation to a social business. Despite current trends towards encouragement of greater plurality in health provision, the process of transition from voluntary organisation to social business has not been documented before. Ultimately, we aim to conduct a three-year participatory action research (PAR) project to assess lessons learned from such a process of change, what the benefits are for the organisation and, more importantly, assess impacts on clients and communities using instruments to measure health and well-being. The key is that the researcher acts as both facilitator to the receptor organisation (in this case, RCHI) as well as retaining his/her research role. Staff in the receptor organisation effectively act as ‘co-researchers’ who take responsibility for the direction and speed of change within the organisations identified. The funding from the voucher scheme would be used for a ‘scoping study’ for the subsequent three-year study, allowing us to evaluate: the initial concerns and issues for RCHI staff; potential barriers and facilitators to change; the current ways in which success of such organisations is judged (currently though a mechanism labelled ‘social return on investment’); and agree on a change process to be managed, facilitated and studied. The main output for RCHI would be that change process. The proposed plan would be taken forward though an agreed implementation plan that would be led by RCHI’s Board and Manager. A strategic development at Glasgow Caledonian University has been the creation of the Yunus Centre for Social Business & Health, its aims being to assess the sustainability and impact of ‘social business as a public health intervention’. Studies with organisations such as RCHI will be key to the Centre’s success which is why we expect a long-term relationship to emerge from this funding. The benefits to the company will be: greater understanding of the process of change from a voluntary organisation to a social business, leading to improved sustainability and the ability to continue to meet community needs in a funding environment which will require greater flexibility on the part of such organisations. The benefits to GCU will be: building a model of change and of evaluation of health-related social business which will serve as a basis for a PhD studentship, in the case of Renfrewshire Community Health Initiative, and for further research bids related to this voucher-supported project and subsequent PhD. Benefits to the Scottish economy are: further insight into how to create self-sustaining community-based organisations that meet important social needs within a heavily-constrained fiscal environment.The award would be used in a ‘scoping study’, involving:Interviews with key stakeholders, such as RCHI Board members, the RCHI manager and other key customers, requiring RCHI involvement in terms of approaching, explanating to and gaining consenting from interviewees;Analysis of the recordings of these interviews requiring corresponding RCHI involvement so as to ‘vailidate’ researcher’s findings;Reviewing appropriateness of ‘social return on investment’ as a measure of ‘success’ for such entities, all conducted by the employee;Attendance at and observation of RCHI staff meetingsTwo focus groups to set out issues to be addressed and agree a programme of change, which includes RCHI staff time not only in attendance but also in recruiting participants and preparation for the meeting;Field notes would also be used to inform the proposed process of change; andAssessment of RCHI information systems’ ability to be adapted to incorporate measures of health and well-being, including RCHI staff time in explaining current systems, exploring potential for change and piloting such changes.The final report would include an implementation plan which would form the initial template for RCHI to follow in transitioning from a voluntary sector organisation to a social business.The key requirement for the collaboration is an individual with the knowledge of how social enterprises run but also with the research skills to undertake the role of participatory action researcher. The individual would also require knowledge of the policy landscape for social enterprise, including working knowledge of the ‘social return on investment’ framework, and also an understanding of the role of community health initiatives in reducing health inequalities. Senior supervisory skills in each of these aspects would also be required. The Yunus Centre in Social Business & Health at Glasgow Caledonian University possesses such supervisory skills and, through its existing networks, has identified a person who would serve in the PAR role. 3The skills and expertise required within the company would be: transferring knowledge from themselves to the researcher on issues of context, aims and strategy for the future and current and future challenges, via interviews; liaising with ‘customer’ organisations and individuals in receipt of services to arrange contact with the researcher; working through transcripts with the researcher to validate qualitative analysis; facilitation of and attendance at staff meetings and focus groups; arranging access to and assessing current information systems; reading and commenting on final report.The outcome/impact has been much greater than expected. The relationship with Glasgow Caledonian has given RCHI an increased profile and credibility with principal stakeholders. For the university, increased understanding of the challenges facing a small third sector organisation in this environment, and the qualitative data generated, have been used to good effect in framing a successful competitive PhD studentship application, allowing the partners to continue to collaborate for years beyond this initial study. The PhD – entitled “Social business as an innovative and sustainable solution to the provision of pluralistic health care: developing a framework for measuring social impact” – will research RCHI’s transition to a sustainable social business model via a Participatory Action Research approach, thus furthering our understanding of social business as a public health intervention in the context of constrained resources, and advancing the evaluatory agenda serving to underpin knowledge of the effectiveness of such measures.