Scottish Leaders Forum event in November 2012 on Supporting Resilient Communities. Key messages from Communities Workshop Session.

1. Scottish Leaders Forum
Key Messages
From Workshop Sessions
2 November 2012

2. Workshop 1 (am) – Community
Ownership
Key Messages
1. Focus on unlocking the capacity, funding and
assets for communities
2. Change the culture of public bodies to enable and
support communities
3. Be flexible about the approach to community
management of assets, through for example –
ownership, leasing or partnership arrangements
4. Find ways to transfer success to community cold
spots or communities of interest in addition to well
established geographic communities
5. Acknowledge and support the human element of
this endeavour

3. Workshop 1 (pm) – Community
Ownership
3 Key Messages
1. A cultural shift is required within public bodies,
who should be promoting the opportunity of
community ownership more
2. Accessible assets should be identified,
perhaps in an assets register and publicised
3. There should be effective mechanisms in place
which enable communities to take over
suitable assets and provide them with ongoing
support to develop their skills and capacity for
asset management and address succession
issues

4. Workshop 2 (am) – Total
Neighbourhood
3 Key Messages
1. Importance of connecting and translating
unorthodox and innovative actions to
existing governance structures – and
change the existing structures if
required!
2. Learn to fail fast, not slow, by finding out
quickly if things work and adapting
3. Importance of engaging & empowering
front line staff across organisations, not
just within organisations

5. Workshop 2 (pm) – Total
Neighbourhood
3 Key Messages
1. Change of culture to be less risk averse
and supportive of people who take risk –
not coming down on people who get it
wrong
2. Management at all levels needs to be
questioning, diagnostic and empowering
3. Engagement with community should be
honest and follow through to evaluation
and service delivery

6. Workshop 3 (am) – Big Noise, Raploch
Key Messages
1. You need to plan, build up long term
evidence
2. Leaders need to challenge universalism
(and be prepared to defend)
3. Knit yourself into fabric of communities
and create leadership
4. Listen and change, innovate
5. Leaders need to become comfortable
with messy (develop their own capacity)

7. Workshop 3 (pm) – Big Noise, Raploch
Key Messages
1. Learn from mistakes. Learn from families.
Schools, LAs, social work have learned to do
things differently. Consolidate learning.
2. Organic, preventative approach. Build positive
capacity. When taking a risk accept that things
may not work.
3. Think about getting off institutional tramlines.
Scope in health for social prescribing. Are we
measuring the right things?
4. How we react to innovation and risk –
safeguarding public money.
5. Tracking not just educational outcomes but health
too.

8. Workshop 4 (am) – Poverty Truth
Commission
3 Key Messages
1. Ensure values in public service organisations
recognise importance of individuals and
communities and empower staff to work with
people to deliver sustainable solutions
2. Listen better to people that are being affected,
and build relationships and trust through creating
on-going meaningful dialogue
3. Understanding of Scotland’s communities
through education to provide knowledge for
future decision making. Learn from history,
experience and people (in communities and
about communities)

9. Workshop 4 (pm) – Poverty Truth
Commission
3 Key Messages
1. Value of testimony is not given significant
weighting in how we make decisions. Honest
testimony brings services closer to service users
2. Every part of an organisation where decisions are
being taken needs to listen and understand.
Create the right environment for discussion, listen
to solutions and agree how these should be put in
to practice
3. Better understanding of restricted choices. A wider
understanding of what poverty is and how this
restricts opportunity

10. Workshop 5 (am) – Role of Housing
Associations in Communities
3 Key Messages
1. How apply learning – leaders to apply
optimism, be role models as trusted leaders,
offer hope, use experience/continuity
2. What methods apply – ways of working with
people not ‘doing to’, sharing of capacity,
looking for new partnerships/adapting, give
choice to customers [Suggestion: offer/share
volunteers]
3. How think differently – Imp. of understanding
the people serve & demonstrate hope,
understand risks but ‘get on and do’

11. Workshop 5 (pm) – Role of Housing
Associations in Communities
3 Key Messages
1. Role of HAs to mobilise communities, power
of network/enabler function, build on existing
assets and knowledge of people in the
communities
2. Investigate mechanisms/routes by which
money could go to community-based bodies,
like HAs, given money to spend as they
choose for needs of communities
3. Social enterprise function imp. Build on
innovation, use energy as catalyst for change

12. Workshop 6 (am) – Scottish Recovery
Consortium
3 Key Messages
1. ASSETS – physical and human more
about commitment less about money
2. UNDERSTANDING “BETTER THAN
WELL” – challenge as employers and as
members of the community
3. RECOVERY PROCESS – a social
process and a community benefit for all

13. Workshop 6 (pm) – Scottish Recovery
Consortium
3 Key Messages
1. It’s all about relationships
2. Strong interest in how recovery works in
the community
3. Recovery has wider relevance to all
public services