Doing ‘with' not ‘to' - an introduction to co-production
/Training: Learn about the importance of strong community relationships and networks which support opportunities for co-production with this training.
Read MoreWe work directly with community organisations, people who work in communities and with people who make policy.
What we do
We deliver large scale programmes across Scotland to help build the capacity of the community sector, support public agencies to work effectively with communities and to widen participation in local democracy.
We support and manage a series of networks, using our learning from these and working with communities and community practitioners to inform policy and legislation.
A major part of our work is providing research, training and consultancy services. All of our services are tailored to meet the individual needs of the organisations and partnerships we support. Find out more about our training.
We work closely with the European Community Development Network and the International Association of Community Development.
Our key work
CHEX supports and promotes community development approaches to improving people's health.
PB Scotland acts as a hub for sharing and learning about the work being done by participatory budgeting initiatives around Scotland.
The Scottish Co-production Network is a way for people to share ideas and learning about co-production.
Health Issues in the Community (HIIC) is a training programme which looks at issues such as health, poverty, power and social justice in a different way.
Supporting Communities is a package of support for community organisations across Scotland to help build skills, confidence and capacity.
VOiCE is planning and recording software that assists individuals, organisations and partnerships to design and deliver effective community engagement.
Knowledge is Power is a programme to support community-led action research across Scotland.
The LEAP framework is designed to support a partnership approach to achieving change and improvement in the quality of community life.
The Communities Channel Scotland is a website which puts communities in the spotlight by connecting people and sharing ideas.
This resource is designed to build the skills, confidence and knowledge of refugee-led organisations and refugee supporting organisations, although most of the materials will be useful to any community group.
Participation requests are one way that communities can ask to work with public bodies to make services better. SCDC works to raise awareness, and support the use, of participation requests, as well as to help strengthen and improve how they work.
This programme aims to explore what resilience looks like in our communities, how we can build on existing good practice and improve how communities and local agencies can work together to develop strong, resilient communities.
Our statement promoting community involvement in climate decision-making on as COP26 summit begins in Glasgow.
These pages provide advice on how to virus proof the fantastic things communities are doing and reduce the risk of indirect spread of Covid-19.
The National Standards for Community Engagement are a way to build and sustain the relationships between public services and community groups.
A report from Barnardo's Scotland & SCDC about peer-led evaluation and the impact that the Barnardo’s Nurture Service has had on the people involved.
Using action research, we wanted to find out more about the implications of Local Place Plans were for the planning system and communities.
Exploring how community councils can contribute to democratic renewal in Scotland.
The Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act strengthens community voices in decisions about public services and makes it easier for them to own and manage land and buildings.
Our resources
SCDC submitted a written response to the Scottish Government’s consultation on proposals for a new qualifications body and a new approach to inspection of Education in Scotland.
SCDC submitted a written response to the Scottish Government’s consultation on a proposed Human Rights Bill for Scotland. We’ve summarised our key points, with a focus on the importance of participation and community capacity building within the context of human rights.
Here are the key points from SCDC’s response to the Scottish Government’s consultation on ‘Effective community engagement in local development planning’ guidance in September 2023.
Community wealth building is focused on growing the influence communities have on the economy and ensuring communities receive more of the benefits from the wealth they help to generate. The Scottish Government has adopted a community wealth building approach, and sees it as a key tool in supporting a just transition to net zero and reducing child poverty. This is a summary of SCDC’s response to the Scottish Government’s consultation on community wealth building which ran in 2023.
If you lived in a 20-minute neighbourhood you would be able meet all your day-to-day needs without having to travel more than 20 minutes by foot, bike or public transport. We’ve summarised the key points from our response to the Scottish Government’s consultation on planning guidance it is developing in relation to 20-minute neighbourhoods and local living.
SCDC’s participation request resource pack contains a range of guides, tools and templates to help you understand the Participation Request process, the language and terms that are used, and the process involved.
We’ve made these graphics to help show the 7 standards in a simple way and highlight the key elements.
Are you planning a community event and want to do your bit to make a climate impact? Even if your event isn’t focused on climate change, there’s still lots you can do. Here are some practical things to make your event greener, and some things to think about too.
The National Standards for Community Engagement are a way to build and sustain the relationships between public services and community groups.
A report from Barnardo's Scotland & SCDC about peer-led evaluation and the impact that the Barnardo’s Nurture Service has had on the people involved.
Exploring how community councils can contribute to democratic renewal in Scotland.
This report aimed to develop learning, take actions, improve practice and reflect together on opportunities and challenges in the current context.
Our response to the recent Scottish Government’s Democracy Matters consultation welcomes the idea of people having more control over what happens in their communities.
SCDC and the Poverty Alliance worked with ten community organisations to co-design a resource framework which could be used to support communities across Scotland to conduct their own inquiries into the issues affecting them.
Exploring the local experiences of refugee resettlement and how examines how community development approaches could be used to further refugee integration in Scotland.
ARC is to help community and voluntary groups carry out research in and with their communities.
This paper outlines the common approaches that community development and co-production take.
Published in 2015, 'Co-production – how we make a difference together' is a suite of resources – videos, case studies and information to help spread understanding of co-production
Building Stronger Communities is a practical assessment and planning tool for community capacity building in Scotland.
The Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act strengthens community voices in decisions about public services and makes it easier for them to own and manage land and buildings.
Training: Learn about the importance of strong community relationships and networks which support opportunities for co-production with this training.
Read MoreTraining: This training will allow you to analyse, plan, implement and evaluate community engagement practice from small scale projects to strategic development.
Read MoreThis resource is one of the outputs of a partnership formed by four European organisations involved in community work and citizen participation with disadvantaged or marginalised social groups in numerous and diverse locations throughout Europe. The partnership includes Scottish Community Development Centre (UK), Cooperativa Estrategies de Transformacio Comunitaria Sostenible (Spain), Association of Local Democracy Agencies (France), Association of Community Developers (Hungary).
his Guide describes the overall learning from the partnership visits to Strasbourg (France) 1-2 March 2012, Glasgow (Scotland) 13-15 June 2012, Barcelona (Spain) 25-24 October 2012 and Budapest (Hungary) 9-12 April 2013. Click here
Video of the discussion from the partnership visit to Scotland. Click here
Video and pictures of the visits and discussion from the partnership visit to Hungary. Click here
Poverty Issues in Hungary - A short Introductory film for the Grundtvig Study Tour. Click here
In Favour of Local Action - A film about community action in Barcelona. Click here
SCDC is supporting a collaborative initiative which is aimed at providing targeted help, support and funding for rural areas across the three Ayrshire areas. Called ‘Ayrshire 21', it works with 21 local communities which have been least able to take advantage of development and funding opportunities in the past.
The initiative is the result of collaborative working between the three Ayrshire Councils, securing funding from the European LEADER project to create Ayrshire 21.
Working in partnership with local and Scotland-wide development organisations, Ayrshire 21 will support the communities to write community action plans that will help them build on the strengths they have and address the most important social and economic issues they face.
On these pages we post information about the programme, reports and papers, and presentations from events and seminars. Here you will find:
Reports
Communications brief August 2013: provides information about the purpose of the programme, the 21 communities, and the expected activities, plus summaries of presentations at various events
Action Research in the Community - a guide to community action research
Skills for Rural Community Development - practice guide
Presentations
Community Action Plans
East Ayrshire
North Ayrshire
Training: Learn how to support community organisations to take effective action and a leading role in the development of their communities.
Read MoreAssets based approaches are an integral part of community development in the sense that they are concerned with facilitating people and communities to come together to achieve positive change using their own knowledge, skills and lived experience of the issues they encounter in their own lives.
They recognise that positive health and social outcomes will not be achieved by maintaining a 'doing to' culture and respect that meaningful social change will only occur when people and communities have the opportunities and facility to control and manage their own futures. In community development terms, assets based approaches recognise and build on a combination of the human, social and physical capital that exists within local communities.
Community development interventions are based on the fundamental principle of equality. In Scotland, gaps in health and social inequalities continue to widen. SCDC recognises that assets based approaches will not, in themselves, alleviate the effects of long term structural inequality and disadvantage but are nonetheless vitally important within the context of current changes in national policy and a redefinition of the relationship between the citizen and the state. SCDC prioritises its activities in favour of working to support communities whose characteristics are defined by long term disadvantage.
SCDC has strongly supported Community-led Action Research for many years. We have substantial evidence that this form of research has built the capacity of individuals and communities to evidence the need for and achieve positive change in the services or support provided to their community.
Why Community-led?
By community-led we mean research defined, undertaken, analysed and evidenced by members of the community themselves. It is therefore research OF and BY the community and not, as is traditional, ON and TO the community. This distinction is fundamentally important because in the community-led approach it is the community who define and carry out the research to gather evidence and make recommendations for change.
Why Action Research?
Action research is about using research tools and methods appropriate to engaging with the community concerned. Example methodologies would include drawings, photography, video diaries; drop in sessions and story dialogue; these methods being used in conjunction with or instead of traditional methods such as questionnaires.
Emphasis is placed on ensuring the community is informed of the results of the research in ways that are appropriate to engaging them and showing the importance of their contribution.
Although support and training may be required for those undertaking the research, our evidence shows that, in addition to obtaining high quality research information, a community action research approach delivers:
Increased capacity and confidence individually and in community groups
Increased skills base which can be used again and which is transferable
Groups have increased community support
Evidence on which communities have been able to successfully argue the need for change in services and support for their community.
To find out more get in touch.
Training: This training explores outcome-focused planning in a partnership setting and introduces the core tools and frameworks.
Read MoreTraining: Learn about the Act, explore the opportunities and challenges it presents and find out about the processes for participation requests and community planning.
Read MoreACE was a National community capacity building programme that ran between 2009 and 2014.
Read MoreSCDC developed this toolkit for Argyll & Bute Council, to support local community organisations to carry out community-led action planning
Read MoreARC is to help community and voluntary groups carry out research in and with their communities.
Read MoreThis paper outlines the common approaches that community development and co-production take.
Read MorePublished in 2015, 'Co-production – how we make a difference together' is a suite of resources – videos, case studies and information to help spread understanding of co-production
Read MoreThis briefing paper from 2011 examines the various terms and concepts associated with co-production, community resilience and building community capacity.
"SCDC would propose that as a community development or health improvement approach, community resilience and co-production can be understood as end points, with engagement and empowerment being the processes through which these endpoints can be reached."
Download it here.
Building Stronger Communities is a practical assessment and planning tool for community capacity building in Scotland.
Read MoreThe Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act strengthens community voices in decisions about public services and makes it easier for them to own and manage land and buildings.
Read MoreThis resource outlines six key competencies that promote and support community-led health approaches and help to tackle health inequalities.
Read MoreCHEX-Point Snippets is a free fortnightly e-bulletin produced by CHEX, aimed at sharing information between community-led health organisations, health practitioners and policy makers.
Read MoreExplore our other programmes
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