So Say Scotland – the follow up

IT’S been a long time coming.  It’s been a very long time.  For this we apologise. We sold you a dream for democratic innovation with a top of the range endorsement.  We said the dream was cutting edge, we said we would report back, soon, and we owed it to you to back this up with some facts. 

We didn’t do that as soon as we hoped.  But now, finally we can give you some feedback about the Thinking Together citizens’ assembly, the first of its kind in Scotland, held in Glasgow on 28^th February this year. 

First, just recap for a moment.  So Say Scotland is the brainchild of a former community councillor and activist, Susan Pettie.  It is an attempt to bring a new kind of politics to the country, with citizens’ assemblies at its hub.  The inspiration came from the Icelanders’ response to the collapse of their economy in 2008, when three Icelandic banks folded in one week, and the rest quickly followed. 

When the people took to the streets in what became known as ‘the pots and pans revolution’, they demanded change and a new constitution written by the people, not by politicians.  A National Assembly was convened of 1,000 people randomly selected to represent the views of the nation at all levels.  You can read about the galvanising outcomes in our April 2012 story.  Susan caught that vision and wanted to see a similar change ignited in Scotland. 

She put out a call for people of like mind to join her and some academics, policy makers and community engagement practitioners got on board.  They set a date for the country’s first citizen assembly. They appointed a project manager. With practical support from The Electoral Reform Society, the Church of Scotland, the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) and the Public Participation Network (PPN) from Edinburgh University, they secured a venue under the banner of The Gathering, an annual event held in Glasgow. 

Fast forward now to 28^th May, when the So Say Scotland team ran a film for a small but interested audience in Edinburgh.  It was quite well put together, professionally done, but recapping once more ‘the journey’ about which, frankly, there is a little too much of a hoo ha. 

It is clear that the 70 plus diverse people from all over the country who took part, and the 70 volunteers who made it happen, found the day inspiring, inclusive and enlivening.  The carefully trained facilitators ensured inclusive dialogue with almost religious zeal.  The engaging warmth was evident, but at the same time it’s difficult to draw any conclusions that mean something to you and me. We can't give you information about what the participants want for a future Scotland, because there isn't any.   I was told snippily by one academic that focusing on outcomes is not really necessary.  It’s the process that matters apparently.

Gathered around tables in Edinburgh, we got a taste of the consultative brain-storming that takes place during these events, with a flurry of coloured cards covering every available space.  One participant quipped they wished they had shares in Post It Notes.

Another young member of the audience asked, with a touch of impatience, why this sort of consultation about democracy wasn’t going on in schools.  Her father’s commitment to her political education  is clearly paying off.  It was nice to see a bright young mind asking the right questions about political responsibility. 

A director of a consultation trust said that this kind of process could provide some ‘binding for the broken parts of our society’.

Another leader for electoral reform said that the process could ‘make meaning’ where there is currently such a dearth of it.  It’s all heart-warming stuff.   

The team admit that they have struggled to process all the data, hence the delay in reporting back.  They are, after all, volunteers, juggling jobs and families as they support this vision for a better politics for Scotland.  At the same time however, if this innovative style is going to draw the attention of the big hitters in politics, a slightly stronger capacity to reflect, review and meet criticism with confidence will be required.  Scornful and conflicting views will have to be met and mastered. 

Some church groups are interested in implementing the process and the core team of volunteers is expanding.  But the goal to get 25,000 people to experience ‘the magic’ by the end of the year clearly needs review.

That’s not to say that the vision isn’t worth keeping alive.  This dream is well worth nurturing.

It’s just that, for logistical reasons, it’s just not going to get into the mainstream of Scottish politics any time soon. 

Best that can be said at present is that this skilfully facilitated and innovative process provides therapy for the politically disenfranchised.  As that includes many more of us than our politicians would care to admit, there’s plenty of scope for So Say Scotland to expand and engage us in citizens’ assemblies.   

Susan is promoting a process where ‘everybody is a somebody’.  And Thinking Together project manager Zara Kitson has said: “Scotland is on record as the least democratic society in this hemisphere, with fewer elected  members representing the population than any other country in the EU.  We need a sea-change that is long overdue.” 

Both believe that you have to be the change you want to see, so if you would like to see citizens’ assemblies take off, perhaps now’s the time to get involved.  Visit So Say Scotland at  http://www.sosayscotland.org/

About that bill -- a chance to fair share the land

COMMUNITY Land Scotland (CLS) champions the local – in assets, ownership, empowerment and effective action – passionately supporting all of the above.

Established in 2010, the charity claims to reflect a ‘new dynamic’ in Scotland as it represents the interests of the country’s burgeoning community land owners.  With 500,000 acres of land collectively transferred to and owned by groups mostly within only the last 15 to 20 years, CLS seems to be right.

Tackling the staggering fact that half of the entire country is owned by just over 400 people, the group is committed to a “more socially just Scotland” via land ownership.  Not only this,  CLS claims more, and this is that a new kind of sustainable and resilient community is developing as a result, bringing new jobs, investment, home building and assets into areas of Scotland that once faced a sad and steady decline. 

Demonstrating entrepreneurship, vision, confidence and confident partnership working, some of these groups have embraced the potential of renewable energy to turn their fortunes around.  In the background you will often find CLS and Community Energy Scotland, information sharing, mentoring and supporting, promoting their interests and lobbying for Scottish Government and Local Authority support. 

It comes as no surprise then that CSL submitted a robust response to the consultation for the draft Community Empowerment and Renewal Bill (CERB) due out in the summer.  The cool measure in language and style cannot mask the passion for possibilities that CLS glimpses here.

Former MSP for the Highlands and Islands, now CLS Policy Director and the man who pulled together the final document, Peter Peacock told the Network about the organisation’s underlying aspiration in relation to the draft bill. 

“Both at societal and government level a new policy approach is needed,” he said.  “This vision must include more trust and subsidiary – spreading responsibilities downward.  In other parts of Europe this concept is well understood.  

"This set of principles could provide a good starting point.  People are very capable.  Given the opportunities you will find communities doing amazing things.”

                                                                     Credit where it’s due

    

THE document reflects this aspirational hopefulness and begins by noting the ‘potential’ of the bill, urging a release of the so far ‘latent capacity’ simmering in so many Scottish communities.  Early praise is given to Highlands and Islands Enterprise, the Big Lottery and some civil servants carrying out provisions of the Land Reform Act, for funding and guiding those communities that are already flying high by taking ownership of land and associated assets.  While rural areas lead the way, CLS urges a similarly strong support structure for much-needed urban right to buy projects also. 

But CLS is clear and unequivocal in asking for “joined up government” because in the end land transfers require practical mechanisms that need to be understood and agreed at all levels.  This is currently not the case, the charity claims, as government departments at all levels are not talking to each other enough.  Transfers of assets are rare and virtually ground to a halt.  Accountable officers charged with protecting the public purse live in fear of being charged with “giving away the family silver”.  

“We need stronger legislation to emphasize that the government and Ministers do have the power to gift land at a discounted price,” says Peter Peacock.  “This would go a long way towards changing the behaviours that are in the way of a more smooth and successful process.  It’s important that everyone involved in the process looks at the world through the eyes of the community. ”

The 24 page document is packed with further observations and recommendations, including reference to Community Councils “it would be possible to use the CERB to seek to re-invigorate community councils” (page 5) , Community Planning “not working as it should” (page 4) and Compulsory Purchasing powers (page 12).  You can read the document in full by clicking on the link below.  

g  To view Community Land Scotland’s website click here: http://www.communitylandscotland.org.uk/

g  To view the CLS submission for the draft bill click here:  

Community Empowerment and Renewal Bill
CERB_consultation.pdf

n Seebelow evidence of successful community group work carried out in conjunction with CLS.  The Knoydart Foundation on the Knoydart Peninsula carried out a community buyout in March 1999.

(Images below are provided courtesy of Murdo MacLeod, and Community Land Scotland)

Knoydart’s ranger, Tommy in a log cabin
built as part of the Foundation’s tenth anniversary
by the Knoydart Forest Trust

A shelter owned by the North West Mull Community Woodland
Company and built for the Forest School by volunteers. 

Isla  and Rhona outside the pottery and tearoom 
that they lease from the Floundation 

Scotland's activists call in the daddy of them all

WADE Rathke from the USA is a one-off.  Original has to be his epithet.

A community organiser, a self-appointed role he adopted at nineteen years old, today and 40 years later he is helping ordinary people to change swathes of societies the world over.  

Founder of ACORN International, this unique individual focuses on what he calls ‘citizen wealth’ with an astounding optimism and immediacy that works for, and often achieves, transformational results.  He never doubts any citizen’s capacity to make a difference, despite the battle scars earned along the way. “The fight for change is progress itself,” he told the Network. 

Activists in Scotland, no matter what their campaign, can learn from this experienced veteran who advocates less talk, more listening, direct action and being clear about the issues as key components for kick-starting change. 

ACORN is the Association of Community Organisations for Reform Now. Wade resigned from that board in 2008 after 38 years as a founding member.  He is now ‘chief organizer’ for ACORN International, built on similar lines.  His latest book Citizen Wealth:  Winning the Campaign to Save Working Families, documents his journey with enthralling stories.   

Rathke is known globally as the premier organizer of low and medium income labour and community groups and an inspiration to change makers who recognise that “a personal problem becomes a political issue”.  It was on an ACORN project in Chicago that Barrack Obama cut his political teeth, a process he proudly documents in his biographies and has since staunchly defended against sometimes vicious attacks.

                                                      Sharing the story

IN May 2013 Wade Rathke visited Scotland for the first time in his long career.  He was invited and hosted by several organisers of Edinburgh Private Tenants Action Group (Eptag).  The enterprising, entrepreneurial young people who have founded this already influential organisation set up a day-school workshop in Edinburgh University’s Teviot building.  It was well attended by committed activists from Glasgow, Edinburgh and other parts of Scotland.  

The goal was to seriously consider starting another ‘affiliate’ or outpost of ACORN International.  The buzz in the room became palpable as Wade’s direct style identified doable campaigns, an organising committee, weekly meetings and achievable goals.  He clearly enjoyed moving away from “litanies of despair” to tongue-in-cheek reminders that “community organisers don’t stutter”.   He engaged keenly with his audience and you could see the light of vision in his eye. 

Since 2008 Rathke has travelled globally to help ordinary people do extraordinary things.  Canada, Peru, South Korea, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Kenya and Mexico are some of the affiliates of the global group mushrooming globally at grassroots level. Ordinary people are learning how to organise and mobilize.  Their mentor focuses on pragmatism, encouraging ‘winnable’ campaigns that drive people out of a sense of political hopelessness into a can-do state of mind.  

“Justice is just-us” said Wade whose blog at chieforganizer.org daily records, probes and supports the struggles that working people face against minimum wage abuse, inequality and injustice both in his home state of Louisiana (rebuilding New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina), across the United States and the world over. 

“Individuals alone don’t have the capacity for resolving long-standing grievances,” he said.  “The process is messy, it’s difficult and it can be a fight.  You need to identify and organise your constituencies, you need strong organisations to achieve the change you believe must happen to protect and empower ordinary people.”

                                                 Expect to pay up front

UNIQUE to ACORN is the payment of ‘dues’ or membership fees, a concept that Wade says does not initially sit comfortably in some cultures, but creates a strong and vital sense of  accountability.  This fundamental principle is crucial to project success, and ironically, he notes, it is the lower income members amongst diverse constituencies who pay most willingly.  At the same time, it is more often the organisers who stumble over asking. 

“The key issue is the asking, not the getting,” says Wade.  “Often it’s the organisers who need to change their approach as lower income people find it incredible that anyone else would fund their fight for change.  They expect to pay dues and it is the poorest who pay most consistently and continuously. 

“But with those fees comes a ‘testing’ from the members as they decide if you are making their case.  You should expect that testing, another reason to set winnable goals that are achievable within a reasonable time-frame.  Members will gauge success and develop confidence with that good feeling from wins, even though those achievements are small and incremental. ”

At the peak of its success ACORN had 500,000 members, all paying dues, and subsidiary partners amounting to 168 corporations within the “family”.   “We got big,” says Wade, “Perhaps too big and it became more difficult to manage such a big organisation.”  He admits that he has learned from some of the past experiences.   “ACORN International is built out of the US experience,” he says. 

He looks back to Little Rock Arkansas in May 1970 where the National Welfare Rights Organisation (NWRO) had sent him as an organizer.  It was here that ACORN began and his first campaign was to help welfare recipients gain their basic needs.  It was the starting point from which all the rest has unfolded.   As a young man already dedicated to ‘Adequate Income Now’ he knew that “people have to come together to generate change” and that mantra still drives him today.  He emphasizes the importance and power of “playing in teams” referring to Bowling Alone, Robert Putnam’s book of the last decade on this subject, listed below.

Our society can learn a lot from all of this in the fluid state of change that is Scotland today.  This article only scratches the surface of the achievements in the life and times of the political force that is Wade Rathke.  Further investigation may take your own activism to new and better levels.  To learn more, follow the links below. 

g To view the You Tube video Citizen Wealth Kickstarter film click here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/joeycarey/citizen-wealth

g   To read Wade’s very contemporary blog click here: chieforganizer.org

g  To access the quarterly magazine ‘Social Policy: Organising for Social and Economic Justice’ published by Rathke click here: http://www.socialpolicy.org/  

g   To learn more about Eptag click here: http://eptag.org.uk/

g   Also see Robert Putnam’s Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community (2000) New York, Simon & Schuster. 
                                                                                               © 2013 JENNY MACKENZIE

More than one point of view: some consultation responses

We are running a series of arti­cles that ask what groups and individuals are hoping for from the draft Community Empowerment bill, due out in the summer.
  This is the second piece.  

THERE were 447 responses received to the proposed Community Empowerment and Renewal Bill and some published on the Scottish Government (SG) website make illuminating reading.

With local democracy at the heart and given a fair playing field, the questionnaire invited an unfiltered account from the people who matter on what works, what doesn’t and what ‘could do better’.

While the consultation was structured around three areas that included ‘renewing communities’ and ‘unlocking enterprising community development’ it's the third, ‘strengthening participation’ that is of particular interest here. 

Of the 15 queries in the ‘easy read’ questionnaire, the third asked how community councils (CCs) could do more to help local people have their say about how local services are run or managed. 

This question unleashed a whole raft of comments about what would need to happen first.  A reliable SG insider told the Network: “What the responses to the consultation revealed is that, though some community councils are working well, there are an awful lot that are not.

 “Unfortunately with elections being largely uncontested, anyone can walk in and sign up for the role.  Consequently we have heard of difficulties in meetings from all parts of the country.”

One responder called the disrupters 'big personalities' and voices that 'strongly pursue their agendas' adding, “Perhaps the actual structure and representations on a community council need to be reviewed to ensure it is the right people on them, and the whole community is represented by them.”

To divert for a moment to a relevant sideline, nowhere are the less complimentary comments about CCs more apt than in relation to Ccllrs who object to some planning applications. While CCs have statutory powers for consultation on both licensing and planning issues, not all by any means, but some strong-minded homeowners use this provision to protect their own property, consulting few beyond their own front gate.      

It is not uncommon for these articulate, confident and often well-heeled individuals to dominate agendas with items like objections to a children’s’ play park that disrupts a semi-rural idyll, complaints over planned wind turbines that spoil the distant view, or calling for conservation areas to start at the end of their road, and hang the rest of the community’s needs in the process.  

A recent newspaper article highlights how uncontested elections can lead to what is claimed by protesters in one area to be a stranglehold on community improvement.  It's an eye-opener. You can find that article here: http://www.scotsman.com/news/portobello-community-council-numbers-to-be-cut-1-2903687 

To get back to consultation responses, one person commented on the imbalance caused by a predominance of ‘nominated members’ on some CCs: “My belief is that the whole notion of nominated members is fraught with difficulty,” he/she said.  “It looks/feels like a cartel against any kind of new development. We need a balance. . . also encouraging that which is positive and sustainable.”

While some responders acknowledged that there are many CC volunteers who ‘do their best’ under limiting conditions, another complained about an 'inability to look at the big picture’.

                                                A positive point of view

YET the question ‘What does the word community mean to you?’ prompted responses that do suggest a capacity for the bigger picture.  The responses are expectant and full of hope. 

Some said: “Community is about interdependent relationships with reciprocation at its core”. . . . .  “A true community exists when no part of it is neglected or devalued.” . . .  “. . . the commitment to care for each other and act together – it is not friendship”. . . . And finally:  “Belonging, a sense of identity . . .  where people of all different ages, creeds, sex, shape, size, come together for the greater good.” Nice.           

Our source says that the reality is, with more pressing political issues on the current agenda, it will surely be at least 2016 before any serious changes can be made to CC legislation.

“This [Community Councils] is a concept that was designed 40 years ago and it’s probably ripe for review.   It is possible that an addition could be made to the Community Empowerment Bill to strengthen the statutory powers around the code of conduct.  It is ironic that elected councillors, MPs and MSPs are bound by a code of conduct, yet Ccllrs are not. More powers for CCs clearly couldn't happen until they function more effectively, with a truly representative reach out into communities.”

An experienced Ccllr commented on our story ‘Obligations, accountability and being online’ - you can find that story here:  http://www.nationalnetworkcc.com/2013_02_01_archive.html . He urges more focus on the positive side of CCs.  Phil Olson, of Ardgay & District CC in the Highlands said:  “This household has over 22 years of cumulative community councillorship and at no time were any of us elected by anyone but ourselves (being self-nominated); there being in my memory over 33 years here no election for any community councillor at all.

“Democratic we ain't. Responsible to someone? Who?”

Yet at the same time he asked how useful it is to keep going on about our mistakes. "How on earth do we take this situation and start telling our local world what we are about, how we can help, how their community is a more dynamic and better place to live because of our activity?

"What good is trumpeting our failures - we do keep a list, a growing list.”

He’s right of course. 

So on the strength of that timely remark, our next article focuses on some original thinking that offers a way out of this morass.  Read our piece from researcher Oliver Escobar.  His views are startling, original and they make a lot of sense.  You can find that story here: http://www.nationalnetworkcc.com/2013_05_01_archive.html
                                                                                  © 2013 JENNY MACKENZIE

A point of view: let's talk about that bill

This is the third piece in a series that asks what groups and individuals will be hoping for from the draft Community Empowerment bill, due out in the summer.  We talk here with researcher Oliver Escobar. 

POWER and its process fascinates, seduces and draws us in, but how many really understand what’s going on with a concept that often bears seeds of consuming obsession? 

Thousands of column inches are written every day, all round the world about who has it, who wants it, and who will do anything with no limits to get it?  And what, by the way, has this got to do with engaging communities? 

The Scottish Government draft bill on its way out in the summer is the Community Empowerment and Renewal Bill and there’s your answer right there.  We think some of its focus is on power and the debate around sharing more of it in a wider way.

Activist, engager and PhD researcher just wrapping up his thesis, Oliver Escobar is known widely in his field for innovative and practical work on public dialogue and deliberative democracy. 

In plain speak this mouthful means giving more power to the people via meaningful dialogue.   It seeks empowerment, not just point scoring. As a Queen Margaret University partner spokesperson says:  “It builds on a cultural tradition that goes back to Plato and builds on the Athenian tradition.” 

Oliver has invested more than 180 days over two years in shadowing and working with officers involved in community planning.  He knows what’s happening on the ground.  His ideas about how we do this better sum up a ground-breaking approach that is closely related to practical process.

According to the adventurous thinking behind it, our future better success is already focused on one over-riding emphasis.  And what is that?  It is, quite simply, how we talk to each other.  In his seminal work Public Dialogue and Deliberation  he makes the startling claim that “communication is the very fabric of democratic life”.  Wow!  That could place a lot riding on good quality chat.

                                                           A new style for the arena  

REFERENCING widely he goes further to say that it affects “socio-political empowerment” and that it “creates, sustains and/or destroys” relationships, organisations and communities”.   He refers to a scenario too common, that of “having a meeting, but not having met at all”, where the real issues become subsumed, sidelined and obscured in what he calls our “argument culture”.

“For three hundred years we have based our political systems on representative democracy, where debate is at the core of the system,” says Oliver.  “But the word debate derives from the Latin ‘batre - to beat’. Debate means to resolve by beating down.  This means that the articulate, the well-educated, the more confident win the power by figuratively destroying their opponents. 

“This shifts the emphasis away from the issues to a battle for power, for winning it, maintaining it, manipulating it and preventing anyone else from accessing it. It’s confrontational – humiliating and frustrating for all but the minority who seize it. 

“Alternative attempts at participatory democracy are laudable, but they usually still rely on transmitting information, and discussion.  That word means to ‘shake or break apart’ – discussion doesn’t actually touch the socio-political power issue.   

“Crucially, participatory democracy doesn’t deal with conflict either.  In the end, it’s handling conflict well that is the key to the success of deliberative dialogue.  Conflict is healthy and part of every level and fabric of any society.  You can embrace it without damaging others by interacting, engaging, listening, reasoning and being prepared to modify, possibly even relinquish your position.  This takes courage, vision and patience.”

Oliver calls this position one of “passionate humility” and oh, if only we saw more of that in public discourse. Is this as realistic as expecting a visit from the Wizard of Oz in debating chambers and public meetings?  

Our argument culture perpetuates spectacular performances by relatively few charismatic individuals, and gladiatorial exchanges between groups. Those tendencies are well entrenched. It’s in the interest of some to see that those stereotypes remain.   Just how realistic is it that a more deliberative dialogue could be the way forward for the future? 

Very realistic, and actually, inevitable, says Oliver. He talks about ‘publics’ rather than an amorphous public.  He sees groups who come together to deliberate on an issue as potentially powerful and affecting.  He says that increasingly those ‘publics’ will see deliberative dialogue as a worthwhile investment of time.  In turn their demands may be less frequent at first, but they will grow in demand and expectation.  

He adds that deliberative dialogue has been examined, practised in an increasing variety of situations and refined for only 20 years. “Compare that with 300 years and you can see why this new concept is still not perfect,” he says.  “A culture change is taking place, but the small steps are making an impact.  Deliberative dialogue keeps experimenting, it can handle playfulness and it is empowering.  It provides us with a way of being a public citizen.”

Oliver’s ideas contribute well to the expectations around the draft Community Empowerment and Renewal Bill.  Let’s hope that this cultural trend is reflected in the final document and legislation. 

n You can find Public Dialogue and Deliberation: A communication perspective for public   engagement practitioners by Oliver Escobar here: http://bit.ly/11unuw8

n Oliver’s blog about the Community Empowerment and Renewal Bill is here:  http://oliversdialogue.wordpress.com/

n For more on some of the partnership working around this topic look here:

 The Public Participation Network:  http://bit.ly/k0SmDC
                                                                                                © 2013 JENNY MACKENZIE

  

What we want: one point of view

In a series of articles to come in the coming weeks, we will ask both groups and individuals about what they will be hoping for from the draft Community Empowerment bill, due out in the summer.  
Here is the first response. 

COMMUNITIES have enormous reservoirs of latent power.  That power can inspire and drive change – ask Ian Cooke, director of a leading and fast-growing networking association that offers concrete proof that this is more than an idle boast.

With 200 member organisations of the Development Trusts Association Scotland (DTAS), which is celebrating its 10^th anniversary this year, Ian proudly describes these community owned and led bodies as entrepreneurial, visionary, dynamic, and above all, working well.

Results matter, and DTAS can provide hard evidence of urban and rural development trusts from across the country that bring hands-on benefits – social, economic and environmental – to their communities.  The spread is generous across all areas, with diversity of purpose and function ranking high. 

To mention a few, while the largest number can be found in Greater Glasgow and Clyde Valley with 35, Highland and Western Isles are not far behind with 29.  Edinburgh and the South East has 22, with Tayside and Fife and Argyll and The Islands both hosting flourishing 21 trusts each.  These community organisations are regenerating their areas, chiming with the Scottish Government’s recently redefined and reinvigorated strategy, and having a greater say in what happens where they live.  Some are well established, some more recently formed.  

They offer up inspiring stories of cooperative, partnership working that enables ownership of buildings and land and social purpose trading.  The sometimes amazing commitments from those involved from all walks of life are deep, sustained and impassioned. 

 One trust achievement: a care home opening in Westray, Orkney.  

 

Their example inspires others, with new calls coming in to DTAS daily asking about how to bring this model to yet another aspiring community. A film called Inspiring Change gives a flavour of what’s possible.  You can find that short film here:  http://www.dtascot.org.uk/content/what-is-a-development-trust

With this track record in the bag, we wondered what DTAS, hopes to see in the draft Community Empowerment and Renewal Bill (CE&RB) due for release in the summer.  The buzz is getting louder as the season approaches.  What can we all expect?  Like many other groups in the community sector, DTAS submitted its own response, a wish list of preferred circumstances for community ownership and asset management.  You can examine that list here: http://www.dtascot.org.uk/files/dtascerbresponse120918.pdf

Building on some of those themes, Ian gets a light of vision in his eyes when he talks about ‘the cultural change and clear political direction’ that is needed to support any new legislation that could come with the Bill. 

“Some things just don’t lend themselves to a legislative fix,” says Ian.  “There are a combination of factors holding up the sort of support we would like to see for a more cooperative approach towards community ownership and transfer of assets.

“As part of our work DTAS regularly holds cross-department workshops for public bodies and local authorities.  The cross discipline dialogue that takes place is often a huge surprise to some of the people in these departments. 

“So often when working with local authorities we find that different departments that are part of the same negotiating process are simply not talking to each other.  As a result one department may be making decisions quite independently of the other.  Sometimes it will be just one officer making important decisions, and it can be difficult to identify just who that person might be.  

“Another obstacle can be middle-ranking gate-keepers who seem to actively discourage the sort of strategic communication that I’m talking about.  Local authorities really need to liberate the chalk-face officers from these restrictions.   

“We also have to address the belief among some officers that community activists simply don’t have the skills to manage property, assets and finance.  Some trust members have reported to us that officers who were once sceptical and unhelpful have gradually warmed to the idea as the communities have proved that they are capable.   Sometimes officers have completely changed their attitudes, going out of their way to be helpful and supportive.  Instead of seeing trusts as a threat to local authorities, they begin to see them as opportunities.

“This is vital in our current economic climate, which is going to take decades to overcome.  One local authority has openly admitted that it won’t be able to manage all of its public assets on its drastically reduced budget.  More local authorities and officers will have to adopt this realism.”

Finally Ian brings a pragmatic optimism to the future, whatever the outcome of the draft CE&RB might be. 

“A big part of our campaigning is to ensure that activist individuals within lively communities are taken seriously. 

“Instead of being ‘managed’ as people who are pests, trouble-makers and agitators, they should be regarded as creative, energetic and a valuable resource that can bring new solutions to old problems.

A trust community meeting in Comrie, Fife.

   “There are no big ideas out there – none of the political parties have any transforming ideas that can fix our current problems.  Meanwhile we have this tremendous resource in our  communities.  More and more of them show a willingness to take responsibility and grasp new opportunities.

Ian has a strong positive message for community activists who want to make a difference. 

“We don’t realise our own power,” he says.  “Local authorities come and go and politics is a short-term business, while confidence in communities and their capabilities is growing by the day.  Development Trusts are proving to be an excellent vehicle for this new entrepreneurial spirit.  We are delighted to be supporting this process in Scotland.  What we need now is the cultural change and clear political direction that will demonstrate the vital support needed from the Scottish Government.  We look forward with interest to the draft Bill.   

“DTAS is optimistic and confident that these grass-roots trends will continue to flourish and grow.  The can-do in communities is alive and well and pointing to a promising future.”  
                                                                                             © 2013 JENNY MACKENZIE

A circle offers a lot more than linear recycling

TURNING back the dial for a moment, in August last year we reported on a ‘seismic idea’ that was just hitting Scotland.  Called the circular economy, we said then that this was a whole new way of using resources that could fundamentally change living and lifestyle habits across the globe. 

Our story, that has been visited many times, was called ‘Out of the box, into a loop and on a roll’ and noted that this new paradigm plan is fronted by former solo long-distance yachtswoman Ellen MacArthur.  The germ of interest in the idea grew from a lonely vigil on the open sea, when she was harbouring and carefully monitoring her limited supplies. 

She realised that her isolation and dependence could be likened to the life of the planet, so dependent on finite resources.  She reasoned that systems that sustain it should work like organisms, processing nutrients that can be fed back into the cycle.  Back on dry land, Ellen linked in with people already thinking along these lines – German materials chemist Michael Braungart, CEO of Desso carpets Stef Kranendijk and educationalist Ken Webster – they had a positive vision for the future that supported a circular economy.  It’s not enough just to recycle on a linear model that degrades materials over time.  The really radical shift in thinking is to move to ‘designing’ waste, using things without using them up.

Ok, sounds good, but it is fundamentally challenging to just about every way we do things now.  Eight months later, how far has this idea taken hold?  We turned again to the Foundation’s field development officer for Scotland, Colin Webster for an update.  These are his responses:

1. Some big names appear to be getting on board with this idea.  How far has it gone?

The Ellen MacArthur foundation launched an initiative called the Circular Economy 100 in January 2013, our third year of existence.  Firms are encouraged to sign up to this executive training program to share our insight into new business models and design.  Coca-Cola, Renault, B&Q and Marks and Spencer are among those who have done this so far.

Universities have a different route into working with us. We are establishing a worldwide network of leading universities, which includes Imperial College London, who will become thought leaders and champion researchers into the benefits and processes behind the circular economy.

2.  You have organised some in-school sessions in Renfrewshire, Glasgow and Edinburgh.  How did these go, and what are your further plans for the academic year?

In the last year we've been scouring the UK to look for secondary schools interested in rethinking the future through this framework. So far we have reached approximately 35 per cent, with the coverage in Scotland higher at 43 per cent. We keep in touch through continuing professional development sessions, and by meeting them at conferences or events we have organised.

We have also run what we call 'Teardown labs', in which we strip apart everyday objects from other decades and discuss the effect of the economic and social conditions at the time of their design. Then we look at how design today needs to meet the demands of diminishing resources, rising raw material prices, rising energy prices, falling credit and falling employment.  These sessions are always fruitful and innovative. 

3.  The Foundation has set some ambitious goals for the educational programme.  Are you on target with those?

Yes, our target is 50 per cent of all secondary schools in Scotland and England by the end of September. This IS ambitious but we've already reached about 35 per cent.  Teachers are typically very enthusiastic about the circular economy.  The majority see the need to teach a positive message about the future.

3.  Tell us about a recent talk you have given in Scotland. 

Last month I presented at a TEDx event in Edinburgh. The audience was aged 16-19 years, yet the ultimate audience is worldwide through the ted.com website.  It was very exciting to be a part of a TED event and it was just one of the many invitations we are receiving.  (You can view that presentation here: http://www.ted.com/tedx/events/7095 Colin Webster)

   
4.  In the Design Matters section on the Foundation website, there are reports of innovative design ideas like the Printed Wiring boards that dissolve in water and the Instant Disassembly concept.  How do you take these ideas forward?

We link great ideas with businesses and educationalists who are enthusiastic about doing things differently.  The examples you quote are very exciting – they allow people to see how the circular economy could be achieved.  Every day we come across terrific ideas, some of which are challenging, but our question is always 'what do we really want?' rather than 'what appears possible right now?'.

5.  This concept will change the whole nature of consumer-based capitalism. How could we make this transition and keep the economy safe? 

How do we consume a TV?  We're careful about the language we use in this context, so we talk about users and consumers.  Users use products which are ultimately returned. The products they use belong to the technical cycle.  Consumers use up a product – food, for example.  Those products belong to the biological cycle.

So, yes, we do predict that 'consumption' will fall, but people will still want clean clothes, TV programmes, and a place to store their underwear, so they will likely take out a contract to hire a washing machine,  TV and cupboard.  

The switch to a service economy is underway, look at Lovefilm, Spotify and city car clubs.  B&Q have predicted that in five years, 10 per cent of their products will be offered on a leasing basis.  On average we use an electric drill for 15 minutes a year.  Why would we own the drill if we could rent a high-end machine at a lower cost?

Businesses are already adapting their models to fit the new realities of volatile material and energy costs.  Will political incentives change to support the new realities?  Worldwide subsidies for raw material extraction total US$1.1 trillion pa.  We wonder whether governments will switch to taxing extraction of finite resources and support use of renewable resources, such as employment.  After all, people are a renewable resource.  

Now there’s a challenge to current thinking.  If you would like to learn more about the circular economy you can find the Ellen MacArthur Foundation here: http://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/

You can read about the initiatives around the world here:

http://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/explore-more/initiatives-around-the-world

And you can find business case studies here:

http://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/case_studies
                                                                                               © 2013 JENNY MACKENZIE

The Rage of Entitlement

IT might be time to consider a little self-review while we’re about it.  Let’s take a light-hearted look at ourselves.   It could be that a certain self-righteous rage has crept in around being a volunteer and/or community activist that is getting out of hand.

The big test will be if we can do this without jumping about with a nest of ants in the pants.  I’m a volunteer and activist. I don’t need self-review! 

Maybe so, but let’s just have a go.  If we are all that is claimed, then perhaps this can be achieved without too much spluttering fury.  There’s always a chance, heaven forbid, that some of us might be wrong.

A certain cadre of volunteer is giving everyone else a bad name, and the distinguishing feature of this group is a self-righteous rage against all things other than themselves. 

Sorry, but some of the worst offenders are community councillors.  This entrenched and toxic minority claim elected status when in fact they have walked off the street and into the role because no-one else takes them on.  In fact, how many community councillors have actually fought an election?  How many do you know?

Some are very jealous of people in power, they want the perks with none of the disciplines.  Some see a chance to fulfil ambitions never realised in their working lives - assuming  a belligerent and bellicose stance that is ­noisy, nasty and above all self-righteous. ­­ Seeing themselves above the normal disciplines of the debating chamber they create havoc and harm in public meetings, dispirit public and elected officials and undermine honest attempts at constructive change.

Underlying these behaviours are a set of assumptions we might do well to examine:

1.     I’m a volunteer, unpaid, acting out of higher motives – and you owe me! 

Er, no.  There’s no such thing as a free lunch. You do this because you want to, and you have your own reasons.  You will have your own agenda.  It might be a genuine care for the welfare of others, an extension to your social life, a political position or a sense of evangelical mission, but whatever it is, there’s something in this for you.  No-one owes you a thing.

2.     We need to change all the structures. Nothing currently works, but my way will.

You mean a revolution?  Well there are different ways of implementing those. Just because you’re a radical and a renegade doesn’t mean you are right?  Incremental change also works.  Abusing your opponent is more likely to alienate, isolate and debilitate your campaign.  By partnering, rather than partisaning, we might make some headway. 

3.     All of those who have power are self-serving and corrupt.  I, on the other hand have a deep understanding of ethics and how to behave in a responsible way. 

Oh really, and which code of conduct do you follow?  What are your motives and when was the last time you examined those thoroughly?   What litmus test are you using for self-review?

It is true that, as in most fields of human endeavour, there are ambitious individuals on fat salaries who obstruct, obfuscate and focus on protecting and extending their own jobs and interests with very little real regard for anyone else – but in our experience, for every one of those, there are many more who serve to the very best of their ability with honesty, integrity and a sense of responsibility towards the trust that we place in them.

It’s up to us to develop the skills to distinguish between the two.  It’s very lazy indeed, not to mention arrogant and holy Moses, to lump them all in one box and condemn the whole bunch.  We could help to initiate change in those that don’t meet the best expectations, but surely our benchmark does not include verbal, mental and emotional abuse. 

4.     I’m skilled, I have time on my hands, I represent the community and I’m asking.  Show me the money – I should have access to the public purse. I should be given the assets I want for my pet project, and the right to manage them independently. 

Not necessarily, not automatically, and certainly not without the right structures in place, including wide-ranging representation and accountability to a sufficient number  of individuals and groups from across the community.  Perhaps then, yes, with conditions, including long-standing monitoring from those bodies responsible for protecting the public interest.

5.     I plan to be noisy for as long as it takes.  You need to listen to me, or else. 

Actually, that’s much less likely to happen than you think.  These are not sophisticated negotiation skills you are using.  You may not have noticed, but shoutey-mouthey doesn’t do it. 

Why are Scotland’s potential avenue for community empowerment –  community councils – in such a parlous state?   Why can argumentative blockheads get away with hi-jacking meetings?  Why are bullies allowed dreadful excess at the negotiating table? Why do some people in posh suits escape the exposure and reprimand they deserve?  Come to think of it, why is so much well-meaning activism actually in the end unproductive? 

Could it possibly be that we other 99 people in the room just don’t have the skills at this stage to respond as we should?  Perhaps there is an individual and collective initiative that we are just not demonstrating.  Do we need better education on how to handle conflict, implement ethics, stand up to bullying and deal with all the uncaring arrogance of elitism?  Do we need a little more focus on courage and a little less contempt for those currently in positions of power?  These are uncomfortable questions, and who pretends to have the answers?  They may be questions worth exploring. 

Activism and service to the community deserves recognition but that doesn’t make anyone a saint.  Has anyone questioned how far we are helping, or hindering the process of positive change – are we a force for the community and the greater good, or another self-server covering his tracks as we go?   

It’s not someone else’s responsibility to improve – the buck stops here.  We need a lot more skill and self-knowledge about how to be better at what we do.  Before the next pop at elected officers, civil servants and council officials, perhaps the place to start is by looking a little harder at the person looking right back in the mirror.  Probably time to check that it isn't one of the hard-core giving other volunteers and activists a bad name?  
                                                                                                © 2013 JENNY MACKENZIE

Looking at Scotland with eyes from outside

FRENCH by birth, having lived in Scotland for more than 12 years, and now returned to the World Heritage city of Avignon in Provence, Marianne Desbets could be well placed to provide an observer’s perspective on the changing nature of what it is to be Scottish. 

Using storytelling as her focus, linguistic and anthropology Master’s student Marianne is preparing a thesis on a subject that will always be close to her heart – the specialness of Scottish culture and all it entails. Her observations and analysis have relevance to all of us in these challenging and changing times. 

Returned to the country to interview, listen and record as she gathers her research, she notes the balance between the old traditions – stories that reinforce the comfort and cosiness of myth and fantasy, fact and fiction moulded and melded with history and ancestral themes – and the new – an enhanced, emerging and evolving identity that is responding to the twenty-first century in a turbulent world. 

The whole nation is reviewing itself as it reconsiders its own role in local, national and global politics.  Old stories are revived, while new stories are unfolding for a future world.  On the cusp of this, there’s a dynamism in the air deeply rooted, yet who is quite sure where?  It’s a vibrant time.   

“I wanted to understand that specialness one feels when you live in Scotland,” says Marianne.  “It’s really the strangest thing but I always felt at home here, more so than I have ever done in Avignon, although I’m very happy to be living back near to my family. There’s something in Scotland that causes a connection for many who come to the country and choose to make it their home.   

“When I lived here I worked as a librarian in council services, and for part of that time within a social inclusion programme in one part of Edinburgh.  We were engaging with people who are often marginalised in modern society, the elderly, disabled, the unemployed.  It was a special experience. We were helping those people to rise above some of the limitations in their lives.  We won a national award for that programme. Living in Edinburgh at that time I felt as if I was in the centre of a beating heart.

“I was conscious that I was contributing to a culture that often volunteers to help others, that supports, that is very conscious of social justice.  Yet at the same time I was surrounded by a love of learning, the arts, a rich culture and the fertile festival mentality.  It’s this dynamism that can make the country so special for people from other cultures that also bring something to this mix.” 

Referring to the changes being thrust on this small but resilient nation, Marianne says that it’s almost as if the country is expecting to be changed by the latter day stories writing themselves as we go. 

“Any of us can be too sentimental at times,” she says.  Change is not always a bad thing.  The past can remind us of one truth, but one of many, some of which emerge from how we engage with the future. 

“Avignon is also a city of Festival, so I have been conscious that while carnival is always wonderful, there is also a time when the carnival stops.  The old stories can bring comfort and a certain sense of escape, but the challenging new story that may break new and unchartered ground needs to be acknowledged and embraced. ”

Marianne concludes by considering what she calls ‘post colonialism’ in Scotland as she observes a romantic nation ‘imagining’ and writing itself into identity in a new way. 

This observer who brings first-hand experience to her investigations of the modern Scottish story sees a crafting going on before all of our eyes, with the later chapters still to come.  

While caught up in it ourselves, it’s not so easy to see that direction with an observer’s analytical eye.  Thanks Marianne for this snapshot.  It’s definitely one for the album.