Lessons from the SURF Open Forum Programme Edward Harkins Networking Initiatives Manager Scottish Urban Regeneration Forum Sharing experience : shaping

Lessons from the SURF Open Forum Programme

Edward HarkinsNetworking Initiatives ManagerScottish Urban Regeneration Forum

Sharing experience : shaping practice

Friday 2nd May 2008

Teacher Building, Glasgow


SURF Open Forums• An independent cross-sector forum facility

• Enduring success verified by evaluations in 2005 and 2008:

Growing numbers and range of participants

Increased range of topics covered

Participants’ ratings of usefulness and relevance

• A safe, neutral venue for informed debate

• A channel to inform policy through practice and experience


Partnership Working• There is a deeply embedded and broad

consensus that partnership working is the way forward

• Less of a consensus about how good we are at working together and operating in partnership

• We all need to keep driving the partnership message


Area vs General Approach• In 2001 the UK Government committed itself to ensuring that

no-one is seriously disadvantaged by their neighbourhood

• There may be a weakening of the consensus around the need to concentrate resources on the most disadvantaged areas

• A recent concern is the extent to which regeneration activity merely displaces, or excludes, the poor and disadvantaged

• This is as opposed to making the lives of disadvantaged residents measurably better in sustainable ways

• This challenge should be at the centre of thinking


Making an Impact• Many regeneration practitioners struggle to make an impact

on policy and other decision makers

• Those who believe they may be making an impact find it impossible to find out or measure

• Community and Voluntary Organisations need to become more skilled and knowledgeable in presenting ‘their case’

• Campaigning and lobbying may not be enough


Reaching the Unengaged• There are many examples of excellent practice in

regeneration

• The imperative is for dissemination and encouragement of take-up of this practice• A significant other lesson is that the ‘unengaged’ are often senior decision makers who ‘just do not come to the (Community Planning) table’


Cross-Sector Engagement• Cross sector engagement between the public sector and the

private sector can be improved

• The public sector and the private sector are well experienced and competent in engaging within their sectors

• They are less good at engaging across the sectors

• The public sector must clearly articulate what it wants from engagement and speak with a consistent voice

• In return, it can be difficult for the public sector to engage the private in activities which lack immediate tender prospects


Long-Term Value• Regeneration is essential to securing long-term and

sustainable value for public investment

• As a cross-sector, holistic and sustainable approach, regeneration offers the best prospect of securing maximum return from huge public investment

• An un-integrated focus on single components of Scottish social, cultural and economic life will almost certainly fail to secure such value

• Evaluation is being increasingly practiced, but what for?


Trust and Transparency• Supporting the idea of trust among partners has been treated

a bit like ‘apple pie and motherhood’

• ‘Trust’ is in fact a critical and concrete driver in the effectiveness of regeneration partnerships

• The extent to which trust is important, and the extent to which lack of trust is damaging, is becoming more apparent

• Work by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation in 2007 identified the criticality of trust.

• The issue can be easily extended across social & economic life


Need for Longer Timescales• There is a need for longer timescales and deeper local

presence by government agencies

• Community regeneration needs to emerge alongside community development, both need resources & perseverance

• Strong support for ‘good old basic community development’ with skilled workers attached to community organisations

• The changing role of elected councillors is a potentially promising area of civic renewal


Where are we on Engagement?

• Community organisations are still viewed as troublesome by some, which can lead to their being sidelined and excluded

• Well-established community level organisations can provide a rich source of ‘expert’ local knowledge and experience

• They provide platforms for individuals to grow in confidence

• Community organisations have been accused of unequal representation – but against a background of struggling for existence


What about Empowerment?• Almost all public sector interface with communities tends to

lie at the information giving or consultation level

• A debate continues around whether communities want full empowerment or just better services (verifiable evidence?)

• Recent CoSLA/Scottish Government statement on community empowerment emphasises centrality of local councillor

• Is empowerment only about public services and only about local public services?


Other Learning Areas (1)• Green issues

• Design of the built environment

• The role of arts and culture in regeneration

• Third Sector organisations and public service delivery

• Social Enterprises, Development Trusts, Community Interest Companies

• New funding mechanisms and streams


Other Learning Areas (2)• Greater and better use of the social housing sector for wider

regeneration

• Lifelong learning

• Economic development or regeneration, versus community regeneration

• Government agency and regeneration funding changes

www.scotregen.co.uk(previous Open Forum Outcomes Papers are

available in ‘Knowledge Centre’ section)

Email: [email protected]

Tel: 0141 585 6850 (Wed-Fri)


SURF Website

http://www.scotregen.co.uk/

mailto:[email protected]

Documents

Lessons from the SURF Open Forum Programme Edward Harkins Networking Initiatives Manager Scottish Urban Regeneration Forum Sharing experience : shaping