Planning Democracy is a community-led organisation campaigning to strengthen the voice and influence of the public in the planning and development of Scotland’s land. It provides peer support, training, networking, resources and advice.
Read MoreThis Toolkit is designed to be a source of inspiration for anyone who wants to make their town centre better, whether community groups, social enterprises or other organisations.
Read MoreOur Place is a new site devoted to promoting the benefits of place and place-based working. It contains information, tools and resources to help support the development of places and services that improve our health, our prosperity, our quality of life and protect our environment.
Read MoreCommunity wealth building is a new people-centred approach to local economic development, which redirects wealth back into the local economy, and places control and benefits into the hands of local people. UK based organisation CLES provides a useful introduction.
Read More‘Place-based approaches’ bring local people and organisations together to work in partnership to agree what works and what could be improved as well as putting a plan in place for how to do this. It’s a term that has become more common in recent years and the Scottish Government is currently interested in place-based approaches, so it may be useful for community groups to get a sense of what it’s all about.
Read MoreScottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) has a support section on their website to help you think through some of the key issues relating to starting and managing a voluntary sector organisation in Scotland. You can also find support and advice in relation to the climate emergency, the cost of living crisis and digital technology.
Read MoreThe Planning (Scotland) Act was passed in July 2019 and makes changes to how land is developed and used. The Act sets out a new way for communities to feed into the planning system called local place plans (LPPs). LPPs will be prepared by communities and will highlight local priorities for development.
Read MoreAs part of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014, community organisations that represent the interests of children and young people should be consulted as part of the preparation of Children’s Services Plans.
Read MorePlanning Aid Scotland (PAS), and the resources it offers, can help your group get involved in shaping the development of land, villages, towns and cities by engaging more easily with the planning system.
Read MoreCommunity Map Scotland is a software project to help your community build a Local Place Plan.
Read MoreThe Place Standard is a tool that can help you to think about the physical elements of a place (e.g. its buildings, spaces, and transport links) as well as the social aspects (e.g. whether people feel they have a say in decision making). The tool provides prompts for discussions, allowing you to consider all the elements of place, inlcuding health and wellbeing and climate change, in a methodical way.
Read MoreCommunity action plans are a way for communities to take a lead role in changing and improving their local area by setting out what will be done, who will do it and how it will be carried out. The Community-led Action Planning toolkit takes you through the process.
Read MoreNesta's Development Impact and You (DIY) toolkit contains a selection of innovation tools that should help you invent, adopt or adapt ideas that can deliver better results. Visit the toolkit website for tools to help you plan, prioritise and problem solve amongst other things.
Read MoreCommunity Food & Health Scotland (CFHS) is part of Public Health Scotland and supports community projects related to food and health. Their advice and resources page will be relevant to many community groups. It includes information on planning & management, funding, working with volunteers, networking and evaluation.
Read MoreThe Achieving Community Empowerment process is intended to help community groups and organisations become more confident, better organised and more effective in achieving their aims. The ACE Guide has been put together to help community groups, and those who work with them, through the process.
Read MoreCommunity Action for a Sustainable Scotland (CASS) is a set of 7 educational resources on sustainable development for community organisations. The guides offer ideas on how to improve the sustainability of your office, building, events, governance, finances, people management and planning.
Read MorePlaceBuilder is a digital community engagement and consultation platform for planning projects. It’s aimed at local authorities and other planning partners who have to pay to use it, but it may be something your group comes across if you’re engaged with local planning.
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