Building back better with the Social Impact Pledge

We are encouraging public bodies in Scotland to consider making, or renewing, Social Impact Pledges as part of wider efforts to change how we do things in public services.

There’s widespread recognition that as we gradually emerge from the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic, we need to think about how to ‘build back better’ as a society, including the way we design and deliver public services.

The Social Impact Pledge is a Scottish Government initiative offering public bodies a simple way to be proactive about building back better. All you have to do is make three practical, tangible and quick changes to what you do that increase your organisation’s positive social impact.

Pledges can be as creative as you like, although some existing pledges have been as straightforward as opening up spaces and sharing resources for community use. Others have been more ambitious, including working with local organisations and communities to help enable individuals and groups to act on what matters to them.

It’s clearly been a challenging time for everyone, including for public bodies, and it may have been difficult to engage with initiatives like the Social Impact Pledge when the priorities have been supporting vulnerable people and/or keeping core services running.

We hope that 2022 offers a bit more space to think about some of the key long-term issues, including – but not limited to – addressing inequality, climate change and revitalising democracy.  The Social Impact Pledge should be a great place to start.

Further info

Click here to find out more about the Social Impact Pledge and how to make one.

The Social Impact Pledge is there to be creative with, and some public bodies have commited to creating more volunteering opportunities for staff.