Across Scotland, local people have been directly deciding how public funds are being spent in their area. This activity, otherwise known as participatory budgeting (PB), is being captured on the PB Scotland website. Now, the PB Scotland Network has been set up to bring people together across the country to share enthusiasm & learning around …
Research and consultations
Community cooking groups: supporting people who are struggling to have enough food to get them/their families through the week
Do you run or manage cooking courses within low income communities in Scotland? Do you sometimes find participants are struggling to have enough food to get them through the week? Do have 15 minutes to complete an online survey? Community Food and Health (Scotland) are undertaking a project exploring the methods which cooking course trainers …
SCDC consultation on participation requests
SCDC is inviting community groups and networks, and people who work with communities, to give their views on Participation Requests. The consultation will inform the Scottish Government’s development of regulations and statutory guidance around participation requests. The Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act specifies participation requests as a process for communities to request to work alongside public …
Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act – Register your interest for SCDC’s consultation on participation requests
SCDC is inviting anyone from community groups and networks, and people working with communities, to give their views on participation requests. The Scottish Government is consulting on the regulations to accompany Part 3 of the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act, Participation Requests. SCDC will be supporting the formal consultation by running a parallel consultation process on …
Emergency food aid: understand and act
Organisations across Scotland providing advice and support to people who may use emergency food aid, community food and health projects and statutory bodies with an interest in the issue are being asked to complete a survey being undertaken by the Poverty Alliance, on behalf of partners, all of whom are interested in better understanding the …
Creating a Fairer Scotland – Planning Events
As part of the Scottish Government’s Creating a Fairer Scotland conversation, a series of local planning events will be taking place to allow a broadly representative audience to hear, discuss, prioritise and take action on ideas to make Scotland a fairer place to live and make a real impact on Scotland’s future. The priorities that …
Research – exploring the impacts of community retailing
CFHS is commissioning research to explore the economic, social and environmental impacts that community retailers are bringing to the communities they work with and within, and if and how, they are helping to address health inequalities. The research will be completed by March 2016.
Review of the National Standards for Community Engagement
In light of recent policy developments in Scotland with a focus on strengthening participation and community engagement, the Scottish Community Development Centre (SCDC) and What Works Scotland are currently working with the Scottish Government to review the National Standards for Community Engagement. SCDC and What Works Scotland are using a variety of methods to involve as …
Survey to map growing spaces across central Scotland
The Central Scotland Green Network (CSGN) is asking community organisations and individuals to put their allotments, orchards and community gardens on the map by taking part in a short online survey by 30th June 2015. The information from the survey will be used by the CSGN to further their understanding of the size and distribution of …

Household food insecurity
In December 2016, at Serenity Café in Edinburgh, a workshop was held sharing learning about, and reflecting on, work that is currently taking place in Scotland and in the rest of the UK on the issue of household food insecurity measurement. The day was supported by NHS Health Scotland, the Rural and Environment Science and …