Scottish Regeneration Issue 38 (Summer 2007)
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Scottish Urban Regeneration Forum issue 38 : summer 2007 scotregensharing experience : shaping practice In this issue: • Positive Deviance and the four Ds – Page 8 • Football and Regeneration – Page 1 • The wealth in languages – Page 10 • Small Towns- No Small Matter – Page 3 • Working solutions for prisoners - page 14 • BIDs for success – Page 4 plus the regular intriguing numbers and language • Trams - On the right lines – Page 6 columns as well as reviews and news. FOOTBALL AND REGENERATION Intangible assets and goodwill The ‘beautiful game’ now operates as a business of superstars, celebrities, sponsorship deals and politics, but in some of our most disadvantaged communities it is still offers a source of identity, pride of place and shared aspirations. Football also provides a hugely popular focus for young people at a time of mounting concerns about exclusion, poor health and anti-social behaviour. SURF, in partnership with Heriot Watt University's Social Confirmed key speakers include: Enterprise Institute, is teaming up with some of the top players in regeneration to produce an event that will tackle some fascinating • Lex Gold, Chair of the SPL questions: More than a game – The positive role of football in regeneration. • What is the role of football in place-based regeneration and how • Dr Alan Southern of Liverpool University can it be better defined and supported? Measuring the value – The impact of Football Clubs on communities • What more could be done to link football with health, employment and inclusion aims? • George Craig, Managing Director of Falkirk FC The Business of Football – on the field, in the community and on • What opportunities are there for linking physical, economic and the balance sheet. social regeneration through football? • Mel Young, President of the Homeless World Cup Goals Why Football? – Football as a medium for change As the new season gets underway SURF will present a conference There will also be discussion groups on: at Edinburgh’s Murrayfield Stadium that will: • A team game – Links between clubs and regeneration projects • Bring together a range of relevant individuals and organisations • More than a stadium – Football and place based regeneration with a shared interest in football and community regeneration. • It’s a funny old game – The economics of football • Offer an opportunity to consider the positive contribution that professional football makes to place based regeneration, and how This event will kick off with the new season on August 14th it might be consolidated and promoted. in Edinburgh. Go to the SURF web site to book your place or contact [email protected] Top players The focus of the above conference will be on the role of professional The thinking mans pundit, Pat Nevin, will chair the days football, but SURF is very aware of the massive contribution that is discussions which will hear contributions from across the field of made by people across Scotland who give their time freely to support football and regeneration, from local clubs to the business of the football and social activities on a voluntary basis. SURF plans to SPL and the truly international scale of the hugely successful examine the particularly beneficial impacts of voluntary football activity Homeless World Cup. in a related subsequent event. A view from the chair The most critical issue, arguably, the health of the Scottish people, has had a great deal of publicity recently which may, in part, account for the over- subscription to our recent Open Forum, delivered in partnership with NHS Scotland. But the more likely explanation for the attendance is the Ian Wall poor state of our health in Scotland and, sometimes, the confusion about SURF Chairperson how we are to address this. Matters such as health are not susceptible to short term fixes and require to be addressed through, for example, housing, the public environment and income, to name only three that require long term, strategic programmes to bring about the fundamental changes which will produce a ‘healthy, successful Scotland’. New administrations often bring with them new administrative arrangements; the continuing role of the Scottish Enterprise Network, Fundamental objectives of regeneration Communities Scotland and Local Government in this field are clearly under strategic review but administration must be subordinate to the long term From the varied and vigorous hustings of our last issue we have now a new strategic objectives of meeting our needs. dispensation with our SNP administration, albeit, as a minority, they are Our conference this year takes the opportunity of our anniversary to look going to need the support of others for their programme. back over urban regeneration for the first fifteen years of the life of SURF Although governments change, the fundamental objectives of urban and to look forward to the next fifteen years. It will allow us the regeneration do not change but sometimes a shift of focus can be helpful as opportunity to identify the targets, the means and thus also the appropriate was shown by our conference on Regeneration and Small Towns which administrative arrangements. The Conference’s timing, strategically and was stimulating and productive; the results of which should certainly be for tactically, is well placed and we hope to see a very large proportion of our consideration by our new Minister and his department. membership to debate these issues in September in Dundee. In this issue; • Our front page article invites you to get involved in kicking Editorial around the successes of linking Football to Regeneration goals at a special conference on August 14th in Edinburgh. • Page 3 presents a short summary of SURF’s recent seminar on Small Town regeneration, ‘No small matter’ for 30% of Scotland’s population • BIDs project director for Scotland, Ian Davidson Porter, spells Andy Milne out the benefits of Business Improvement Districts on pages SURF Chief 4 and 5. Executive • Trams have never been so topical. On page 6, Roland Hahn brings some new thinking to the debate. • What is Positive Deviance and how can it help us find new solutions to intractable problems? International Futures Forum Director, Andrew Lyon, explains all on page 8 • On page 10, Children in Scotland Chief Executive, Bronwen Cohen, makes a case for valuing the wealth of different Welcome to the Summer 2007 edition of languages that children speak. • In the featured letter on page 15, Iain Stuart calls for old scotregen regeneration initiatives to become new local authorities. • The Capital City Partnership’s Matthew Crighton finds work The purpose of this quarterly journal is to use SURF’s works for prisoners on page 14. independent position to raise discussion and debate about We also have our regular challenging columns on language and important developments in regeneration policy and numbers by Dr Chik Collins and Dr Stirling Howieson, as well as practice. Scotregen is part of SURF’s regular output of SURF news and reviews. publications, events and discussions aimed at supporting Your feedback on any of the above, or anything else you think we should be looking at in future editions of more successful and sustainable regeneration efforts in Scotregen, is always welcome. Just e mail me at urban communities across Scotland. [email protected] Page 2 scotregen : issue 38 : summer 2007 NO SMALL MATTER SURF Chief Executive Andy Milne picks out some of the main points from the recent SURF seminar on Small Town Regeneration Much of the Scottish community regeneration policy Local models debate and resource allocation of recent years has Development Trusts and locally based housing associations been focused on the cities and their surrounding areas offer good opportunities for building local community of concentrated disadvantage. capacity and ownership of assets and processes. On May 15th, SURF Vice Chair, Colin Armstrong, Local services welcomed over 60 delegates from Orkney to Dumfries Good quality local services are core to maintaining and who gathered in Edinburgh at the SURF Small Town developing successful and sustainable communities. Regeneration seminar- ‘No Small Matter’. The title Design and sustainability refers to the fact that 30% of the Scottish population The quality of design is an important consideration both in live in small towns (up to 20K population.). terms of creating a sense of confidence and physical A series of Scotregen articles in 2004/5 highlighted the sustainability. particular challenges for Scotland’s small towns. Changing climate Towards the end of 2006, Scottish Borders Council, on More consideration needs to be given to the opportunities behalf of the South of Scotland Alliance, and in co- and challenges that climate change presents for local operation with CoSLA, produced a substantial report development. calling for dedicated policy and resource support for Scotland’s small towns. SURF’s ‘No Small Matter’ Spreading the jam seminar explored this important issue further. Some members of the audience queried whether the earlier report’s mooted figure of £90M for a catalytic, target based, Small Town partnership fund was sufficient. Others argued Ian Lindley, Director of that such resources as are available should be directed to Planning and Economic practical initiatives rather than central planning structures. Development at Scottish Borders Council, was one of A cultured approach the authors of the The relevance to the debate of the more creative ‘Cultural Scottish Small Towns Report Planning’ approach was noted and participants were 2007-2013 encouraged to look at the ‘Culture at the Centre’ report produced by the National Cultural Planning Steering Group which is available on the NCPSG web site at www.ncpsg.org Some of the main points emerging from the seminar included. FOLLOW UP The right focus? Should the focus be specifically on small towns? Some agrued In following through on this important debate: that proper consideration of ‘place’ provides a more practical • The Small Towns Task group will continue to lobby its case focus.