Dr John McCarthy is Associate Professor in the Institute for Place, Environment and Society at Heriot-Watt University. He has worked as a spatial planner in practice for local authorities, and also as an academic at the University of Dundee. His research and teaching interests include comparative practice in urban regeneration and spatial planning, and tourism-led urban regeneration.
Don’t panic! That might be the key takeaway from the Conference this year, since despite the very challenging context, there are (some) elements of optimism. A key area of consensus was that we face unprecedented levels of difficulty from funding challenges across the board, the ‘fiscal cliff’, and the grim spectre of continued austerity, all of which affect vulnerable groups disproportionately.
Brian McLaren, Managing Director of EKOS, set the scene using the example of culture and leisure services, with a continuing downturn in resources likely to impact health and wellbeing. But a chink of light emerged via the potential of partnership and collaborative working – while many participants will have had variable experience of this, if partnership is sustainable and long-term, it can work at least to minimize negative effects of resource limitation, via more efficient working across broader geographical areas, including via for instance joint/multi-purpose facilities and services.
Other attendees pointed out the potential of strategic disposal of assets by public bodies, while acknowledging the limitations and short-term nature of this approach. Shared/community ownership also emerged as a key means of allowing local action and benefit, though bureaucracy continued to stifle such initiatives in many areas, leading to calls for greater mutual trust and flexibility in the working of public sector bodies.
But perhaps the most significant issue was the need to focus on preventative action rather than reacting to immediate issues. A central question was ‘why does preventative spend never happen?’ when it can produce positive outcomes ‘downstream’ so much more cheaply and effectively for instance via health. Short-term funding constraints, avoidance of upfront costs from longer term investment, and inevitable ‘firefighting’ actions, are of course key here, but a longer-term strategic approach clearly has much potential to increase health and wellbeing outcomes. As Pauline Smith of the Development Trust Association Scotland suggested, we should look first where we want to be (over say a decade), then work back to show what is needed.
An example of preventative spending was shown by Fiona McKenzie, Founder of CentreStage, via the example of community theatre which provides myriad benefits for community wellbeing, transforming peoples’ lives. Such initiatives offer incredible value for local communities, and Fiona made an eloquent case for their continued funding, leading ultimately to greater community resilience.
Professor Chik Collins, Director of the Glasgow Centre for Population Health, summed up the case for a long view of problems and their trajectory, particularly relating to health, evident for many decades. We are perhaps like the proverbial boiled frog which doesn’t notice the heat rising until it is too late. But perhaps a key difference now is that we are more aware of the need for resilience, with increasingly extreme events (environmental, social and economic) creating equally extreme vulnerabilities, exacerbated by persistent inequalities.
So: many problems, but also many (potential) solutions. Overlying the discussion was the scope for a greater role for community-based organisations within wider regeneration activity. Linked to this was the potential for expansion of community wealth-building to tackle regional inequalities and move beyond a ‘growth first’ agenda. Global competitiveness will not save us, but perhaps (more) economic democracy might?
This blog is the fifth in a series of follow on blogs from the SURF Annual Conference. Read the next blog from Andy Paterson of Social Enterprise Scotland HERE
