Can 20 Minute Neighbourhoods work in the Highlands and Islands? Yes! During the first half of 2022, Ines Triebel of WMUD and I have been exploring two questions for HITRANS and Sustrans: What could a 20 Minute Neighbourhood look like in a rural and island context? What would need to happen for a rural settlement […]
Archive | projects
Digital engagement in the pandemic: sharing the learning
Online community engagement has received increasing attention during the last 2 years. For some people it means yet more time on Zoom calls, for others it means Surveymonkey and social media. The truth is that good online engagement should embrace all these things and more – and it should be tailored to suit the situation. […]
Scotland’s Town Toolkit: inspiration to help your town flourish
For 20 years, I’ve been lucky enough to work on regeneration plans and projects in Scottish towns from Annan to Lerwick, and Stornoway to Peterhead. I’ve learned how one person can never know all the answers, but what brilliant things can be achieved when people work together. That means that deciding a town’s future must […]
Inspiring stories from Scotland’s Town Toolkit: Stromness
This, the last in a short series, was originally written for the Town Toolkit on behalf of Scotland’s Towns Partnership. The Toolkit is full of real-life projects to learn from, including links to more information. Check it out for other inspirational stories and a wealth of examples and resources for how to make your town the best it […]
Inspiring stories from Scotland’s Town Toolkit: Paisley
This was originally written for the Town Toolkit on behalf of Scotland’s Towns Partnership. The Toolkit is full of real-life projects to learn from, including links to more information. Check it out for other inspirational stories and a wealth of examples and resources for how to make your town the best it can be. Read on to be inspired […]
Inspiring stories from Scotland’s Towns Toolkit: Huntly
This was originally written for the Town Toolkit on behalf of Scotland’s Towns Partnership. The Toolkit is full of real-life projects to learn from, including links to more information. Check it out for other inspirational stories and a wealth of examples and resources for how to make your town the best it can be. Read on to be inspired […]
Inspiring stories from Scotland’s Town Toolkit: Dumfries
This was originally written for the Town Toolkit on behalf of Scotland’s Towns Partnership. The Toolkit is full of real-life projects to learn from, including links to more information. Check it out for other inspirational stories and a wealth of examples and resources for how to make your town the best it can be. Read […]
Community led action planning in a pandemic
Despite a lifetime of travelling around the Highlands, I had never visited Foyers and the south side of Loch Ness. So, when the chance to facilitate this plan landed in my inbox in October 2020, I sensed an opportunity. Not simply to get to know somewhere new, but to do something that hadn’t been done […]
community-led planning: success stories
Communities sometimes ask: what’s the point of a community-led plan? Why sit around talking about a plan? Why not just get on with what needs to be done? There are two answers to this. The first answer is: how do you know what needs to be done if you haven’t done a Community Action Plan? That’s […]
redesigning George Square | a fresh start
Towards the end of last year, Glasgow City Council decided to ask its citizens a simple question about George Square: is it time for a change? Many will remember the international design competition for George Square held in 2012-13. It promised a radical redesign of the most celebrated public space at the heart of Scotland’s […]