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Shaping Places for Wellbeing - Blogs

Throughout the lifetime of the Shaping Places for Wellbeing Programme, we frequently created blogs detailing our Programme’s journey, and as part of our evaluation of the Programme, we regularly shared our learning across the different stages through our blog series ‘Shaping our thinking, Sharing our learning’. All blogs can be accessed below.

Irene BeautymanMoving on with the Shaping Places for Wellbeing Approach: Final Reflections from Irene Beautyman, Programme Lead

Irene Beautyman, Programme Lead for the Shaping Places for Wellbeing Programme, outlines the future ambitions for the Programme and reflects on the resources available to anyone looking to take a Shaping Places for Wellbeing place-based approach.

Image of happy community working together

Exploring the role and influence of the Third Sector on the Shaping Places for Wellbeing Programme

in this blog, Mary Sinclair examines the role of the Third Sector in supporting the Shaping Places for Wellbeing Programme.

The Health Foundation logoShaping Places for Wellbeing in Scotland

In this blog for The Health Foundation, Irene Beautyman, Place and Wellbeing Partnership Lead for the Shaping Places for Wellbeing Programme, shares how the Programme is putting wellbeing at the heart of decision making, highlighting how place- based decisions about proposals and plans in local areas are informed and supported, including what the learning has been so far.

Alloa Town HallThe importance of place-based working

An insightful blog from Michelle McCormack Health Improvement Programme Officer (Place Standard) at Public Health Scotland which highlights the transformative impact of our Shaping Places for Wellbeing Programme.  Michelle, who also supports on our Programme, details how the work is being used in place-based decision-making to prevent ill health and reduce inequalities.

Shaping Places for Wellbeing Programme

Shaping Places for Wellbeing: a partnership approach

The places where people live have a significant impact on not just how long they live but on enabling them to live free from illness during that longer life. The Shaping Places for Wellbeing Programme grew from a desire to ensure that everyone in Scotland can live in a place that has the characteristics that will nurture health and wellbeing.

Children in Scotland logo

How can we deliver places we can be proud of for our future generations?

In this blog for Children in Scotland, Irene Beautyman looks at why embedding outcomes into our new national planning framework could help us slash Scotland’s shocking health inequalities.

UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence logo

Scotland's NPF4 - Going for the triple win

In this blog for the UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence, Irene Beautyman reflects on how we deliver a triple win - for climate change, health and wellbeing and reducing inequalities - with our new National Planning Framework.

Garden with raised beds and vegetables growingHow does community food growing increase the wellbeing our of places?

In this blog for SURF, Alex Wilde, Local Project Lead for Dunoon, looks at the role of community food growing in a place, what contribution it makes and how it supports wider strategic objectives to increase the wellbeing of our places.

Shaping our thinking, sharing our learning

People travelling towards a target

Current and future ambitions

In this blog, we set out the approach we take when starting work in a local Project Town. This can be complex to determine and involves scoping out what is influencing the town and what is happening nationally, regionally and locally.

Ayr bridge

Shaping Places for Wellbeing in Ayr

The Project Lead in Ayr summarises her first 100 days in the role, the opportunities the programme offers through bringing together anchor organisations, services and communities, and shares her reflections on what she has learned so far.

Using data to make decisions concept

Embedding data-led decision-making

Alex Wilde, Dunoon Project Lead in the Shaping Places for Wellbeing Programme, shares her key reflections for local action on our journey to support data-informed decision-making about our places. She outlines our approach to gathering data, examples of our findings and, crucially, what we learnt from the process.

Crowd of people of various ages, genders and racesEmbedding the views of those experiencing inequality into decision making processes

In this blog, Sarah Rodway Swanson, Community Link Lead for Alloa, explains how the Community Link Leads bring quantitative data on Project Towns to life, to help us understand what it means for people who live in these communities.

The Place and Wellbeing OutcomesWhy should planners use the Place and Wellbeing Outcomes?

In this blog, Eilidh Mackintosh, former Project Officer on the Planning for Place Programme,  explains how the Place and Wellbeing Outcomes can help planners avoid negative unintended consequences of their decisions.

Fraserburgh lighthouse and harbour areaShaping Places for Wellbeing in Fraserburgh

From the initial ‘Switch on’ of Fraserburgh as a Shaping Places for Wellbeing Project Town in October 2022, there were key variations that could be identified in comparison to the other six Project Towns. This set the scene for Fraserburgh to take a slightly different route to the other Project Towns in the programme.

In this blog, the Project Lead for Fraserburgh, Laura Stewart, reflects on how these differences have influenced the work in Fraserburgh and the impact.

Want to find out more? Get in touch with us

If the Shaping Places for Wellbeing place-based approach sounds like something you would like to know more about, please contact Irene Beautyman, Place and Wellbeing Partnership Lead, below. Alternatively, follow us on LinkedIn - Planning and Place-Based Approaches, to keep up to date with the Planning and Place-Based Programmes from within the Improvement Service, and X @place4wellbeing to recap on the Shaping Places for Wellbeing Programme’s journey.

Irene Beautyman

Irene Beautyman - Place and Wellbeing Partnership Lead

Phone: 07908 930763

Email: placeandwellbeing@improvementservice.org.uk