The National Leadership Cohort brought together representatives from Scottish Government, COSLA boards and our funders to share knowledge, learning and challenge from local place-based work at a national level.
The cohort acted as a bridge between the local partnerships and national policy and decision-making. It met quarterly to discuss the progress of the programme, embed understanding of the Place and Wellbeing Outcomes and help unblock any national barriers to progress that the local project work might be facing.
The final meeting with this group took place in January 2024 and thereafter the members were invited to join the All Project Town Local Learning Cohort meetings up until June 2024.
A Local Learning Cohort was developed for the Programme which provided a platform for learning.
We continually evaluated our work and shared our learning across different stages of the programme. Meetings were held fortnightly, and every eight weeks with the Project Leads and the Programme team, to enable continuous progress and learning to be shared within and beyond the Project Towns on shared topics. Fortnightly meetings connected the Project Towns with additional learning partners from across Scotland to share knowledge and expertise, bridging the gap between the local project work and national leaders, and provided a mechanism to inform national policy.
The sessions brought together colleagues from within the Improvement Service who run programmes that are closely aligned with the Shaping Places for Wellbeing Programme, and included:
- United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC)
Programme Manager: Miriam McKenna
UNCRC Implementation Project Manager: Rebecca Spillane - Adopting a Trauma-Informed Approach
Programme Manager: Joanna McLaughlin
National Improvement Lead, Trauma: Laura James - Climate Change
Programme Manager: Miriam McKenna
Climate Intelligence Service Capacity Building Manager: Judi Kilgallon - Wellbeing Economy
Programme Manager: Miriam McKenna
Project Manager, Economic Outcomes Programme: Hannah Brown - Community Planning
Project Officer: Karen Brown - Change Management
Programme Manager: Rachael Hood
There were also sessions with external partners including:
- Public Health Scotland - Housing
- Paths for All
- SUSTRANS
- Scottish Futures Trust
- Climate Action Towns
- Scottish Towns Partnership
- Architecture and Design Scotland
- Scottish Community Development Centre
- Public Health Scotland – Mental Health
- Social Enterprise Academy and Social Enterprise Scotland
- Planning Aid Scotland
- Scottish Empty Homes Partnership
- Digital Inclusion Alliance, Scottish Government
In addition to these sessions, the Project Leads completed monthly 'Reflect and Capture' reports highlighting any new connections they made, challenges or powerful learning moments for that month.
As part of our learning, reflections and evaluation of the Programme, we are pulling together summary reports for each workstream. You can view these workstream reports here.
It’s bringing people together that wouldn’t perhaps originally work together so closely, and it’s helped to breakdown those silos across the town. It’s really allowing us to implement that place principle a lot better, it’s much more effective It’s given more decision makers more insight into place and why the Place and Wellbeing Outcomes are so key to the wellbeing of the people living there.
I think one of the key things for Ayr and what we have benefitted from is really the work of the Local Information System Team (LIST) Analyst from Public Health Scotland and the profile that’s been produced is probably one of the best data sets that I’ve ever seen.
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 - Place and Wellbeing Partnership Lead
Phone: 07908 930763
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Planning for Place Programme
The Planning for Place Programme supports councils and their partners to collaborate around place, seeking to encourage place-based approaches to joint planning, resourcing and delivery of places that enable all communities to flourish.
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National Planning Improvement Programme
The National Planning Improvement Champion is responsible for monitoring the performance of planning authorities and providing advice to them (and others) on what steps might be taken to improve their performance.
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Planning Skills
The Planning Skills Programme co-ordinates training events for public sector planning officers, with the aim to develop the skills required to deliver better places.
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Digital Planning
The Digital Planning team at the Improvement Service collaborates with local government to enhance and unify data related to planning and building standards. This work aims to develop a cohesive national data landscape, fostering insights and supporting informed decision-making.
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Shaping Places for Wellbeing Place-based Approach
The Shaping Places for Wellbeing Programme is a joint delivery partnership between the Improvement Service and Public Health Scotland. This forum is for those interested in our work supporting the role of place to reduce inequality and improve the wellbeing of people and planet.
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Place Network
For those interested in the importance of place as a working approach to delivering national outcomes around improved wellbeing and inclusive growth.