Lunchtime seminar on Participatory Appraisal on Wednesday 8th February from 12.30 pm to 2pm at the Doughty Centre, Hermanflat Hospital, Haddington EH41 3BU:

Please register by clicking here.  

This event is organised as part of East Lothian’s community engagement strategy action plan.

See more information at www.eastlothiancommunityplanning.org.uk/engagement or email meriel.deans@ nhs.net to join East Lothians community engagement network

SPI has a team of local facilitators working out and about the Dunbar District seeking the views of as wide a cross section of the local population as possible about wind turbines. This consultation has been commissioned by the Dunbar Community Energy Company.

This is one of the first surveys of its kind which aims to make it easy for all ages of people to share what they like and or dislike about wind turbines in their areas. We also want to know what people think about the idea of a community owned wind turbine and what they would like the money which would be generated to be spent on locally.

Fore more information about this consultation please call Susan on 01368 862 552 or by email: spiparticipatoryinitiatives@gmail.com

For more information about the Dunbar Community Energy Company click here.

Do you know your way around the Dunbar Area?

Scottish Participatory Initiatives is looking for local volunteers to assist in a survey regarding your area.

You will be paid a fee of up to £200.

Work will involve gathering the views and opinions from people living in the Dunbar area. No selling involved – local knowledge and opinion gathering exercise only – full paid training given. All that is required is local knowledge, basic confidence, good communication skills and the motivation to give as many people in your area a chance to share their views and opinions.

How to apply? Sue Guy on 01368 862 552 and leave a message.  Sue will respond to your calls from January 6^th 2012.

The survey work will start Jaunary 12^th and you will be paid by January 26^th.

*  We have another survey starting in early February so if you can’t do the January survey – let us know if you would like to do the next one (or indeed you could do both and make up to £400.)

Example 1: Living in Collydean, Auchmuty and Glenrothes
On behalf of Fife Council we conducted a wide-ranging
community consultation exercise to understand local
people’s experiences of living in 3 localities. This gathered the views from a wide cross-section of residents (age, gender, spatial). Our team trained, equipped and supported local people to conduct the research for themselves, for example Youth Workers (who carried out the survey door to door) and pupil council representatives from the local primary and secondary schools (who surveyed their parents, siblings friends and known neighbours). Community conferences were organised to reach out to and feedback findings to the local population.

Example 2: Community Safety in Templehall
We trained local young people to carry out a large survey and run community events regarding the future of Templehall for Fife Community Safety Partnership’s Safer Neighbourhoods Team. It was clear that success in Templehall depended on effectively engaging with relevant local agencies and the local community. Partner agencies had to think creatively about the way in which they operate, share information and engage with the local community. This has led to sizeable reductions in antisocial behaviour problems in the Templehall area and major improvements in public perceptions of the area.

Example 3: Living in Lennoxtown
Our team led a Participatory Appraisal survey process for East Dunbartonshire Council and Lennoxtown Initiative inand around the Lennoxtown area.  The appraisal asked people what they thought about living in the area and their ideas for the future.  Seven local people were recruited and trained to be participatory appraisal facilitators.  They met and engaged with 310 people living in and around the Lennoxtown area over three days. The project outcome  has been an agreed on-going investment programme with the Council to regenerate the local environment. This project was one of the Scottish Community Action Research Fund’s most successful examples of participatory action research projects.

Example 4: Community Planning in Inverness & Nairn
For Highland Council and The Partnership for Rural
Inverness & Nairn we designed and delivered training for local people to carry out Participatory Community
Appraisals and Action Plans. We employed and trained
local people to survey all ages in several localities. The
main aim of the survey was to ask people who would not
normally attend public meetings or fill in questionnaires
what they thought of their local area and to have these views recorded. A total of 1 in 6 households in each partnership area were involved.  This work was pivotal in the ‘roll out’ of Community Planning arrangements.

Example 5: Brownsburn and Gartlea
We led a community research and public consultation
process for North Lanarkshire Council that was carried
out in the Brownsburn and Gartlea areas with local
people and representatives from Community Services
and Planning and Environment departments in
partnership with the Central Scotland Forest Trust
(CSFT) and Scottish Enterprise Lanarkshire (SEL).  The
aim of this public consultation was to get an understanding of what people living around the area thought about it and to start the process of developing plans for improving the area for the future.

Have a look at how we are using social media and the web to involve more people Maybole Community Asset Mapping Project.