Hear the latest news and information about community development and our work.
The United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has published its latest report on the progress governments across the UK are making to uphold human rights - and what needs to improve.
Read MoreThe SCDC team has said a fond farewell to David Allan, a longstanding member of our organisation and a key figure in community development, as he begins a well-deserved retirement.
Read MoreThis morning people from community-led health organisations from across the country are coming together for the CHEX Conference 2025.
Read MoreOur training offer is specifically designed to support public bodies and partnerships to understand broad policy trends and objectives, giving staff time to gain new knowledge and skills - and confidently apply them in their work.
Read MoreIn a report to the United Nations, the Scottish Human Rights Commission has pressed the Scottish Government to deliver a new Human Rights Bill within the next Parliamentary session.
Read MoreHow can community groups best achieve their aims? How do they meet community needs? Where to begin? These are some of the questions that the Building Stronger Community Organisations resource helps to answer.
Read MoreEarlier this month, a group of organisations working to support community-led action research came together at The Gathering to explore the value of this approach, the benefits it can bring and how it can achieve social impact and systemic change.
Read MoreThe authors of a new book that explores the impact of austerity in Britain have written a guest blog for CHEX outlining the disastrous effects these policies have had on life expectancy in the UK.
Read MoreA new blog from Tax Justice UK explores what changes could be made to ensure the UK's vastly unequal tax system sees more tax paid by the wealthiest in our society.
Read MoreAn important part of renewable energy projects are community benefits schemes, which are additional funds that developers make available to communities, enabling them to share in the benefits of the project will bring.
Read MoreA new report written by a group of Edinburgh residents has highlighted the extent of issues with their homes, and the impact the issues have had on their human rights.
Read MoreCommunity benefits are additional benefits that renewable energy developers provide to communities to enable them to share in the benefits of renewable energy projects. Community benefits schemes are well established and saw over £30 million offered by renewables developers in community benefits in the last 12 months.
The Scottish Government’s Good Practice Principles for onshore and offshore renewable developments support communities and developers to get the best from community benefits.
With more and more renewable projects being developed in Scotland, the Scottish Government is now reviewing and updating its Good Practice Principles to ensure community benefits deliver sustainable and meaningful impacts. To support this, the Scottish Government launched a public consultation in December 2024 which will run until 11 April 2025.
A graphic of two green leaves.
On behalf of the Scottish Government, and in tandem with the formal online consultation, the Scottish Community Development Centre (SCDC) is carrying out a series of community conversations to inform this review. The aim of these conversations is to hear the views of individuals and communities around Scotland on what the Scottish Government can do to help maximise the impact of community benefits.
Ahead of these conversations, SCDC is running two online webinars to provide an opportunity to find out more and ask questions about the review process, including what to expect from the community conversations and how you can get involved.
We will be running two online webinars:
Wednesday 19th February 2025, 6pm - 7:30pm, online
Thursday 20th February 2025, 1pm - 2pm, online
You can read the current Good Practice Principles for Onshore Renewables and Good Practice Principles for Offshore Renewables on the Scottish Government website.
If you have any questions about the webinars or have any difficulties registering, you can contact SCDC by emailing laura@scdc.org.uk or by calling 0141 248 1924.
A graphic of a green lightbulb, with a plant sprouting inside it instead of the filament.
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation has published a new report showing that more than 14 million people in the UK (1 in 5) were living in the poverty during 2022/23.
Read MoreA new report provides a snapshot of participatory budgeting (PB) activity in Scotland, underlining both the challenges and opportunities that remain.
Read MoreWith the aftermath of last week's recording-breaking storm still being felt by many, it's worth exploring the role that community organisations play in supporting local responses to emergencies.
Read MoreOur introductory open course will help develop your understanding of the principles, practice and policy connections of community development in Scotland today.
Read MoreThis resource from Third Sector Human Rights & Equalities explores the connection between human rights and climate change, and how organisations can work to address the unjust imbalances we see across our society.
Read MoreDisclosure Scotland has published a report summarising responses to proposals on future fees, including changes to PVG checks that could see community organisations having to meet additional costs.
Read MoreA recent workshop held during Co-production Week Scotland explored how HLS can support co-production practice.
Read MoreParticipatory budgeting work in Scotland has shown how green PB can help communities take direct decisions on how budgets are spent addressing climate change.
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