I am looking to take action in my local community

Knowing where to start when looking to take action in your community can sometimes feel daunting and confusing. ​

​As a useful starting point, you may want to consider the following: ​

Community Organising is the work of bringing people together to take action around common concerns and overcome social injustice.

Social action is the collective effort to improve people’s well-being, deepen democracy and develop community life and commitment to others. It involves the building of networks and relational power (the power of people working together), the facilitation of collective action and the cultivation of a just and caring society.

There are 32 Third Sector Interfaces (TSI’s) in Scotland, one for each local authority area. Some are partnerships working across large urban and geographical areas. Some combine all the functions of the TSIs’ work under one roof.

TSI’s are a great place to start if you are looking to set up a new group.

The third sector includes charities, community groups, development trusts, social enterprises and the volunteering sector.

The key functions of the TSIs is to help the third sector in each area in the following ways:

• Build capacity
• Be a source of knowledge
• Connect partners
• Be the voice of the Sector

Do you need funding to support your project? Many projects can be run with surprisingly little funding. You may find that goods, venues and people’s time are the most valuable resources.

If you are considering applying for funding, you might want to try linking in with other groups to help you apply and manage funding. Here are some useful starting points if you are looking to fund a project:

Are you interested in taking ownership of a community asset (land or buildings) to support a project?

Community Asset Transfer involves the transfer of management and/or ownership of land and buildings from a public sector body, such as a council, to a community-based organization.

Examples of community-based organisations include local charities, local community groups, and community-based social enterprises.

Find out more about community asset transfers:

Public services should be putting processes in place to consult, engage and involve communities in decision making. However, if you feel you haven’t been able to participate on an issue you feel strongly about you can make a Participation Request to a public service.

Participation requests were introduced under the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act. They are a new means by which community groups can request to have greater involvement in, and influence over, decisions and services that affect communities and community life.

Are you looking for research and/or data to help inform your idea or project? Here are some useful resources as a start point:

Each local authority (or council) in Scotland is made up of councillors who are directly elected by the residents of the area they represent. There are 1,226 elected councillors in Scotland, who are normally elected every five years.

Councillors’ Roles

The key roles taken by councillors are:

• Representing their ward: Representing and meeting with the residents and interest groups within their ward and dealing with issues that they raise. In addition, councillors may attend community council meetings and serve on forums through which local issues can be discussed between elected members, council officers, and the wider community.
• Decision-making: Councillors attend full meetings of the council, and some may have specific roles in relation to policy-making, delivery of services, and use of resources.
• Scrutiny of decisions: Councillors may serve on scrutiny panels or committees which scrutinize existing policies and service delivery.
• Regulatory functions: Some council committees deal with things like planning and licensing applications.

From time to time, councillors may also be involved in other areas, such as the development of new policies for the council.

You can find out who your local councillor is in Aberdeen City here.

You can get involved with a a wide range of community decision spaces including:

Aberdeen Youth Movement

“Change starts when a single voice shouts. I feel like we are that voice.”

Aberdeen Youth Movement (AYM) encourages active engagement of young people aged 12-25 years across the Aberdeen. AYM engage with young people face to face or via their social media platforms to seek views on services and how to develop a wider range of opportunities for involvement in the city. AYM organise events that raise awareness of the challenges facing young people of the city.

AYM bring together a wider variety of groups and youth organisations to create a collective voice and view.

Membership of the AYM steering group is open to all young people aged 16-25 who stay in Aberdeen City. AYM is a non-party political and non-sectarian group. AYM aims to be representative of all the different and diverse views of young people of the city.

If you are interested in finding out more about Aberdeen Youth Movement, please contact Brian Webb, Youth Development Officer:
bwebb@aberdeencity.gov.uk

Also see: Aberdeen Youth Movement Instagram Linktree

The Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 aims to help communities to do more for themselves and have more say in decisions that affect them.

The Act also has powers to give community groups money to make them stronger and asks public bodies (such as councils) to make sure they listen to what communities want.

Important parts of the Act:

• Makes Community Planning Partnerships (CPPs) a legal requirement and requires them to involve community organisations at all stages of community planning.
• Enables groups to participate in public service decision-making through Participation Requests.
• Gives community-based organisations the right to request the management and/or ownership of land and buildings from a public sector body (such as a council). This is known as Community Asset Transfer (CAT).

The Guidance on taking a children’s human rights approach helps public authorities and other organisations adhere to children’s human rights. It supports them in meeting current laws that respect children’s rights as defined by the United Nations.

Important parts of children’s human rights are defined in:

• An introduction to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).
• An introduction to the UNCRC (Incorporation)(Scotland) Act.

Methods to embed children’s human rights approaches in practice:

• decision-making;
• budget allocation;
• inclusive communication;
• awareness raising;
• participation of children;
• child-friendly complaints and advocacy, including case studies, good practice examples and further resources.

Information on the rights of children and young people can also be found on our Community Engagement Toolkit page.

Community empowerment is a process where people work together to make change happen in their communities by having more power and influence over what matters to them. Community empowerment enables communities to increase control over their lives.

Communities may:

• Be geographically located​
• Share common interests concerns or identities ​

There is a common belief that the current way of planning and delivering public services is too ‘top-down’, with not enough control and power sitting with communities. ​