Social Power Scotland

We believe: 

• • There is value in coming together across civil society in Scotland 
  • We have the expertise we need already amongst us 
  • We don’t wait or expect to be told the answers – we will find ways forward ourselves 
  • We welcome anyone who is working to achieve social change in Scotland – big, small, local, national, paid or voluntary 
  • We all participate in the spirit of inclusion, respect and non-judgement, the network will be a safe space 
  • We don’t have to have the solutions – just a willingness to reflect on our experiences of what has worked and what hasn’t. 

How the sessions will work  

There will be monthly network events, each 90 minutes long, at which people from all over civil society in Scotland can meet and have challenging conversations. 

We will set our own agendas, hear from others, make connections, pull out learning from successes as well as mistakes. Ultimately, we want to come away inspired and curious about what our own next steps could be and open to new possibilities. 

For each session, we will choose a challenge to discuss. Two network members will kick things off, talking about how they have approached it. If you’d like to be one of these people, let us know. 

We’ll then share our own experiences, swap intelligence and insights, consider where there are a gaps we need to fill, and what we can learn. 

The sessions will be informal, with light touch facilitation just to keep things moving. 

It’s not necessary to come to every meeting – pick and choose depending on what you want to contribute to and talk about. 

We won’t engineer connections or communication after events. It will be for participants to share their contact details and take forward conversations with anyone they want to.  

By organising this way, we will aim to be as self-sustaining as possible. 

This is a time-limited pilot project, but it has the potential grow into something exciting and long-lived. We aim to create something that can be sustained beyond the life of the initial funding. 

The pandemic has taught us that the digital world is far more accessible for many people, but not for all. The current situation suggests we should meet online for now, but our vision would include some face-to-face events 

If you have questions about Social Power Scotland, email [email protected] with the subject title ‘Social Power Scotland’.