A major report into Creative Placemaking by The Stove Network has recently been released. It presents an in-depth investigation into the importance, impact, and potential influence of Creative Placemaking for the local economy and well-being of communities in the South of Scotland.
The Embers Report aims to ignite creative and culturally led regeneration by exploring the work and experience in Dumfries and Galloway and helping to define a joined-up vision for work in Creative Placemaking for the South of Scotland. Embers presents Creative Placemaking as a collaborative practice that uses the tools of arts, culture, and creativity to work as part of our communities, responding to local needs to build a better quality of place.
In this time when community responses and collective action are at the front of everyone’s minds, there has been a long history of community activity in the South of Scotland, with people coming together to look at the future of their towns and villages. A common factor across many of these projects is the involvement, and often leadership, of creative people who are already embedded in their communities and in collaborative activity with the arts, culture, and creative industries.
“What we hope is that the Embers Report will be a map, advocacy document and proposal for support needed to further advance the really great work in placemaking that we can see happening in our communities. People are doing amazing things as part of their communities, bringing all sorts of life experience, expertise and ideas together to make a better place for everyone who lives there. Ideas don’t always work but when they do they are making a real difference in people’s lives.”
– Katharine Wheeler, Curatorial Team Member and lead on the Embers report.
The Embers Report was produced with the support of the South of Scotland Economic Partnership (the forerunner of the new South of Scotland Enterprise agency) and the Carnegie Trust UK. Embers involved six-month detailed consultation with people and projects working in local communities, including Dumfries, Sanquhar, Lockerbie, Langholm, Moniaive, Stranraer, and Wigtown.
With the coming of the Borderlands Growth Initiative and South of Scotland Enterprise, there is an unprecedented opportunity for the South of Scotland to create genuinely bespoke development strategies, suited to its unique character. Creative Placemaking should be at the heart of this, through the way that communities are coming together to develop new social enterprises and place-based projects.
“We hope to continue to support Embers to strengthen local government collaboration with community groups and local enterprise, to enable communities to improve their own wellbeing according to local priorities.”
– Pippa Coutts, Research and Development consultant for Carnegie Trust UK.
The Embers Report puts forward a series of clear recommendations which contributors hope will be taken forward by regional and national agencies operating in the South of Scotland.
Effective Creative Placemaking engages communities at the grassroots level, building on the existing culture, activity, and relationships in each place. It brings people, communities, groups, and organisations together to co-develop better strategies for our places. It utilises the Creative Industries and spans Community Development sectors, contributing to long-term social outcomes for our communities.
The Creative Industries play an important role in our towns, particularly at this time. It is vital that our region supports its creative sector, which has been such a success story in recent years. There are currently more people working in the Creative Industries in the South of Scotland than there are in agriculture, yet many of the people working in this industry are freelance and self-employed, and the COVID-19 crisis has taken a terrible toll on these important local businesses. The Embers Report presents a roadmap for integrating creative businesses into communities and the future inclusive economy of our area.
“How can we, as a creative agency for change, make things slightly different here.”
– Lucy MacLeod, Creative Director for Outpost Arts, Langholm
The Embers report is available to download by here: Embers Report
For a Clear Text Version: Embers Report – Clear Text Version
If people have ideas about how this vision can be taken forward, please do get in touch with Katharine by emailing [email protected]
