The Stove Network, with support from South of Scotland Enterprise (SOSE), publish an important, new approach to Community Wealth Building and Community-Led Place Development.
The publication, entitled, ‘A Creative Placemaking Approach’ presents a methodology identifying how creativity and culture can work collaboratively with communities and support cross-sector working, addressing civic, economic, and development needs locally with communities.
This publication aims to support a vision of place and community where: creativity is used to develop a resilient and fair, future society, built on community wealth building principles, innovation, and long-term thinking.
The publication is the culmination of over 10 years of rural-based practice in the South of Scotland alongside wider research and consultation already carried out by The Stove Network, including Scotland’s first Creative Placemaking Forum, ‘kNOw One Place’ hosted in Dumfries in 2022.
“For a long time, we have seen first-hand the gap between national policies in areas such as community empowerment, wellbeing economies, sustainable tourism, place-based planning, and what it takes to really make these work for local communities. New approaches are needed that enable local communities to come together to work through ideas, think differently, address challenges and come up with their own solutions whilst at the same time building the capacity to take this forward for themselves. Significantly this is a place-based approach that is enabled, and not led by, the multiple agencies, organisations and service providers that have a stake in a place.”
-Katharine Wheeler of The Stove Network and Director of WWDN (Creative Placemaking Network)
Placemaking traditionally refers to the concept of developing successful spaces for communities and encouraging connection and creativity for the common good. Creative placemaking is a cultural and arts led approach to placemaking that uses creativity as a support structure for communities to take a leading role in the development of their places.
Creative placemaking is particularly effective at developing community engagement, amplifying less heard voices, and supporting the development of community capacity and partnerships to effect real change.
Read the paper here
