This case study shows how, with the support of Knowledge is Power, Dunterlie Foodshare successfully completed community-led action research during the Covid-19 pandemic, exploring the benefits, and challenges, of involvement in the Foodshare for local people, services and volunteers.
Read MoreThrough Knowledge is Power, young people in Blackburn, West Lothian have co-created a series of videos on firework safety with Mind Waves.
Read MoreThis report brings together the activity and key learning from the Knowledge is Power programme and highlights the work delivered by the community organisations involved.
Read MoreWith the support of Knowledge is Power, Crossroads Youth and Community Association (CYCA) carried out community-led action research within their community of Gorbals in the Southside of Glasgow. The report from the research is now available.
Read MoreThis Knowledge is Power case study of Shetland Community Connections shows how, with the right support, a determined and spirited community group can produce research that has made service providers and businesses take notice of what they need to change to make social events more inclusive.
Read MoreThis Knowledge is Power case study describes how Dundee-based Taking up Sophie’s Fight were able to come up with important findings about people struggling to find much-needed mental health support during the pandemic, as well as people’s priorities for what services they would like to see.
Read MoreA range of circumstances meant that Aberdeen in Recovery’s Knowledge is Power project couldn’t be completed. However, important learning has been generated as a result, including AiR’s advice on what to consider when embarking on community-led action research.
Read MoreRead the key learning points from Knowledge is Power, in the write-up of our end-of-programme shared learning and celebration event, which was held online on Thursday 16th June.
Read MoreThis Knowledge is Power case study from Moray Wellbeing Hub demonstrates how community-led action research can be a great tool in empowering people to challenge stigma and to encourage better ways of thinking and talking about issues - in this case mental wellbeing.
Read MoreThrough their involvement in Knowledge is Power, Falkirk Youth Involvement (FYI) Group have been carrying out action research with young people in the Falkirk Council area, based on topics that are important to the lives of young people and the services that Falkirk Council deliver. This case study highlights some really useful learning, particularly when supporting young people to carry out their own research.
Read MoreThe Knowledge is Power programme is getting near to the finish line!
We hope you agree that despite the challenges of the past couple of years, the programme has shown what can be achieved by communities doing their own research and generated loads of important learning - even where things haven’t been able to progress so well.
To wrap things up and give a chance for as much shared learning as possible, we’d like to invite you to a final shared learning event (online) on Thursday 16th June 2022, from 1.30-3.30pm. The event is for the projects who took part in Knowledge is Power as well as wider partners.
Please sign up for the online event using the form below. We’ll be back in touch soon with a programme, Zoom link and any other details.
If you have any questions please email Andrew Paterson at Scottish Community Development Centre or phone 0141 248 1924.
Through Knowledge is Power, Dundee group, Taking Up Sophie’s Fight have conducted a digital as well as printed survey to gain further understanding and information about accessing mental health services. The research is proving to be useful at informing the group’s wider work going forward, develping a Mental Wealth Academy and working with local agencies to improve how mental wellbeing is supported in the community.
Read MoreMoray Wellbeing Hub’s project update describes how the group conducted community conversations in order to co-design resources aimed at increasing understanding of, and improving support for, neurodiversity in Moray.
Read MoreShetland Community Connections show how online communication and vital support costs have been used to get a research project started despite challenging circumstances, a project with the potential to have a real impact on disabled people’s lives.
Read MoreFalkirk Youth Involvement (FYI) Group describe how their Knowledge is Power project supported different groups of young people to help plan and carry out research into areas they were interested in. The FYI group have turned the challenge of young people continually moving on from the project into a strength by using this as an opportunity to freshen things up with new research topics and give as many young people as possible the chance to gain new skills.
Read MoreSCDC and Poverty Alliance are delighted to announce the launch of the Knowledge is Power community-led action research toolkit.
Read MoreWe’re delighted to announce that we’ve selected ten community groups for the Knowledge is Power programme. The groups will be supported to carry out community-led action research in their communities to develop their own evidence to influence change in their communities - and to take forward actions for improvement.
We’re also pleased to announce that Corra Foundation and Inspiring Scotland have provided additional funding for projects they support to be involved in Knowledge is power. This has helped increase the number of supported projects from six to ten. We are also really grateful that Scottish Families Affected by Alcohol and Drugs will part sponsor one of the local inquiries.
The successful groups and their research focus are:
Aberdeen in Recovery – This group with lived experience supports people recovering from addiction and their families. They plan to carry out research to address issues in service provision.
Auchinleck Community Devlopment Initiative (ACDI) - This volunteer-led community anchor organisation aims to support community-led action with young people to develop a community action plan.
Community Action Blackburn – The research focus of this community-led group is to identify issues around the misuse of fireworks within Blackburn in order to drive positive change around the issue.
Crossroads Youth and Community Association and Bridging the Gap - This partnership of community organisations working in the Gorbals area of Glasgow aims to explore the impacts of the pandemic on the community and what might be needed by the community to go beyond recovery towards renewal.
Dunterlie Foodshare - Run by a group of volunteers from Dunterlie supported by Corra Foundation and East Renfrewshire Council’s communities team, this Foodshare project aims to identify gaps in service and develop new projects and ways of working.
Fernhill Community Kitty - Originally set up as a steering group to deliver a local participatory budgeting exercise, this group is being supported by Corra Foundation and South Lanarkshire Council to identify community priorities and plan actions around these.
Falkirk Youth Involvement - This community led action project will provide an excellent opportunity for local young people to be at the heart of the design, development, and delivery of youth services which will meet the needs of local young people. The group of young people who will be undertaking the research come from across the Falkirk area and will be supported by local youth work staff.
Moray Wellbeing Hub CIC – This Moray-wide group aims to start a conversation and collect the voice of lived experience around neurodiversity to further their aim of increasing ‘Mental Wealth’ across Moray.
Shetland Community Connections – The focus of this community-led research is to understand the reality of attending social and cultural events or spaces for Disabled people, their families and carers in Shetland and how their experiences can be improved.
Taking Up Sophie’s Fight – Having formed in 2017 as a result of taking part in the Health Issues in the Community (HIIC) course, this Dundee-based group plans to use community-led research to explore and work towards a co-ordinated recovery approach to mental health services in the community.
The research evidence generated by the community organisations will be brought together through the Knowledge is Power website and used to help shape policy at a national level across Scotland.
Thursday 14 November is the first Knowledge is Power training day, with all ten groups taking part. We’ll provide an update on the training on the Knowledge is Power website in the coming days as well as news of the launch of out online Knowledge is Power toolkit, which will be a resource for any community group in Scotland wanting to conduct their own research to make positive change happen.
The programme is being delivered by Scottish Community Development Centre and The Poverty Alliance and funded by The National Lottery Community Fund and Scottish Government.
Follow @KnowledgeScot for the latest.
Please use this form to sign up for the first Knowledge is Power training event on the Thursday 14th November. The location for the training session is the National Lottery Community Fund offices, Pacific House, 70 Wellington Street, Glasgow, G2 6UA (map). The training will run from 10.30am until 4pm.
The purpose of the training is to bring all the participating groups together to provide an introduction to community-led action research, and offer some initial guidance to help kick off your projects. The day will consist of a mix of inputs from our team of mentors, along with group activities to help you think through the first stages of your research plan.
We can accommodate up to 3 participants per project, but if there are more of you who’d like to attend please let us know and we’ll see what we can do. We hope that those attending are the community members who will be leading your research, along with a dedicated support worker as identified in your applications. It is important that more than one person attends the training as this will help you to cascade the learning to others in your project.
Please can each person attending sign up separately.
If you are unable to complete the registration form, or have any questions, please get in touch with Andrew, Olivia or Robin at Scottish Community Development Centre. Phone 0141 248 1924 or email hello@knowledgeispower.scot.
Applications are now open for this new programme to support community-led action research.
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