Designing the transition to sustainability | SASI

Designing the transition to sustainability: resourcing community resilience

This project aims to establish a network of academics, practitioners, community groups, national and local government representatives and policy makers who are focused on identifying models to resource the transition to flourishing, resilient communities, and to share experiences in how to run these models. Models to be explored will include community assets, development trusts, social enterprise, cooperatives and other forms. The project draws upon national and international expertise and best practice case studies in the areas of community asset transfer, community based natural resource management and social enterprises.

Sustainable communities should be at the heart of our shift to a more sustainable future. The UK and Scottish Governments have indicated that they will transition to a low carbon economy based on equitable, resilient and vibrant economic systems. Where projects are commercially viable, private financing is likely to be forthcoming. Large scale infrastructure projects may attract public spending support. These two sources of funding, however, will not be sufficient. There is also a need to look at how communities might resource their shift to sustainability and enhance their resilience.

We have developed a conceptual framework in which we see flourishing communities as being the goal of community resourcing, but in order to achieve this we need appropriate resources in terms of land, energy and ecosystems; governance in terms of policy and funding models; appropriate values and culture; and capacity in terms of skills, training and time.

The research programme will run from February to summer 2011 and has been funded by the Scottish Universities Insight Institute. For more information, please look at Documents & Links section below.

Jan Bebbington, University of St. Andrews

Rehema White, University of St. Andrews,

Hamid Van Koten, University of Dundee

Documents & links

Research Programme: Community Resourcing

Research Programme: Document Library for seminars

Scottish Universities Insight Institute (SUII)

*For further information, please contact*

Rhona McLaren (general enquiries)

Email: rmm9@st-andrews.ac.uk

Hamid van Koten

University of Dundee, Email: h.h.vankoten@dundee.ac.uk