Transcript Possible Scotland: The Hub

Possible Scotland:
Summary of findings
Jim McCormick
Scottish Council Foundation
SURF 2020 Visions Conference
Possible Scotland
Scope of the study: Purpose
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Undertaken by SCF, with the Public Health
Institute of Scotland (PHIS) and HEBS, published
June 2002
To understand how a sample of people living in
Scotland make sense of the past and present
To identify their own aspirations for the next
decade (self/family and Scotland) and priorities
for improvement
Possible Scotland
Scope of the study: Methods
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Eight extended focus groups with adult age
cohorts (participants aged 16 to 82) and two
sessions with children (aged 7 and 14)
Four locations reflecting Affluent, Settled,
Insecure and Excluded Scotland
Twenty in-depth interviews with sample of focus
group participants
Series of stakeholder interviews and a ‘roadtesting event
Possible Scotland
Describing a Possible Scotland:
Headline themes (1)
Healthy and Happy
 Fully employed
 Pollution-free and sustainable
 Financially secure
 Crime-free
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Possible Scotland
Describing a Possible Scotland:
Headline themes (2)
Drug-free
 Well housed
 Safe and Secure
 Respectful, tolerant and disciplined
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Possible Scotland
Priority areas for action (1)
 Crime,
Safety and Security: consistency
in sentencing, curfew, violent crime
 Health
and Care: back to basics in NHS:
clean hospitals and professional pride
 Jobs
and Economy: a better place to do
business, work incentives, secure start for
all young people, value practical skills
Possible Scotland
Priority areas for action (2)
 Drugs: tough on dealing, more and better
rehab, authentic and honest education
 Education: reform curriculum to enhance
motivation for all, invest in practical skills,
get it right first time
 Environment: Invest in cleaner/cheaper
public transport, incentives to recycle,
renewable energy and safer public spaces
Possible Scotland
Priority areas for action (3)
 Housing: cheaper rents to improve work
incentives, more quality social housing with
greater mobility
 Community/family
support: in order to
address loss of respect, manners and
community spirit. Tackle debt and
encourage shorter working hours?
Possible Scotland
Overview (1)
Identifying root causes of problems and
ambitious goals for Scotland is hard
 High degree of willingness to engage
 Strong consensus on problems, visions and
priorities for action across different groups
 Some tensions: respect and authority,
economic development, regulation
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Possible Scotland
Overview (2)
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Assumed that government should take lead
responsibility
Strong continuities with today’s agenda –
incremental change
Clearest aspirations for self (travel, home, family)
less so for neighbourhood and least clear for
Scotland
Strongest optimism for future of self/family and
Scotland, least for neighbourhood
Possible Scotland
Stakeholder responses: Overview (1)
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Level of ambition is relatively disappointing – but
where’s the space for any of us to articulate
aspirations?
Some hopeful signs amid the predictable
Not enough sense of learning to live with
uncertainty and adapting to economic change…
…or facing up to tradeoffs in creating a better
future: which societies are managing this process
more successfully?
Possible Scotland
Stakeholder responses: Overview (2)
Strong desire for consistency: but risk of
levelling down and crowding out pluralism
 Other people’s children seen more as a
danger than a source of hope
 Surprised by apparently low value attached
to education as a means of progress
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Possible Scotland
Stakeholder responses: Indicators (1)
Happiness
 Measures of pluralism and diversity at
every level
 Inequalities in income and wealth
 Nimbleness of economy: small businesses
thriving
 Understanding of lifetime returns on
investment of time and effort
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Possible Scotland
Stakeholder responses: Indicators (2)
Charitable giving: what does a Possible
Scotland contribute?
 International ambitions among Scottish
companies
 Inter-generational support and well-being of
people who live alone
 Measures of support for parenting
 Connectedness and technical sophistication
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Possible Scotland
Stakeholder responses: Indicators (3)
Levels of personal/collective motivation to
succeed, especially among young people
 Quantity and quality of leisure time
(including number of ‘Snowbirds’)
 Vibrancy of the arts
 Quality of inquiry by Parliament, not
legislative ‘virility test’
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Possible Scotland
Stakeholder responses: Actions
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Think and act big: smart moves to achieve step
changes in public health?
Education for citizenship and work must be active:
‘Why does the light go out in their eyes?’
Investment at neighbourhood level: address the
‘hollow middle’ and suspicion of local
government
Look outwards: promote Scotland as a place for
migrants (returners and new Scots)
Possible Scotland
Strategic Intent for a
Possible Scotland
Process led by ambition, vision and values
 Futures perspective
 Comparative perspective
 Historical perspective
 Understanding of how motivation is
generated and sustained
 Creative as well as reflective (‘zeitgeist’)
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Possible Scotland