Ecosystems
This world prioritises a number of directions to support future strategic thinking within the city. These are framed as: inclusive care, economic resilience, living stories and open data, citizens in power, and learning and growing.
To make sense of this, we created three primary neighbourhood functions. These functions are not self contained but are interdependent and interconnected, allowing for more efficient use of tools and resources, knowledge and capital between them.
The activity within these future neighbourhoods is supported by roles and civic spaces that already exist within Glasgow today and by current City Council strategies, such as the Glasgow City Food Plan.
Our vision is for increased citizen participation in decision making across the city, including the creation of opportunities for people to co-design civic spaces to support democratic engagement, learning, economic development and inclusive care within neighbourhoods.
Ecosystem of Care
Neighbourhood of Care
As a network of community-led help, caring neighbourhoods provide informal spaces for local communities to meet and build relationships; as well as ensuring access to affordable, fresh and good food for every inhabitant to be able to actively participate – supporting well-being for all.
Caring neighbourhoods can generate more nuanced forms of inclusion through nurturing a sense of shared belonging and responsibility for all inhabitants. Engaging with communities slowly and over time is vital for building trust for more meaningful engagements. By identifying areas of need and engaging people to co-develop the solutions that will work for them, meaningful change and impact can occur for all.
Community Canteen | Community Garden | Grower for Well-being | Abundance Mobile
Ecosystem of Innovation
Innovative Neighbourhood
People, land, and the environment are all interconnected. How might we better understand and support each other in ways that are regenerative and abundant, rather than extractive and limited? Every life touches another, creating interactions and relationships which are deeply bound to specific places and environments that require our care and new innovative ways of working for life there to be sustained.
Therefore, how might the city design for all life in Glasgow, rather than just human ‘users’? Neighbourhood-led innovation permeates all areas of life in Glasgow, from civic participation to how we care and interact with the environment, driving co-design within neighbourhoods for greater environmental and ethical impact; as well as supporting increased ownership of local decision making and problem solving. The following three narratives around citizen power, economic resilience and understanding neighbourhoods help illustrate how this works.
Narratives
1. Citizens in Power – Transitioning decision making power to neighbourhoods helps to enhance and amplify citizen engagement and give voice to communities to make decisions. Much of the work being done now around participatory budgeting and open government is already working towards devolving power to the people.
Neighbourhood Hubs | Round Table
2. Economic Resilience – Innovation is crucial to develop a resilient and caring economy within neighbourhoods. Developing and sustaining an economy that privileges local businesses and offers alternatives to traditional economic systems can help to create more inclusivity and opportunities for local inhabitants, no matter their income.
Centre for Local Economy | Eco-Economist
3. Living Stories and Open Data – Supporting citizens to be actively involved in all stages of decision making and problem solving in the city will support neighbourhoods to transition towards increased community-led change, creating more meaningful participation and therefore ownership of decisions that have impact on their lives. As experts of their own lives, how might we value their experiences and pay more attention to their stories? Having reliable, nuanced insights for decision making helps communities to identify areas for development, and to build solutions that meet the needs of their inhabitants.
Speaking Stones | Sensemaker | Living Archive | Neighbourhood Designer
Ecosystem of Learning
Learning Neighbourhood
Neighbourhood-led learning promotes a culture of peer-learning and multiple opportunities for all abilities to build capacity, employability, and skills throughout ones’ lifetime, supporting well-being and economic resilience.
The city now offers more opportunities for different abilities and ages to share skills. Knowledge exchanges from generation to generation support employability for people looking for work; and reduces isolation for elderly people or those less able to enter the job market. This intergenerational activity also supports a thriving neighbourhood culture.
Learning within neighbourhoods is also used for upskilling the council family workforce, resulting in learning together with citizens for a stronger city culture.
Learning and growing is primarily about sharing education, knowledge and skills within neighbourhoods. What tools can we provide to help upskill, employ, or co-design with citizens? In this preferable future, value is not measured through economic means, but rather through what you have learned and can contribute.
People are encouraged to keep learning throughout their lifetime to keep up with our ever-changing and unpredictable future.
