14 March, 4-5.30pm, University of Edinburgh

What Works Scotland and the Scottish Co-Production Network are delighted to invite you to the launch of the book ‘Designing public policy for co-production: Theory, practice and change', by Catherine Durose (University of Birmingham) and Liz Richardson (University of Manchester).

This important book is a response to crises of public policy. Offering an original contribution to a growing debate, the authors argue that traditional technocratic ways of designing policy are inadequate to cope with increasingly complex challenges, and suggest co-production as a more democratic alternative.

Drawing on 12 compelling international contributions from practitioners, policy makers, activists and actively engaged academics, ideas of power are used to explore how genuine democratic involvement in the policy process from those outside the elites of politics can shape society for the better.

The event will feature author Dr Catherine Durose, one of the most innovative thinkers and practitioners working on public policy and co-production in the UK. Catherine is Senior Lecturer at the Institute of Local Government Studies, and Director of Research and Knowledge Transfer, School of Government and Society (University of Birmingham).

The event will be hosted by Oliver Escobar (What Works Scotland @ University of Edinburgh) and will feature reflections on the book from two ‘keynote readers’ from the public and third sectors:

• Hilda Campbell, Chief Executive Officer, COPE Scotland
• Elinor Mitchell, Head of the Public Service Reform Division, Scottish Government

Attendance is free (courtesy of What Works Scotland) but spaces are limited.

Thirteen councils will receive a share of the participatory budgeting fund, which will give participants the opportunity to decide where investment should be directed in their local community.

The £500,000 investment will be used to match-fund existing council commitments, provide support for participatory budgeting events, support communities to engage with the process, evaluation and learning. This will help fund over 50 participatory budgeting projects across Scotland.

Minister for Local Government and Community Empowerment, Marco Biagi MSP, said: “In these times of unprecedented political engagement in Scotland, there are many people who want to participate, but don’t get involved in traditional consultations. Participatory budgeting gives them a sense of ownership and removes barriers that can often come between them and being involved in local decision making. This funding will give people the opportunity to address the issues that are important to their communities”.

A number of participatory budgeting events will be led by councils in collaboration with key stakeholders in their areas, with some providing funding such as the Third Sector Interface, Big Lottery, Coalfields Regeneration Trust, Police Scotland & Scottish Fire and Rescue.

Fiona Garven from the Participatory Budgeting Working Group, which represents organisations interested in democratic participation said:

“Citizens and communities having influence over the decisions that affect them, and the ways in which public resources are allocated is the foundation of a participatory democracy. The Scottish PB working group welcomes the initiative by the Scottish Government to support more development of participatory budgeting approaches, and the commitment of the participating local authorities to extend their democratic processes through opening up budget decisions to people."

The councils receiving match funding are: Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, Angus, Argyll and Bute, East Ayrshire, North Ayrshire, South Ayrshire, Edinburgh, Fife, Glasgow, Highlands, Midlothian, Moray, Orkney, Perth and Kinross, Shetlands, South Lanarkshire, West Dunbartonshire, West Lothian and the Western Isles.

29 February 2016, 9.30am - 3.45pm, Perth

Organised by The Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland (the ALLIANCE)

On the day you will:

• experience a range of creative approaches;
• explore our key themes - assets, change, conversations, lived experience;
• find out about the learning from the programme;
• be the first to receive our new tools and resources;
• better understand how we can put people at the centre.

This will be a participatory event with opportunities to share experiences and reflect how you can take this important work forward. The Chair for the day will be Ruth Wishart, with Guest Speaker Mike Stevenson.

Workshop details and how to select your preferences will be emailed to attendees in due course.

Please let us know if you have any dietary or accessibility requirements. If you are a small group or individual and require additional support to attend then please get in touch to discuss your needs. For more information or if you have any questions then please email [log in to unmask] or call 0141 404 0231.

You can sign up following the link below.

13-14 May, Wales

DemFest is a new festival of democracy organised by Gladstone's Library in partnership with The Raymond Williams Foundation and The Democratic Society.

At DemFest you will meet people developing fairer and more participatory forms of politics, enjoy a range of exciting democracy-related cultural events and have a chance to think, get-together and talk with others with similar interests or projects. You won't just hear a party line, DemFest is non-partisan and independent.

Why now? We are living in tumultuous times. The UK may be on the brink of fracturing and leaving the European Union, power and resources are increasingly concentrated in fewer and fewer hands and the gulf between the UK's main political parties is rapidly widening.

Meanwhile, myriad possibilities for new forms of democratization are opening up. Whether through experimentation at community level, developments in online technology or the growing public appetite for more collaborative and less hierarchical ways of living, DemFest is about getting together to explore, celebrate and help re-make democracy for our times.

See the programme in the link below to find out more - nothing costs more than £6 and there are a number of free sessions!

Organised by Peter Matthews and David Stevenson -Call for papers, anti-papers and anything in between:

What appeals to many scholars about interpretive and critical modes of policy analysis is the common normative desire to provide voice to the local knowledge of subalterns and challenge the hegemony of power within contemporary neoliberal society.

This fringe event to the 2016 Interpretive Policy Analysis conference begins from the premise that in replicating the norms of academic disciplines the IPA conference has inadvertently become what it often critiques when analysing policy-making. By replicating many of the practices that are common in academic conferences, it can reinforce hierarchies; lack reflexivity of power/knowledge within academic contexts; and perpetuate behaviours and norms that can exclude certain groups and individuals.

As such, and taking its inspiration from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival that was established in opposition to the heavily curated and elitist Edinburgh International Festival, this year the IPA conference will also include an anti-conference fringe event that seeks to challenge those practising IPA to question if their own academic practice matches their analysis of others.

The plan is for a whole day event to take place over one day of the conference. The original Edinburgh Fringe Festival offered no barriers to entry – performers just had to pay to be included in the programme and find a venue. The IPA Fringe has the same ethos, but with even fewer barriers. You can either contact the organisers in advance to discuss your ideas, or just turn up on the day and “perform”.

Presented work can focus either on the practice of IPA, or research that has been conducted using its principles. However, we are keen not to replicate the norms of the academy, therefore activities that are particularly encouraged are those which:

• Use novel presentation techniques – interpretive dance, not Prezi;
• Use non-academics to present research – either as video recordings or as conference participants;
• Present virtually, or via social media to save the air travel;
• Celebrate difference and diversity in society;
• Use mixed media and are fully plural in what constitutes knowledge and knowing;
• Offer critiques of university practices, research, academic disciplines and academia;
• Pose new, critical questions for discussion – either on specific research topics or broader theoretical issues within IPA.

The overall aim will be to create a safe space for difference to be explored and celebrated – doing IPA as practice at an academic conference. We cannot guarantee an audience, but we aim to create a lively space all day where people drop-in.

It would be great to have your contribution to this event, so if you would like to make a proposal or even just to discuss your ideas, please email [log in to unmask] and [log in to unmask]

For more information on the event see the link below.

If you are a student who lives in the Southside of Edinburgh and you would like to have your voice heard, then how about putting yourself forward for the newly re-formed Southside Community Council?

Students are the biggest single identifiable group living in the Southside; your perspective and ideas need to be heard and considered! And this is an opportunity for you to gain insight into the rest of the community, its history and how Community Councils -our local democracy- function.

You are welcome, as are all members of the community, to come and observe meetings, or you can put yourself forward to be an elected member- just now there is room for one more. Jonny Ross-Tatam, EUSA President, is a co-opted member, and our lone student voice. Play an active part in your community!

Come see us in action on the 2nd Mondays of each month in the Nelson Hall (Gray Room), 7pm or call if you have any questions- Joan Carter 0131 667 0592. Our website is www.sccedinburgh.org.uk

A new campaign led by the Sortition Foundation and a range of partners is getting under way. The first step is an open letter that urges the UK Government to introduce and support legislation to constitute and empower a 650-member Citizens' Parliament on House of Lords Reform.

This randomly selected, representative sample of citizens should research, consult widely, deliberate on, and develop a proposal to reform the House of Lords, which would then be put to a national referendum. Find out more following the link below.

New publication by Chris Harkins and Oliver Escobar: “Participatory budgeting in Scotland: an overview of strategic design choices and principles for effective delivery”.

This paper outlines ten strategic PB design choices and ten principles for effective delivery. The metaphor here is not ‘transplanting’ but translating and adapting. PB delivery organisations, communities and citizens involved in the PB process are thus encouraged to use the design choices and principles selectively, flexibly and reflectively as meets their specific purpose, need and context.