News & Resources

VisitScotland is encouraging Scots to explore their local area with the social media campaign #HameTownTourist. 

National Library of Scotland - To play our part in the coronavirus pandemic response, the National Library of Scotland is documenting the impact of the pandemic on Scottish business and the economy. We are doing this as part of our legislative mandate to collect, preserve, and protect documents that reflect Scotland’s heritage.

The Age-Friendly Living Ecosystem project team, part of the Intergenerational National Network, is gathering further ideas on how best to design culture-friendly places and spaces.

CHERF are looking for your ideas and blue sky thinking on structural / strategic solutions that could fundamentally change the heritage landscape for the better. Closing date 21 September 2020. 

By Andrew McRae, (FSB Scotland Policy Chair) - 2020 has been a year like no other, coronavirus has turned life as we know it on its head. This has been true for everyone including for small business owners and entrepreneurs across the country who were forced into new ways of working and, for many, a prolonged state of hibernation.

Chair of STP, Professor Leigh Sparks gives an overview of the current Town Centre Action Plan review. Professor Sparks was asked by Scottish Government to chair the expert group which leads the review. This article was originally published in his blog, Stirling Retail.

Nominations sought to recognise remarkable efforts by those who work in our town centres and high streets during the Covid-19 lockdown and re-opening.

Vicki Miller, Director of Marketing at VisitScotland, explains why VisitScotland are supporting the Scotland Loves Local campaign, and how shopping locally is part of the experience of rediscovering what we have on our doorsteps.

The Scottish Community Development Centre has been commissioned by Sustrans to research how and why communities engage (or don’t engage) with active travel projects (click here for a definition of active travel). All types and sizes of community and voluntary organisations across the country are asked to give their views.

The Expert Review Group formed by the Scottish Government to undertake an appraisal of the Town Centre Action Plan published in 2013 has issued a national survey to gather the views of local communities on the future of their towns.

Nearly 200 towns across Scotland have benefited from £1 million of grants to help communities recover from the consequences of the coronavirus crisis.

The money has come from The Towns and Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) Resilience and Recovery Fund, financed by the Scottish Government and administered by Scotland’s Towns Partnership.

The SURF Awards are widely recognised as the most prestigious in the field of Scottish community regeneration.

The president of the National Farmers Union of Scotland has welcomed the launch of the Scotland Loves Local campaign and its power to support the rural economy.

Over a collectively challenging 15 week period SURF delivered a series of special SURF e-bulletins showcasing positive examples written by organisations delivering services or providing support to communities across Scotland, whilst the country navigated through the Covid crisis. 

The UK's High Streets Task Force has produced resources to help you to create a customised routemap for your high street or town centre, from crisis to recovery and transformation, in the context of the coronavirus pandemic.