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4 ACHIEVEMENTS AND IMPACTS

Introduction

4.1 This chapter presents an assessment of the achievements and impacts of the Pathfinder projects along four key dimensions:

• participation and engagement;
• cross-service and collaborative working within and across local authorities;
• engagement with Community Planning structures and processes; and
• impacts on the cultural sector.

4.2 Later sections discuss issues relating to the sustainability of these impacts and the use of evaluation methods by the projects.

4.3 The main report does not provide an aggregated assessment of performance against the five sets of indicators identified in the Scottish Government's Evaluation toolkit - activity, participation, satisfaction, impact and value for money. There are three main reasons for this:

• the indicators supplied by each project under these headings differ greatly, and are highly specific to each project. As a result, it is not possible simply to aggregate these to provide a meaningful account of the outputs of the Programme;
• the reporting of performance against the indicators identified in project evaluation plans has been inconsistent across the projects, and there are some significant gaps; and
• individual project reports and the case studies in the Appendices provide a more detailed account of the performance of individual projects against these five categories, and to repeat this account here would be duplicatory.

4.4 Therefore, the following assessment has adopted a framework that allows discussion of the key strategic issues for the Programme as well as providing an account of the value that it has created through the supported activities.

Participation and engagement

4.5 From our review of the evaluation reports supplied by projects and our own consultations with project managers and partners, it is clear that the Pathfinder Programme has reached a large number of people across Scotland. Exact numbers were not reported by all projects, and the way in which participation has been recorded was varied, eg some reported total numbers of participants while others reported average participant numbers over a period of time, thereby risking double counting. As a result, it is not possible to provide a reliably accurate figure for total participation across the Programme, although the figures and estimates reported suggest this is likely to exceed 50,000 people ¹¹.

4.6 The nature of participation was also varied, including creative activities such as workshops and attendance at cultural events and participation in consultation processes including public meetings, surveys, blogs and text campaigns. Some projects engaged smaller numbers of participants over dedicated periods of time, while others targeted larger numbers in less intensive/in-depth ways. Indeed, large numbers took part in Pathfinder projects via mainstream consultation methods such as surveys and one-to-one discussions. Nevertheless, the available data and the estimates obtained suggest that the Programme may have reached as much as 1% of Scotland's population.

4.7 No data were available to allow a clear analysis of how participation was distributed across specific target groups. Therefore, it was not possible to evidence in a quantitative sense the extent to which the Programme has reached the intended target groups. However, projects did provide an account of the targeting of participation, and the evidence suggests that many of the projects did indeed engage under-represented groups, as shown in Table 4.1:

Table 4.1: Participant groups

* Although the Fife and Edinburgh Pathfinders targeted the whole community, both identified priority groups within this, including BME communities, people with disabilities, children and young people, deprived communities, LGBT and older people.
** Western Isles is by nature a rural community and as the project targeted the whole community, by default it targeted rural communities.

4.8 Although there is a reporting issue in relation to consistent recording and reporting of the numbers of people taking part in Pathfinder activities, participant numbers alone constitute a very impoverished measure of performance. What is of more interest is the way in which projects managed to engage participants, and the impacts of that participation on the individuals concerned. On both of these issues, the projects offer useful learning.

Engaging participant groups

4.9 The diversity of approaches across the funded projects makes it difficult to draw broad generalisations about the means used to engage participants in cultural activities, although a number of lessons with regards to encouraging participation by under-represented groups and/or excluded communities can be identified:

• informality and a non-judgemental approach allows participants to find their own cultural interests and helps sustain participation;
• allowing communities to inform and shape cultural provision, albeit within defined boundaries and frameworks, builds ownership and commitment;
• the means of creative engagement are important, and tailoring provision to the needs of different groups requires flexibility;
• place is important, and taking culture out of traditional cultural venues and into local community settings has been effective in encouraging participation for many of the projects;
• embedding cultural activity (and even facilities) in the community helps build familiarity and trust and can overcome some of the known barriers to participation;
• the skills and personal qualities of those involved in the delivery of cultural activities are crucial - both creative practitioners and project managers/ workers have played pivotal roles in this respect;
• working with existing groups, partners and representatives within communities facilitates community access and helps to build trust and encourage participation;
• targeting specific barriers to cultural participation through direct intervention can be a useful way of engaging people in new activities; and
• engaging people on an ongoing basis (ie not just a one-off consultation) and communicating the outputs can help build momentum and foster a greater sense of involvement and ownership of the process.

4.10 These are illustrated in the following examples from the Programme.

4.11 Informality and user-centred approaches: The Clackmannanshire Pathfinder established a permanent physical presence within its target community and operated on a drop-in basis as well as through pre-arranged workshop times. This was felt to be important in allowing local people to explore the facility in their own time and at their own pace, helping to build familiarity and trust. The artists placed no pressure on people arriving in the shop, instead offering refreshments and an opportunity to talk. This gentle approach was felt by project staff to have been critically important in removing some of the attitudinal barriers typically reported by people not used to using cultural facilities. Programming in the facility then evolved in line with the needs and interests of the participants.

4.12 Community-led provision: A number of the projects demonstrated the value of allowing communities to actively shape their cultural provision, ensuring that what was delivered was fully informed by the needs and interests of the end users. As well as Clackmannanshire, this was a strong feature in Highland, and Perth and Kinross, although it was also recognised in the approach of many of the other projects.

4.13 Importantly, this community-led approach was not completely open-ended and in some projects clear boundaries were set and guidelines established to ensure the overarching aims of the project were achieved. In Highland, young people were given a choice of activities, but this was restricted to a pre-defined 'menu' that met objectives of partnership working and ensured activities spanned the broad definition of culture.

4.14 Similarly in Perth and Kinross, community organisations were also provided with a range of possible activities and in Renfrewshire/East Renfrewshire/Inverclyde, it was recognised that a balance was required between allowing socially disadvantaged groups to have a real say in shaping activity without causing them undue stress or anxiety. Again a framework was provided.

4.15 Means of creative engagement: The Clackmannanshire Pathfinder (deliberately) used photographic portraiture as a means of engaging people coming into the shop, and word spread that the Artshop was a place to which people could go and take photos of themselves, their family and friends. This choice of medium was considered critical in engaging people.

4.16 Similarly, in the Fife project the Moussa's Castle 'imagineering' workshops with pre-5 children and their carers were considered by the project team to be particularly successful in their use of drama techniques to engage very young children. Drama (and to a lesser extent music and visual art) was also considered important in engaging pre-5s in the South Ayrshire project.

4.17 Flexibility: A number of the Pathfinders also took a flexible approach, seeking to tailor activities to the need and interests of participants. For example, in Glasgow the project adopted a flexible approach to working with older people in care settings recognising that one size would not fit all and that while some welcomed activities in the day care setting, for others it was more important to be involved in activities in the community.

4.18 Taking culture out of cultural venues: The Culture Booth consultation in the Fife project was highlighted as a particular success and provided a good example of the benefits of taking culture out of traditional cultural venues and of targeting consultation methods to the audience. Television was a strongly identified element of culture for Fifers, so the Culture Booth was designed as a mobile television studio and quiz show, allowing people to see themselves on screen, vote for priorities and experience instant feedback. The gaming aspect of this appealed to young people and the mobility of the device allowed the project to engage people in everyday, familiar settings such as shopping centres. Taking culture out of cultural venues was felt to have helped to overcome barriers to participation associated with negative perceptions of cultural venues as inaccessible or unwelcoming.

4.19 A further example of this is provided by the Perth and Kinross project, in which one local community proved particularly difficult to engage. To overcome this, a public parade and fire display was diverted through the main street in that community to ensure that everyone could be involved. This was very successful, with high attendances and positive feedback from local residents, underlining again the importance of location in cultural provision.

4.20 Finally, in the Renfrewshire/East Renfrewshire/Inverclyde project, one of the libraries that participated in the project was located within a health centre and, as a result, it was able to access participants that would not normally use libraries.

4.21 Embeddeness in the community: The Dundee project was also successful in facilitating community engagement and it did so in a different way from the examples already described. In Dundee, project workers were placed within the target (deprived) communities and worked intensively with community groups, representatives and individuals to encourage cultural participation and facilitate engagement. The project was explicitly focussed on building links between the city's cultural organisations and the target communities and activities included visits to cultural events and venues, helping to overcome perceived barriers around transport, interest and familiarity.

4.22 It was the embeddedness of the Dundee approach that was most striking (as in Clackmannanshire). Working within communities and with locally based artists helped to build familiarity and trust, while developing wider awareness of local cultural activities. In addition, some of the consultation feedback from the Pathfinders was that physical access issues are important with lack of regular transport links often a barrier to participation, particularly in deprived communities. Therefore, demand is often strongest for local provision.

4.23 Some of the projects also sought to address directly the barriers relating to transport (eg Glasgow and Dundee) by taking people to cultural venues. Although successful in helping to encourage attendance, the sustainability of these kinds of approaches may be questionable given the ongoing resource implications of providing transport and/or free tickets.

4.24 Role of the creative practitioners: Another critical factor in the success of many of the Pathfinders was the quality of the creative practitioners and community intermediaries. This was cited in the context of the Dundee, Clackmannanshire and SLP projects.

4.25 For example, the SLP project used drama as the primary cultural medium and tutors from the National Theatre of Scotland ( NTS) and Tricky Hat Productions worked with groups of older people to allow their voices to be heard through a creative process. Throughout there was very strong praise for the quality of the creative process, and the fact that the groups were involved with a national cultural organisation of the standing of NTS was felt to have empowered participants and given them a feeling of being involved in something that was important, national and high quality.

4.26 In Clackmannanshire, the digital media artist had prior experience of working with marginalised groups and one of the other artists was from the local area, which was felt to be important in gaining the trust of local people. Throughout the consultations, it was stressed that the key factor was to treat the participants with respect, and provide a supporting, non-threatening and encouraging environment.

4.27 Finally, in Dumfries and Galloway, Urbancroft, a film making group, worked with communities to develop a film describing people's experiences of living in the area. The impetus for the work came very much from the community and was a collaborative process between the film makers and the community. Here a more community-led approach managed to engage people in an area in which the project had found it more difficult to identify community groups with which to work.

4.28 Use of existing networks: The Perth and Kinross Pathfinder used an existing network of community groups and organisations as a platform for wider engagement with rural and isolated communities. Community groups were then provided with the resources and support to select and implement the cultural activities that most appealed to them.

4.29 There were two important aspects to this approach, The first was the use of existing groups and networks with established links into the community (an approach also used successfully in Edinburgh). Trust was crucial in encouraging participation, and by working through existing community links the project was able to reach deeper into communities. Secondly, the devolution of responsibility and power to communities was empowering and led to greater ownership and commitment to resulting activities.

4.30 Many of the other Pathfinders also worked with partners within and outwith the local authority to facilitate access to key participant groups in schools, care settings and in isolated or excluded communities.

4.31 Targeting known barriers: Other projects encouraged participation in different ways, often by targeting known barriers such as lack of knowledge of cultural provision and opportunities to participate, transport and accessibility and negative perceptions of culture as peripheral or not relevant to people's lives. Some projects set out to create an informal and welcoming environment for cultural activities (eg Renfrewshire/East Renfrewshire/Inverclyde, Clackmannanshire) and others directly supported access to cultural activities by physically taking people to venues (eg Glasgow, Dundee), offering free tickets to events (Glasgow) working with groups over time to encourage and sustain participation (eg SLP) and by ensuring geographic spread of provision (eg Western Isles).

4.32 Sustaining engagement and building momentum: In addition to the strategic consultation work in Edinburgh, the Pathfinder also consulted with a wide range of communities, and did so on an ongoing basis. Following initial consultation, participants were contacted again to comment on draft outputs. This not only helped to build and sustain momentum in the project, but it was reported that it also gave participants a real sense of involvement.

Further learning points

4.33 Some of the difficulties experienced by some of the Pathfinders also provide further learning about ways of engaging participants.

4.34 Fife Pathfinder sought to engage widely across the region through a varied programme of activities, tailored where possible to the needs of different audiences. Some methods proved more successful than others. For example a text message campaign that encouraged people to submit a photograph that best summed up Fife culture received a low response, due to the need for a proactive response on the part of potential respondents. It was felt that more directive approaches would be more successful, and that incentives may be needed to encourage wider participation in similar consultation processes in future.

4.35 The SLP Pathfinder sought to work with groups of older people across a range of different local authority areas. In two areas, encouraging and sustaining participation was challenging, for different reasons. In East Ayrshire, the project failed to engage a group of (mainly) older men in a drama project as most of the group struggled to consider cultural activity as a valid activity in which to participate. While it was felt that this could have been overcome, the project did not have sufficient time to undertake this development work, and an existing group from another area was substituted.

4.36 Engaging older men, particularly Asian men, was also an issue faced by Glasgow, reflecting the importance of fully understanding (through key partners) the target groups' aspirations and limitations.

4.37 In Aberdeen, a combination of factors contributed to the eventual collapse of a group participating in the SLP Pathfinder. The project used two venues, creating some confusion amongst participants, and bad weather affected attendance. In addition, changes in responsibility and structure at the local authority meant that the relationship with the community groups was diluted, and it was not possible to ensure the degree of ongoing support needed to sustain participation. In contrast, the success of one of the other groups in the SLP Pathfinder, Angus, was attributed to the expertise and commitment of the local partner and the level of ongoing support provided to the group to facilitate and sustain their involvement.

4.38 The SLP example illustrated two important points. First, that time was essential to develop the trust of vulnerable groups within the community and, secondly, that ongoing support was critical. In the case of older people, this extended to even apparently simple measures such as ensuring that participants knew where to go at what time and establishing regular times and places for activities to maintain consistency.

4.39 In Dumfries and Galloway, limited success in engaging key partners such as the NHS meant that the project was unable to access some harder to reach groups such as those with mental health issues. Similarly, in Fife, the project found difficulty in engaging BME communities, even working through agreed and formal routes, and Glasgow faced difficulties in engaging older Asian men. In the case of Glasgow, this was mainly due to cultural differences. The Pathfinder proposed an intergenerational project to this group and the Asian men had little interest, saying that they felt little common ground with younger Asians. These examples underline again the importance of working with partners with established connections into specific groups and in tailoring communications to the needs of different audiences.

4.40 Similarly, engagement with disabled people was relatively limited across the Programme. While a number of projects did engage people with disabilities, this was not always without its challenges. In the Western Isles, one workshop was held with disabled people, but practical difficulties (timing, weather and transport) prevented more of this activity. The Glasgow project did engage disabled older people and did so by working through care homes, again highlighting the important role of existing services in providing access to specific groups.

4.41 Despite the various challenges, the Pathfinder projects have successfully engaged a broad cross-section of participants in cultural activities and in debate and discussions about culture and cultural provision. In doing so, they have provided rich learning about the value of different means of engaging diverse groups of participants and offer useful lessons for future activity. They have also collected a substantial body of knowledge about community aspirations for culture, which again could form a useful input to policy deliberations at local and national levels.

4.42 Finally, it is worth noting that throughout the consultation process, it was clear that culture has many and varied meanings for different communities. Looking across the feedback from the Pathfinders, culture is generally perceived in broad terms, and is not restricted to the arts. Rather, the descriptions of culture offered by diverse communities and groups across Scotland is probably closer to 'way of life' than it is to the arts, with many identifying issues such as sport and leisure, environment, language, heritage, identity (local and/or national), tradition and family as key elements of 'culture'. This is important, and not only lends support to the notion of culture having a wider role in promoting community well-being, but may also have implications for the focus of cultural policy, as discussed later in the report.

Impacts on participants

4.43 The impacts of cultural participation on individuals are well-established and have been consistently demonstrated by previous research ¹². The data and feedback from Pathfinder projects provide further evidence of these impacts, and in many cases move beyond measures of satisfaction to identify outcomes.

4.44 All of the projects reported high levels of satisfaction amongst participants, and many also provided evidence of the wider benefits of cultural participation, including:

• improved self-confidence and self-esteem through creative self-expression;
• development of new friendships, contributing to social cohesion;
• health benefits (eg through smoking cessation work);
• improved literacy;
• increased levels of community involvement;
• community capacity building (as groups continue to develop cultural activities beyond the Pathfinder projects);
• enjoyment;
• civic and community pride; and
• development of new skills and competencies.

4.45 Many of the individual Pathfinder project reports contain much in the way of rich data to demonstrate these impacts, and a few have also documented the creative outputs of the projects in a way that provides tangible and often moving accounts of the transformative power of participation in cultural activity.

4.46 However, in the wider policy context in which culture must operate, it may be that the demonstration of its impacts in other policy areas will prove most compelling for policy makers, strategists and planners.

4.47 In this respect, two projects are worthy of specific mention. In Clackmannanshire, the Artshop is making a real contribution to community regeneration in one of the most deprived areas of Scotland. The facility has developed a role and standing within a challenging environment and has secured additional sponsorship from a housing developer as part of its contribution to area regeneration. The Pathfinder project manager was able to convince the Council to use planning gains to support the Artshop as part of a new approach to public art. This is the first time that planning gains have been used to support a cultural regeneration project in Clackmannanshire, and is a direct result of the development of the Artshop project as an effective vehicle for community consultation. Through its work with local smoking cessation groups, the project also provided a compelling demonstration of the role of cultural participation in achieving community health objectives (as described in the Clackmannanshire case study).

4.48 The Perth and Kinross project secured wide engagement from a broad cross-section of partner and interest groups spanning health, mental health, youth projects and adult literacy, all of which were reported to now consider arts activities to be an integral part of their provision. This is direct recognition of the value of cultural participation in contributing to objectives relating to health and well-being.

4.49 There is also evidence across the Programme of ongoing activity at community levels that demonstrates the impacts of the Pathfinders on participating individuals and community groups.

4.50 For example, the impacts on the older people that took part in the SLP Pathfinder were both striking and tangible. The project report describes their feedback in terms of a transformative effect on self-confidence, self- expression and feelings of self-worth. All of the groups that participated in the second phase of the SLP project are continuing with further cultural activities, some seeking and managing fundraising themselves. Similarly, in Perth and Kinross, groups are seeking to raise funds for ongoing work, and in Dundee it was reported that the project not only increased participation during its lifespan, but has also increased the demand from communities for ongoing cultural provision. In Clackmannanshire, participants have continued to use the Artshop with some now returning to productive economic activity, developing new careers in culture and other fields and even becoming involved in the management and development of the Artshop facility itself.

4.51 These are all powerful examples of the impacts of cultural participation on individual and community interest and enthusiasm for cultural participation, and of the capacity building effects of cultural participation. This is critical, and the evidence from the Pathfinder projects strongly supports the notion that involvement in cultural activity offers significant potential to build self-confidence and encourage self-expression. As a tool for community consultation, cultural participation therefore offers significant potential, and the Pathfinder Programme has provided rich evidence to support this claim.

4.52 It has also provided a very broad range of people with new cultural experiences. Anecdotal feedback suggests that for some participants this was their first real experience of cultural participation, although the evidence to support this was not available (ie we do not know how many of the participants were new to arts/culture). It was also not clear to what extent the experience of cultural participation through the Pathfinder projects has led to sustained interest in participation.

Summary

4.53 Overall, the evidence suggests that the Pathfinder projects have engaged a broad cross-section of people in Scotland, both through direct participation in cultural activities and by contributing their views on culture and cultural provision in their areas through often imaginative and creative consultation processes. In so doing, many of the projects have demonstrated the value of cultural activity as a means of allowing people to express their views and develop the confidence to contribute to their communities.

4.54 Of course, some projects have been more successful than others in this respect, and the analysis above has identified some factors important in encouraging the participation of under-represented groups and developing effective means of community consultation. This can provide useful learning for future activity.

Local authority cross-service and collaborative working

4.55 From the outset, the Pathfinder Programme aimed to support projects that would encourage and facilitate the involvement of other service departments within local authorities (ie other than Culture and Leisure) and collaborative working between different authorities. The former is particularly important in light of the ambitions of the Programme to explore and demonstrate the role of culture within the wider context of planning and local service delivery.

Cross-service working

4.56 Cross-service involvement was a feature of all of the projects, although the nature and extent of this was variable across the Programme. Most of the projects were delivered by Culture and Leisure Departments (or equivalents) with two notable exceptions - SLP (in which the local partners often came from Community Learning and Development teams) and Clackmannanshire, which was delivered by a cultural planning officer with a cross-service remit.

4.57 The most frequent cross-service links made by the projects were with Education and Community Learning and Development teams and, to a lesser extent, with Social Work Departments, perhaps reflecting existing levels of interest in cultural activity and access to specific target groups in the community. In particular, the role of local authority Cultural Co-ordinators may have helped to facilitate the connections with Education Departments.

4.58 A number of the projects demonstrated a strong focus on cross-service engagement within the authorities, with interesting and positive impacts, including improved cross-Council communication and planning and demonstration of the role of culture in delivering priorities for other service areas. These issues are discussed below.

4.59 Cross-Council dialogue: In the Western Isles, the Pathfinder encouraged dialogue between Cultural Services (arts development) and the Gaelic Language Promotion and Heritage Department. In particular, the consultation found that the people of the Western Isles considered Gaelic and heritage to be inextricably linked with notions of culture, establishing common ground for the two departments. The project was managed via a cross-Council steering group, and steering group members reported that the Pathfinder was instrumental in helping to remove barriers to cross-departmental working. The project also highlighted a gap in formal strategic planning within the Council; at the time of writing, there are plans to establish a new structure to support cross-service planning around culture.

4.60 In this example, direct involvement on the Pathfinder steering group enabled different service departments to perceive common ground, based on a broad definition of culture. Similarly, in South Ayrshire, cross-service working was also facilitated through an internal steering group, illustrating the important role of structures in facilitating cross-service working. The Edinburgh Pathfinder also developed a new partnership between the Cultural and Sport Departments, which had not previously collaborated, and again a steering group structure helped to support the project.

4.61 Demonstrating the wider role of culture: The Clackmannanshire Pathfinder took a very different but nonetheless effective approach to cross-service working. As noted earlier, the Artshop project was more practical in feel, taking a 'show and tell' approach to demonstrating the value of cultural activity across different policy areas. In addition to engagement with Community Learning and Development and Education Departments, the project manager also developed links into Criminal Justice, Psychological Services, the Rangers Service and Environmental Planning Departments. Importantly, the approach here was to engage with key service departments early in the project and explain to them the role that cultural participation could play and then to develop activity that would meet their priorities and requirements.

4.62 The role of structure and individuals: Two factors are important in the Clackmannanshire example. First, the local authority operates a matrix management approach that facilitates cross-service working - and encouraged this within the project, thereby helping to reduce structural barriers. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, the experience and knowledge of the project manager enabled the development of cultural activities that could contribute directly to the priorities of other service departments. Importantly, this was also based on early consultation with these departments to build a clear understanding of their needs and priorities. It was reported that the project's demonstration of the contribution that cultural activity can make to community health and mental health, community learning and development, area regeneration and enterprise development is starting to attract the attention of the Clackmannanshire CPP.

4.63 Similarly, the extent of cross-service working and engagement in the Renfrewshire/East Renfrewshire/Inverclyde project was reported to be most marked in Inverclyde, a fact that was attributed to the experience and approach of the project manager and to the structural arrangements in that authority.

4.64 In relation to structures, the Edinburgh Pathfinder was managed through a Pathfinder Board that was a key mechanism for encouraging cross-service working and raising the profile of culture across different partners. The Board comprised representatives from arts and sports providers, senior local authority representatives from different departments and the CPP. The Board and the project team were also very proactive in consulting across the Council (and externally) to influence different partners and convince them of the wider role of culture. This level of commitment was reportedly an important factor in influencing decision makers within the Council.

4.65 Commitment at every level: The Fife Pathfinder also engaged successfully within the Council and did so from the outset by engaging strategic planners and convincing them of the value of culture to the extent that culture was given explicit recognition in the most recent Fife Community Plan. The Fife Pathfinder benefitted from a strong project management team, aligned with significant senior management and elected member support within the Council. This combination of support and commitment at every level was consistently identified as a critical factor in the success of the project, and the Council has since approved a new Cultural Strategy for Fife proposing a new approach and additional investment in local cultural provision.

4.66 Senior management support was also identified as a factor in the Perth and Kinross project, helping to build political support for the Pathfinder and enhancing the profile of culture, which is now a priority for the Council. While this cannot be attributed solely to the Pathfinder work, it has undoubtedly been a contributing factor.

4.67 What these examples suggest is that cross-service working and engagement is significantly enhanced by:

• the support and engagement of senior management and elected members to ensure that cultural initiatives have sufficiently high profile across the Council;
• the knowledge, experience and commitment of key individuals in being able to convince other services of the role that culture can play in meeting their priorities and objectives;
• early engagement across departments to understand their priorities and identify ways that culture can contribute; and
• structures that can facilitate and support cross-service communication and collaboration.

4.68 It is also worth noting that a number of the projects reported that being able to say that the Pathfinder was part of a national Government programme in Scotland helped to open doors both within and outwith local authorities. This not only helped to lever match funding, but also encouraged senior level engagement in the project, at least in some cases.

4.69 The projects that demonstrated successful and extensive cross-service working were also often those that worked on the basis of a broad definition of culture (ie one that moves beyond the arts into areas more akin to way of life). It may be that a broader notion of culture has greater appeal to other policy agendas and across service areas due to the potential contributions that can be made to other departmental outcomes.

4.70 However, it is also instructive to note that once a specific initiative (or strategy) is defined, it is often more focussed on cultural provision in the sense of that which is delivered by cultural services. This may be a necessary and pragmatic response as too broad a definition of culture may be problematic for partners in defining activities within a strategic framework. This is discussed again in the final Chapter.

Collaboration between Councils

4.71 Two projects set out to test models of collaborative working between different Councils (Aberdeen City/Aberdeenshire and Renfrewshire/East Renfrewshire/ Inverclyde) and another, ( SLP), explored the delivery of the same model across different Council areas and sought to promote the sharing of learning and experience across local partners.

4.72 In all cases, the consultation feedback indicated that the attempts at collaborative working had met with mixed success. In the Renfrewshire/East Renfrewshire/Inverclyde project, the collaborative working was reported to be challenging. The sharing of good practice was inhibited by organisational and cultural differences between the authorities, while co-ordination and management across the authorities was also difficult. It was suggested that rather than creating efficiency gains, the project actually highlighted a need for additional staff input - a project co-ordinator was felt to be required to manage the process more effectively across the three authorities.

4.73 In Aberdeen City/Aberdeenshire the evidence does suggest greater collaborative working, at least at a strategic level. The project was largely strategic in its focus and identified opportunities and priorities for joint planning and delivery in the future. Although differences in structure and approach between the two authorities (and their respective CPPs) were reported as barriers to effective collaborative planning, it does now appear that the authorities are moving forward with joint planning activities, and are considering the establishment of a joint cultural forum to support this process. It was also reported that the Pathfinder has helped to strengthen relationships between the two Councils.

4.74 As noted earlier, the SLP project provided an opportunity to compare and contrast the delivery of a consistent model across different local authority areas, and to share that learning across authorities. In practice this proved difficult, and the feedback was that there was less sharing across authorities than was originally hoped.

4.75 What the project found was variable levels of commitment to, and interest in, culture across the local authorities, and in the end much came down to the commitment and interest of individuals at the local level. It was also reported that the project was too short and was under-resourced, meaning that from a central perspective, SLP could only do so much to facilitate and support the process of engaging local partners and helping them to engage with Community Planning partners.

4.76 An Exchange Event was held which brought together the SLP partners and participants with local authority and Community Planning representatives to share experiences and key lessons. Although successful, it was reported that there was little sharing outwith this event.

4.77 Overall, the experience of the Pathfinders seeking to facilitate cross authority collaboration was decidedly mixed. Differences in structures, cultures and priorities make this a challenging objective, particularly within the relatively short time frames available to the projects.

Impact on Local Authorities

4.78 Establishing the impacts of Pathfinder projects on local authorities is challenging, particularly as in many cases it is still too early for impacts to be apparent. However, the evidence from the projects themselves, and in particular from the evaluation team's consultations with project managers and partners, suggests that the impacts of the Pathfinder projects on local authorities have been varied.

4.79 In some places, the projects have clearly had a significant influence on the ways in which local authorities conceive of and support culture, informing the development of strategies, structures and activities. This is true of Fife, Perth and Kinross, Edinburgh and the Western Isles. In each of these areas, the Pathfinder process pushed an expansive definition of culture, based on community consultation, and has since led to the formation (or planned formation) of new structures to drive forward the planning and delivery of cultural provision.

4.80 In Edinburgh this is yet to happen and the local authority will consider its role in implementing a new Cultural Pledge for the city in the coming months. Perth and Kinross Council is currently considering the establishment of a new cultural sub-group within the Lifelong Learning Sub-Group of the CPP, and in Fife a new Cultural Consortium has already been established, comprising key cultural and Community Planning partners.

4.81 However, there is less evidence of significant changes in the local authority's approach as a result of the Pathfinder projects in Glasgow, Dundee and Renfrewshire/East Renfrewshire/Inverclyde. In Glasgow, the project has helped to cement relationships with other departments (as noted) but there is less evidence of changes in approach within the authority, although this may be a result of wider structural changes taking place anyway as the new trust (Culture and Sport Glasgow) establishes its role.

4.82 For Dundee, the project was felt to have provided valuable learning and community links for the Council, but how this will impact on future activity is less clear, and in Renfrewshire/East Renfrewshire/Inverclyde there is little evidence of a clear legacy for the participating authorities.

4.83 In Highland, the Pathfinder reportedly enabled the Council to test a model of working within Associated School Groups, an approach that has since been adopted as a model for wider practice within the Council.

4.84 In a number of the other Pathfinders, there is intent to influence local authority activity, but less evidence that this has yet translated into action. For example, in South Ayrshire, the outputs of the Pathfinder experience are intended to inform the development of a cultural strategy, but this is not yet evident.

4.85 In Aberdeen/Aberdeenshire the intention again is to pursue new models of collaborative working and joint planning between the two authorities, but this has not yet been implemented although the Pathfinder has undoubtedly identified new opportunities in this respect.

4.86 Finally, in Clackmannanshire the Pathfinder has influenced the delivery of cultural activities in the region and is part of a wider strategic approach to planning that, while not articulated in a cultural strategy (or equivalent), is nonetheless being implemented. The project also led to a change in approach to public art, and has influenced investment in this area. However, its longer term impacts on the local authority remain unclear at this stage.

4.87 The variability of the Pathfinders' impacts on local authorities must be seen in the context of the variable levels of priority attached to culture across the local authority sector. Many of the authorities in which the Pathfinder work did have an influence were already committed to culture and had existing or developing strategies to guide the delivery of cultural provision. The Pathfinder Programme, while perhaps not leading to significant change in authorities in which culture has a lower profile, has at least brought this into sharper focus.

Summary

4.88 While all of the Pathfinders demonstrated cross-service engagement and involvement in the projects, the impacts of this on approaches to culture across the sector have been mixed. In some cases, projects have shown how culture can contribute to community consultation and inform planning work, or have provided an often compelling demonstration of the contribution that cultural participation can make to areas such as health, community health, area regeneration, literacy and social care. These have helped to raise the profile of culture within a number of the participating authorities and should provide a basis for increased cross-service interest and involvement in cultural activities. Whether or not this will happen is not clear in all cases, and may depend on resources, structures and political and senior management commitment.

Interface with Community Planning

4.89 The Local Government in Scotland Act of 2003 places statutory duties on local authorities to initiate, facilitate and maintain Community Planning and on core partners to participate in the process through CPPs. CPPs bring together key participants and so can act as a bridge to link national and local priorities. Although not new, Community Planning has become an increasingly important mechanism for the planning and delivery of local services across Scotland. The Scottish Government wants to see access to, and participation in, cultural activities being as wide as possible, and promotes this at a local level through, for example, including cultural activities within Community Planning processes. As such, engagement with CPPs was a major priority for the Pathfinder Programme.

4.90 However, the evidence from project reports and consultation with project managers and partners suggested that the extent to which Pathfinder projects successfully engaged with CPPs was patchy. While some projects sought to involve CPP representatives on the steering groups for the Pathfinder projects, others targeted more operational engagement at the local level and through project activities. Both approaches had mixed results, and it is clear that there are ongoing challenges in seeking to embed culture within CPP structures and processes.

4.91 Essentially, projects fell into one of three broad categories with regard to their engagement with CPPs:

• those that successfully engaged CPPs from the outset, creating the potential for longer-term strategic legacies;
• those that engaged the CPPs, but where the impacts of that engagement are as yet unclear; and
• those that struggled to engage CPPs to any significant degree.

Successful engagement with CPPs

4.92 Four projects provided clear examples of strong and sustained engagement with the CPPs with the potential to create longer-term strategic legacies and a productive interface between culture and Community Planning. These were Fife, Edinburgh, the Western Isles and Highland and it is worth briefly reflecting on the experiences of these projects.

4.93 As noted earlier, the Fife Pathfinder process engaged Community Planning partners from the outset, and managed to secure the inclusion of culture in the revised Community Plan. Thereafter, the project sustained this engagement by securing senior level support, including from elected members and the Chair of the CPP, and by pushing a broad consultation across Community Planning partners. The project was also based on genuine grass roots community consultation, in line with the aspirations of Community Planning, and this was a strong selling point that helped to engage the interest of the CPP. The commitment, drive and enthusiasm of the project manager were also identified as critical factors in the success of the project in sustaining the interest and engagement of the partners.

4.94 It was also reported that the broad definition of culture identified through the community consultation work helped to make the relevance and role of culture across different service areas more apparent. If culture was defined broadly as being about way of life rather than the arts alone, wider partners were more able to see its relevance across the broad range of Community Planning priorities and concerns.

4.95 However, despite this broad approach, the experience of the Fife Pathfinder still underlines the importance of culture having a 'home' within Community Planning frameworks. In this case, culture sits within the Health and Well Being theme, even though it was recognised that it has wider applicability and can contribute to other theme areas.

4.96 The Fife project also demonstrates the importance of structures in developing an effective interface with Community Planning. Community Planning works through structures of theme groups and sub-groups, providing partners with frameworks for debate and planning. Culture is rarely represented within main Community Planning structures, and in Fife it was felt essential to establish a new partnership mechanism (Fife Cultural Consortium) through which to engage with the wider CPP. It is also important that the local authority chairs this new partnership, helping to make tangible links into the Fife CPP structures.

4.97 The Fife Pathfinder has been very successful in engaging with Community Planning, and a number of key lessons emerge from its experience:

• early engagement is key, and the inclusion of culture in the community plan was a considerable early win for the Pathfinder (even if this may have happened without the Pathfinder);
• senior level support is critical in facilitating the links into CPP structures and convincing partners of the importance of culture;
• a broad and open-minded approach to defining culture helped to secure buy-in from wider partners to the relevance of cultural activity across different service areas;
• structures matter, and help to provide a forum for debate and a credible channel through which to engage with the wider CPP; and
• the persistence, energy and enthusiasm of the project team (at all levels) was consistently identified as a critical factor in engaging partners and winning support.

4.98 The approach of the Edinburgh Pathfinder was similarly targeted on Community Planning from the very start, and the CPP was represented on the Pathfinder Board through a senior contact from the Edinburgh Partnership. In Edinburgh, this process was made easier by the fact that there was an existing Cultural Partnership within the wider CPP, again underlining the importance of structures in facilitating the link to Community Planning.

4.99 At the local level, neighbourhood partnerships in Edinburgh proved more difficult to engage due to their early stage of development and high staff turnover. Nevertheless, Neighbourhood Partnerships did sign-up to the outputs of the Pathfinder and it is considered likely that this will now influence local community plans as they develop. There is ongoing work to understand how the outputs of the Pathfinder (the Cultural 'Pledge') can be integrated into Community Planning priorities for the city at both local and city-wide levels.

4.100 The Fife and Edinburgh examples share some important characteristics. Both were very strategic in their intent. The projects did not seek to engage participants in cultural activities per se, but rather sought to consult and inform planning while ensuring that strategic engagement with key partners was maintained throughout the projects. They also took place in areas with an existing level of recognition and commitment to culture both within the local authorities and the wider CPPs. While both projects will almost certainly enhance culture's profile and standing, they were not starting from as low a position as some of the other Pathfinders.

4.101 In the Western Isles, the Pathfinder was initiated by the CPP, which encouraged the Council to apply to the Programme in line with its priorities for culture. Thereafter the CPP remained closely involved in the process through the Cultural Working Group, and plans are for a new Cultural Partnership to be established to connect to the CPP, and represent the role of culture in wider planning contexts.

4.102 Structural changes in the Western Isles may impact on the future position of culture within Community Planning in the region. Although the CPP was closely engaged in the Pathfinder work, a recent restructure removed the previous Gaelic Language and Culture Forum from the CPP structure. The new Cultural Partnership emerging from the Pathfinder is intended to have a role to engage the CPP at a strategic level, and may even become part of the CPP structure.

4.103 The Highland example is somewhat different. Of all the Pathfinders, Highland was arguably most connected to Community Planning. The Highland Pathfinder was part of the Highland 2007 programme and although led by the Council, it was delivered in close partnership with the Highland CPP. However, it is important to note that the Pathfinder project did not create this partnership. Indeed, the Highland Promise project was developed prior to the Pathfinder, and although consistent with the aims of the Programme it was not designed with these in mind. Nevertheless, the Highland project was part of, and a key outcome of, the Highland CPP and was therefore fully integrated into the CPP structure allowing funding to be levered from various partners. In this respect, Highland is probably the only project that could claim that delivery was truly integrated with the CPP.

4.104 Again, culture already has a high profile in the region and across the Community Planning partners, particularly through the Highland 2007 initiative. It is difficult to identify the specific influence of the Pathfinder here as the links to Community Planning were already well-established and were tied up with Highland 2007. As a result, the project offers fewer lessons on how to develop links with Community Planning, despite being a good example of effective partnership working. In Highland, it is likely that the CPP will continue to prioritise culture within its planning work.

Engagement, but with unclear outcomes

4.105 A number of the Pathfinders did engage their relevant CPPs but, for a variety of reasons, the longer-term impacts of this remain unclear. Projects in this category include Dundee, Aberdeen City/Aberdeenshire, Dumfries and Galloway and Perth and Kinross.

4.106 In Dundee and Dumfries and Galloway, the CPPs were involved through steering groups established for the Pathfinder projects and in the former case the steering group was chaired by the CPP. In Dumfries and Galloway, Community Planning was also involved at the local level although this was reported as patchy, and dependent on the interest and enthusiasm of relevant individuals.

4.107 The Dundee example again illustrates the importance of engaging Community Planning partners at a strategic level. However, the ongoing involvement of the CPP is less clear in this project, and with no ongoing funding for the project, the way forward for culture to engage with Community Planning in Dundee remains unclear. Similarly, in Dumfries and Galloway, there does not appear to be a clear channel through which culture can be represented in the Community Planning process. In both of these projects, there is no evidence of a structural legacy through which to engage Community Planning over the longer-term.

4.108 The Aberdeen City/Aberdeenshire project did again engage the CPPs but with more success in Aberdeen City than in Aberdeenshire. This was attributed to the different structures and stages of development of the CPPs in each area. In Aberdeen City, Community Planning is well-established and there is an existing Culture Forum. This is not the case in Aberdeenshire and attempts to engage the CPP there were reported to be less successful. Although the project identified opportunities for joint working and planning, it is less clear how this would work in practice, particularly in light of the different CPP structures in each area.

4.109 Finally, in Perth and Kinross the project engaged the CPP not through a steering group structure but through delivery. A contact from Community Learning and Development was extensively involved in working with local communities and is on the CPP, and the Local Regeneration Partnership ( LRP), also on the CPP, and played a key delivery role. The project sought to engage the wider CPP both through these direct links and also by feeding in information and outputs from the Pathfinder. The community groups made presentations to the LRP, which in turn fed back to the Community Planning Implementation Group ( CPIG), the main decision making body for the CPP. However, without more formal routes and structures through which to channel messages to strategic decision-makers, communication proved difficult. There are now plans to consider the formation of a new Cultural Sub-Group within the Lifelong Learning Sub-Group of the CPP, but the progress of this is unclear.

4.110 These projects again illustrate the importance of structures through which to engage with the CPPs, and where these structures were lacking, ongoing engagement proved difficult. In addition, the level of existing interest and commitment to culture within these CPPs was reportedly mixed, which may again be a factor in the unclear outcomes.

Less successful engagement with CPPs

4.111 Finally, the experience of those Pathfinders that were less successful in engaging CPPs also highlights some key lessons. Projects here include SLP, Glasgow, Renfrewshire/East Renfrewshire/Inverclyde and South Ayrshire.

4.112 The experience of a number of the projects suggests that interest in culture amongst CPPs is highly variable. This was a finding, for example, of the SLP project, which reported persistent issues with culture being seen as equivalent to the arts and as peripheral to the core business of CPPs (and of some local authorities).

4.113 In Glasgow, despite considerable effort on the part of the Pathfinder team, engagement with the CPPs was also limited. Glasgow has a complex CPP structure with ten local CPPs ( LCPPs) across the city (two in each Community Planning area). The project initially planned to engage all ten LCPPs but this proved too ambitious. It was reported that some of the LCPPs were more willing to engage than others, and that involving LCPP staff in planning for the Pathfinder did not go far enough to embed cultural activities in their thinking. Support for culture across the LCPPs was reported as being very mixed, with culture often still perceived as an additional extra, peripheral to core business.

4.114 Changes in the Glasgow CPP structure at the time of the Pathfinder, combined with the establishment of Culture and Sport Glasgow ( CSG) as an independent trust made engagement even more difficult, although it is worth noting that CSG has since established a network of local area officers with a remit to engage with the LCPPs. Although not a legacy of the Pathfinder project, this new structural change may start to raise the profile of culture within Community Planning in Glasgow.

4.115 The South Ayrshire Pathfinder did not engage the CPP to any significant degree, and this was reportedly due to personnel issues and resource constraints, structural changes in the CPP and lack of wider commitment to culture (sport was reported to have higher priority in the region). Similarly, in Renfrewshire/East Renfrewshire/Inverclyde, engaging the CPPs was difficult, due to low levels of interest in culture and challenges in working through CPP structures. The aspiration had been to demonstrate the role of culture in helping to address social issues and although this was partly achieved with local authorities (ie across service departments) it was more difficult to disseminate this to the CPPs.

Summary

4.116 These examples highlight a number of factors that appear to be important in engaging with Community Planning:

• structures are critical, and can not only provide useful means of engagement in the context of projects, but are the key to sustainable engagement. Partnership groups provide forums for debate amongst the partners, but can also be credible vehicles for engaging CPPs over the longer term;
• perhaps obviously, engagement is easier when there is an existing degree of interest and commitment to culture within the CPPs. The difficulty is that this is not the case in every area;
• there is an important role for individuals in making connections, engaging key people and understanding how to articulate the right messages to the Community Planning partners;
• a broad definition of culture that is not restricted to the arts may be helpful in demonstrating the wider role of cultural participation across different Community Planning priorities; and
• senior level and political support is important in developing the links and buy-in from CPPs.

4.117 There are also some key findings regarding the challenges in seeking to deliver culture through CPPs:

• culture is rarely represented on CPPs, and there are persistent issues with the perception of culture as peripheral to the core priorities of CPPs. This may not be helped by narrow views of culture as equivalent to the arts;
• structural changes across the CPPs acted as a barrier to engagement in some areas, and securing attention was challenging;
• differences in CPP structures may be a barrier to the development of a consistent means of delivering culture;
• CPP structures can be opaque and difficult to penetrate without clear structures and routes; and
• while local authorities can be powerful champions for culture within the context of Community Planning, commitment to culture across the local authority sector is variable.

Impacts on the cultural sector

4.118 Before considering some of the issues relating to sustainability and legacy, it is worth briefly commenting on the involvement of the cultural sector itself in the Pathfinder projects.

4.119 We have already identified the critical role of the creative practitioners in engaging people in cultural and creative processes and delivering high quality experiences for participants, but the impacts of the Pathfinder programme on the wider cultural sector were not always clear.

4.120 Certainly, most projects have engaged the cultural sector in some way, either by commissioning creative practitioners and/or organisations to deliver cultural activities or through consultation and engagement at a more strategic level. In general, where strategic engagement was more extensive it was well received, if sometimes hard won. For example, it was reported that the cultural sector in Fife took some convincing, but the key players are now fully engaged and playing an active role through the new Cultural Consortium.

4.121 A few projects (notably Dundee and Glasgow) reported that the Pathfinder work had helped to build stronger links between cultural providers and communities, and this was a core focus and legacy of the Dundee project.

4.122 However, some projects reported very little contact with the wider cultural sector, and concerns were raised about the lack of engagement with the voluntary arts community generally across the Programme.

4.123 This may be an oversight on the part of some of the projects, given the critical role of the voluntary sector in delivering cultural activities in communities and their role in sustaining provision. However, it is less clear why this may have been the case. There was a view that some of the local authorities maybe lacked awareness of local voluntary arts provision, although there was also recognition that this was not a consistent shortcoming across the projects. Certainly, knowledge of the local cultural infrastructure can be gained through the knowledge and awareness of individuals, but also by mapping local provision, an activity featured in a number of the projects.

4.124 Elsewhere, cultural providers were frequently involved in delivery, but with a less obvious strategic role or input. This is curious, and it might have been expected that the cultural sector would have played a stronger role in strategic discussions around the delivery of cultural provision.

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