I’m sure we all want to live in a fairer society. But who says what this is, and how can we get there? It’s clear that a government can’t just impose a fairer society – there’d be a massive dichotomy between the imposers and the imposees, even if other parts worked. I’m pretty sure that imposees would reject the whole thing anyway, just because it was imposed, even if everything else about it was great.

Fortunately, the Scottish Government isn’t going down that road. As the Scottish Community Alliance puts it,

the idea to crowdsource a Fairer Scotland policy comes from a Government that says it wants to be more open and transparent than ever before. But that’s going to be easier said than done.

There’s a whole series of events being run but the hope is that communities will really take it upon themselves to have these conversations. Small grants are available to help with that if needed.

Involving Community Councils

Another event is specifically for community councils

• on Wednesday 16 September
• 10:30 to 16:00
• Reidvale Neighbourhood Centre, 13 Whitevale Street, Glasgow, G31 1QW

If you are a community councillor, click here to register. If you’re not, ask your community council to take your thoughts into the event. You can find your CC on this map. (Regular readers of this blog may find it familiar!) I’ve been invited to this event, so you could leave a comment below, and I’ll find a way of passing on such comments. Or send in your thoughts yourself – see the next section.

Telling Scottish Government what matters to you

The Scottish Government has also set up a Fairer Scotland website. While they have some ideas about the challenges we face, the intention is that communities should feedback to Scottish Government using any way they want. It could be an email (Fairer@scotland.gsi.gov.uk) blog, or a Youtube clip, Instagram, Twitter (@scotgovfairer or #fairerscotland), via Facebook (fairer.scot) or any other form of social media. You could write a letter and send it in the post (using FREEPOST FAIRER SCOTLAND)!

What matters to me?

Scottish Community Alliance has designed a card game – What Matters To Me – to help spark local conversations. It’s easy to play and the game can be ordered (no charge) from info@scottishcommunityalliance.net. Read more on the SCA website.