Foundation Scotland co-authors new community benefits framework
A new community benefits framework has been published, written by researchers at the Strathclyde Institute for Sustainable Communities and our Head of Communities & Impact, Rachel Searle.
The team expect the new framework to help drive up good practice in community benefit and also contribute towards the next iteration of the Scottish Government’s Good Practice Principles on Community Benefit which will be published later this year, informed by their recent consultation on community benefit that also closed last week.
The framework has grown from a separate but related study that Foundation Scotland commissioned the same research team at the Strathclyde Institute for Sustainable Communities to carry out in October 2023. This study involved undertaking some comparison of our work in the community benefit area with others. They brought together practitioners and organisations implementing community benefit arrangements and convened round table discussions, debating what contributes to good practice in community benefit.
As this news release explains, the framework is structured around four principles that a Community Benefit Fund should incorporate. These are: a long-term strategic alignment with community priorities, transparent and inclusive governance, support for community wealth building, and robust impact evaluation. It also highlights the actions required to implement these principles, as well as solutions to overcome potential barriers to action.
A strong partnership has been built with the University of Strathclyde over the last 18 months as we have worked closely with them on both this framework and the original commission – a case study of our work. That study was paused as the framework took shape. But the case study is now nearing completion with a valuable section assessing our work against the four principles.
Rachel Searle:
It’s been a longer journey than we originally expected but the result is twofold - not only a comprehensive study of our work in the community benefit space but also a new framework and set of standards for the sector.