The end is in sight. There’s only two weeks to go of the Compact 10 year, and what a year it has been!
The Compact 10 project started off in July 2014 by reviewing 10 years of the Edinburgh Compact Partnership – looking at the amazing organisations that work tirelessly to support communities across the City, and how they work in partnership not only with each other; but also with our Compact colleagues from the City of Edinburgh Council, Police Scotland, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and NHS Lothian.
This gave us a good opportunity to return to Compact’s roots, explore the principles it was built on, and begin get our heads around the world of Community Planning…
Armed with our knowledge of the last 10 years, we embarked on a city-wide consultation with Edinburgh’s Third Sector to hear about their hopes and fears for the future. Alongside that, we met with Public Sector partners to explore the future as they see it for the Compact Partnership. This learning from over 120 organisations and agencies fed into development of the new Edinburgh Compact Partnership Strategic Framework and Action Plan 2015-2020.
“But what good is a high level strategy?” That’s a question many people have asked us over the Compact 10 year, and with the array of strategies and consultations out there at the moment, I can understand why people might ask. However, I’d say this strategy has the potential to be a useful tool whilst also providing some good opportunities for organisations and partnerships across the City.
Why? Because it sets out, on paper, the principles we all agree to adhere to in our work. And the focus is prevention.
Why else? Because it has an action plan that has been coproduced by the Third and Public Sectors which focuses on building social value, strong partnership working and equal respect. What more could you want from a city-wide Strategic Partnership, involving our vibrant, diverse Third Sector as equal partners alongside Edinburgh’s Public Sector?
“But what does that actually mean for me?” Well, the Strategic Framework is based around four strands, alongside the volunteering and social enterprise strategies. The strands are outlined in the diagram below:
Each of these strands has an array of actions linked to it, including:
- Support the Sector in understanding changes in policy (Future Thinking)
- Co-produce new investment programmes and funding (Resourcing and Investment)
- Pilot innovative CSR projects (Resourcing and Investment)
- Ensure that the views of Edinburgh’s communities and Third Sector are heard within the Edinburgh Partnership (Community Planning and Reach)
- Drive contracts to support the application of a living wage across the Sector (Thriving Third Sector)
Sound good? Want to know more? Take a look for yourself here.
Still not convinced? Have a look at our film, ‘Getting it Right for Edinburgh: The Power of Partnerships’ which showcases projects which demonstrate the ethos and values of the Edinburgh Compact Partnership.
It has been a fascinating year, and we’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone who was involved with Compact 10. But now it’s the end of Compact 10, and its over to Edinburgh’s Third and Public Sectors to drive this forward, together.
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