SURF’s Alliance for Action

In its post-economic-crash National Regeneration Strategy of 2011, called ‘Building a sustainable future’, the Scottish Government placed increased emphasis on community-led regeneration across Scotland. That significant departure from the previous failed property model of regeneration was broadly welcomed. But SURF — Scotland’s independent regeneration network — expressed concern regarding the inadequacy of resources to sufficiently enhance historically underfunded community capacity. As part of its broader community empowerment policy development, the Scottish Government agreed to invest in a SURF initiative aimed at both supporting and testing the viability of more collaborative community-based regeneration in a continuing recessionary context. SURF’s cross sector Alliance for Action brings together practitioners, funders, policy makers and academics to invest in and support collaborative regeneration in two contrasting urban communities. In conceiving and delivering this initiative, SURF drew on its experience, networks and widely respected ‘honest broker’ status to identify and support practical options for achieving more participative and sustainable community regeneration. The two main aims of the Alliance for Action initiative are to enhance resilience and practical outcomes locally and to identify and promote constructive debate on wider policy and resource considerations. This paper is based on the SURF’s 18 month interim report of the initiative so far. It indicates that the networking approach has successfully linked local assets with national resources and policy. It has also helped to coordinate investments and encourage collaborative partnerships within and between the communities and relevant national agencies. The report highlights learning on shared challenges of trust, leadership and the impact of the constrained and competitive funding context for community regeneration.