DUNDEE PARTNERSHIP FORUM DUNDEE – A CONFIDENT CITY WEDNESDAY 23rd April 2014 Malmaison Dundee, Whitehall Crescent CONTENTS Welcome Page 3 Introduction 3 Keynote Speaker – Carol Craig, Centre for Confidence & Wellbeing 3 Confidence Through Culture – Clive Gillman 4 Community Confidence, Neil Gunn & Kathryn Torode 5 Building Young People’s Confidence, Charis Robertson 6 Business Confidence, Andy Lothian 6 Plenary 7 Appendix 1 – Round Table Discussion summaries 8 Appendix 2 – Draft Action Plan 12 Appendix 3 - Agenda 14 Appendix 4 - Delegate List 15 Page 2 of 15 Dundee Partnership Forum DUNDEE – A CONFIDENT CITY WELCOME Councillor Ken Guild, Chair of the Dundee Partnership welcomed delegates to the first Forum event of 2014. He outlined that this event would see a change from the usual Forum focus on jobs and issues needing to be tackled, instead looking on Dundee as a renewed and vibrant city. It would allow a reflection on the City of Culture 2017 bid that developed a large amount of energy and positivity across the city. Go Dundee were highlighted as an existing group with a positive focus on the city who are active in a number of different arenas. He then welcomed each of the speakers that we would be hearing from throughout the event before handing over to Stewart Murdoch to introduce and host the event. INTRODUCTION After thanking everyone across the city for their personal commitment to the City of Culture 2017 bid, Stewart introduced the short film used as part of the bid, to show several of the positive aspects of the city. Afterwards he outlined the change in the situation of the city that, when he arrived in 1990, was losing population, had high unemployment and was largely focussed on the negatives. In the time since then, he stated that he has seen a transition towards a more positive ‘seeing the glass half full’ attitude in the city. This has been paralleled by communities regenerating themselves and Dundee presenting itself as a city with a proud industrial heritage. Briefly Stewart introduced the agenda for the event (see Appendix 3) and introduced the keynote speaker, Carol Craig. KEYNOTE SPEAKER Carol Craig, Chief Executive, Centre for Confidence & Wellbeing At a conference carol attended in 2004, people started the day talking in sector based groups, and ‘nothing happened’. Later in the day they started talking in regionally based groups, and this led to the formation of Go Dundee, a group that has gone on to promote the city in a number of ways. On a personal level Carol, a freelance trainer for fifteen years, noticed that people tend to operate well below their capacity. People in teams were silent a lot of the time. This led Page 3 of 15 her to thinking about people’s confidence and the publishing of her book ‘The Scots’: Crisis of Confidence’. Confidence is about social interactions, is multi-faceted and hard to define. It is often interchangeable with optimism – but not always. With reference to the work of Seligman, Carol highlighted differences in the way people think: ‘we’re doomed’ (pessimist) vs. ‘this will pass’ (optimist). Optimism also applies to events where success has been achieved; was it a fluke (pessimist) or earned (optimist), and it has also been shown that outlook can impact on life expectancy by as much as seven years. Other confidence-related concepts include; Self-efficacy; a belief that you can reach a goal, that your skills and experiences help you to achieve Self- esteem; this is also largely interchangeable with confidence, but is really a measure of ‘current’ performance Carol also highlighted the work of Rosabeth Moss Canter who states that confidence is embedded in day to day interactions and defines it as “the positive expectations of favourable outcomes”. The work of Barbara Fredrickson on winning / losing streaks also shows that a positive frame of mind has a range of benefits, such as; you get on better with other people, are more creative, and have more energy, it creates a learning environment, it allows people to admit errors (and deal with them), it produces more stability, and better leaders. An upward spiral results, with one success leading to another. Opposing this is the losing spiral in which; people hold on to or cover up information, activity is stunted, blame is increased, as is scapegoating, decreased respect is apparent, people are demotivated and increasingly isolated. This creates an inward focus, with widening rifts in teams, infighting, criticism, passivity, and becomes a self fulfilling prophesy of failure. As a result, investment goes elsewhere. Leaders can turn this around though, through; expressing confidence in others’ abilities, courage and empathy, establishing accountability, maintaining the flow of information, encouraging risk taking and innovation. Often this starts with use of ‘quick wins’ to break the negative spiral Confidence doesn’t stand alone. It needs to be there for a purpose, and doing something you really believe in helps. Purpose and confidence can then be mutually supportive. CONFIDENCE THROUGH CULTURE Clive Gillman, Director, DCA Before coming to Dundee from England, Clive hadn’t realised what people’s views of Dundee were from a Scottish perspective. All Scottish cities are viewed positively in England, but certainly isn’t the case within Scotland, where powerful negative statements exist. In 2003, a book highlighting the worst fifty cities to live in in the UK didn’t include Dundee. St. Andrews was listed at number seven, and Hull was top of the list. Given that Page 4 of 15 Hull won City of Culture for 2017, this shows that the city has changed opinions of it during the past ten years, through development of the city. Dundee is beginning to get away from focussing on ‘what other people think about Dundee’ and instead focussing on the positive aspects of the city. We need to know ‘what next’ for Dundee in order to make use of the cultural infrastructure So, what is a good town? There are growth towns in the UK, with the list headed by Reading. Metro decided to build a list of what led to this, and came up with twelve items. Metro also did this with a few other cities; Aberdeen, Liverpool, and Dundee. The list for Dundee is viewable at http://metro.co.uk/2014/04/17/12-reasons-dundee-is-the-bestcity-in-the-uk-4700950/ . While parts of the city are being transformed, there is a need to bring the rest of the city along too, to maximise the overall benefit experienced. COMMUNITY CONFIDENCE Neil Gunn, Head of Communities, DCC Kathryn Torode, Community Representative, North East LCPP Neil began by stating that rather than being black and white, there is a continuum of confidence. There are negative impacts on the city at present including; welfare reform and poverty, crime and anti-social behaviour, and poor relationships within families and communities. In contrast, there are a range of positive impacts too, including; community spirit, work on community capacity building, community learning & development, education, training opportunities, and anti-poverty work. One criticism levelled at Dundee is the lack of numerous Community Councils, but these are not the most popular way for communities in the city to organise themselves. Instead we have a range of other neighbourhood groups such as community regeneration forums (CRF’s), tenants & residents groups, gala groups. CRF’s in particular are recognised as best practice in the UK. Neil presented a slide looking at how we will know if we have made a difference. It highlighted three factors; measured change (statistical changes over time), observed change (as expressed by the active and engaged community), and perceived change (as expressed by the general public). Many groups have a wider impact than their stated aims. For example singing groups and ‘Friends Of’ groups have fairly specific remits, but also promote social wellbeing by bringing people together. The Equally Well initiative builds on this through the use of ‘social prescribing’ to help people become more involved and so help to improve their mental health. Kathryn introduced herself as both a community representative from the North East of the city and in her work role as a Tesco Community Champion. When she first moved to Fintry, she met lots of new people at the local community centre and got involved in a number of activities. Through the Community Regeneration Forum (CRF), funding has been given to a wide range of local groups working with people of all ages. The activities able to be run help Page 5 of 15 people to increase their confidence. Physical and environmental works have also been funded through the CRF, and these help to increase community wellbeing, increase safety, and increase play. In particular, funding to the Dundee Repertory Theatre, enabling them to put on local youth performances has helped people to feel more a part of Dundee’s cultural community. Kathryn’s role as an in-store Community Champion is unique. Her role is to help people access funding from Tesco, as well as organising store tours for school pupils, involvement in fun days and other charitable fund raising. In 2013-14, the Riverside Tesco provided £135,000 of funding to groups from all over Dundee. BUILDING YOUNG PEOPLE’S CONFIDENCE Charis Robertson, Hot Chocolate Trust Lots of young people are seen by others as having an ‘alternative’ lifestyle, with lots of risk taking behaviour and poor backgrounds. In many cases, these young people are also very intelligent and creative. Charis used a short film to highlight one young woman’s story. She attended Hot Chocolate for around five years, spent much of this time not being willing to fully accept that people wanted to help her, that she was worth helping. Eventually, through persistent, consistent work, she did realise the offers of help were genuine and her individual confidence grew as a result. At the time of showing, the individual, now 29 had moved to England and is working in a job that she enjoys. She is also keen for her story to be shared so that others can see that, while it may take time, positive steps can be made. Hot Chocolate work with young people to help them become aware of their strengths and weaknesses, and to realise that they don’t need to constantly compare themselves with others. The current client group includes a number of young people with the potential to become youth workers themselves, and also a group of artistic young people with talents to develop. Many of the young people don’t fit in at home, instead identifying more with their peers. This group, and Hot Chocolate, provide a sense of safety and belonging, provide support, but also a sense of accountability. Through work in groups and as individuals their skills, talents and experience are drawn on. Many of the young people want to make a difference and so become involved in volunteering and take on a range of responsibilities. BUSINESS CONFIDENCE Andy Lothian, Chief Executive, Insights Insights is a successful, Dundee based business with 343 employees around the world. Andy attributed success for any company to hard work, rather than luck, and stated that improving confidence is the same. There needs to be intent to develop confidence, including intent to change attitudes. This in turn needs responsibility to be taken and choices made as to how to go about this. Big, aspirational goals need to be set, even if the route to them is not planned. This helps to instil a purpose in activities. Opponents of these aspirations needs to be identified and sought out; notice needs to be taken of them. Page 6 of 15 Change needs to be managed. It happens anyway, and managing it can focus its direction and make change less scary. Intentional preparation for change gives us confidence. A business environment needs to be created. It needs to be safe for people in business, in work, etc. but people also need to love what they’re doing. Partnerships also need to be worked at. People in business have a personal responsibility to talk up the city, and make things happen. They need to think about what they and only they can do that will improve things – and then do it. In general, for any given situation it has been shown that 80% of people don’t see what is happening 15% of people see what is happening but don’t act on it 5% of people see what is happening and can and do make changes to what is happening PLENARY Stewart Murdoch, Director of Leisure & Culture Dundee A brief comment on ‘what next’ was taken from each of the tables, based on their discussions during the event. (These are incorporated in Appendix One) Stewart thanked all the speakers and participants in the round table discussions and went on to describe some of the developments expected over the next decade for Dundee; Development of a Cultural Strategy A bid for the UNESCO City of Design 2012-13 Development of a five year action plan A bid for a Place Partnership with Creative Scotland which would bring additional resources to the city Implementation of ideas submitted via ‘We Dundee’. The 3000 ideas submitted distil down to around 3-400 ideas. Of these about one fifth are ‘doable now’, another quarter are doable over the next one to two years. Around 50% of the ideas are more radical but may be possible in the medium to long term o A draft report outlining these ideas and how they could be taken forward will be prepared for the Dundee Partnership Management Group after the summer recess, with a strategy in place by the end of 2014 Page 7 of 15 Appendix 1 Dundee – A Confident City Round Table Discussions Round Table Discussion 1 From your own experience, please describe how confidence has helped an individual, group or organisation to achieve success in some way. POSITIVITY Positive frame of mind is important – never give up Control over one’s own destiny is a factor in confidence Confidence stems from self-belief and your ability to achieve Confidence is a key factor in making changes and taking risks Doing something scary can help to boost confidence Self-belief is important and can encourage others to achieve Concentrate on the positive and take control of your life PEOPLE CONNECTING Local knowledge helps to connect people and is therefore an important part of being confident People who feel connected/engaged, e.g. with their community, city, workplace, friends, family, etc. are more likely to feel confident Networking is really important but it may take time for young people to become adept at this Better integration within communities and a ‘can do’ attitude help to build confidence and avoid people being frightened to fail – need to work together as a team and ‘integrate devices’ Making local connections can help students to build confidence and choose to stay in Dundee When working with partners it’s important to have positive momentum OVERCOMING ADVERSITY Use confidence to create a culture of resilience to deal with knock backs Stay confident by resisting pessimism and blame People often need help to tackle hopelessness before they can start to build confidence If you don’t succeed the first time, have the confidence to try again Physical renewal, e.g. housing regeneration, needs to be matched by social renewal Older people may lack confidence and need help and encouragement to get involved The Time banking project in Whitfield is an example of skills swapping, generating personal value and collaborative endeavour - ultimately building confidence People with learning difficulties may lack confidence but support to build confidence as a group can be helpful, e.g. a self-advocacy group encouraging members to communicate their aspirations, discuss the difficulties they face and, ultimately, take control of their lives A CONFIDENT CITY Positive news about your city, e.g. Dundee Waterfront, can instil confidence in the city’s people The V&A and City of Culture bid have both had a positive, confidence-building effect on the city Celebrate success, e.g. when Dundee is doing well compared to other cities Leadership and ambition can breed confidence in a city Give the silent majority the chance to express positive views, e.g. as in the City of Culture bid Community confidence can be a difficult concept to gauge. It is important to generate a ‘feel good factor’ Highlight the importance of leadership and building from small starts e.g. life sciences in Dundee Page 8 of 15 LEARNING AND SKILLS People knowing that they have a skill helps to build confidence, e.g. there is a project in Dundee which helps Christmas school leavers to improve their knowledge of life in general Confidence can be built by learning from other successful people and places Children may lack confidence due to a focus on achievement Give young people the chance to shine in non-academic settings, e.g. Dundee Schools Music Theatre and the Aspire project BUILDING CONFIDENCE Empowering people helps to build confidence, especially among young people Family support is important in helping young people to build confidence Schools need to build young people’s self-esteem People should take advantage of whatever help may be on offer to turn their lives around Too much information can undermine confidence but humour can help to build confidence Build on the passion that people have Overconfidence can be a problem as well as lack of confidence Give people a chance to show that they have abilities and can be successful STORIES (seven examples of the stories told during this discussion session) With an initial interest in drama, a group whose members had a range of learning disabilities formed a self-advocacy group, largely based on the confidence gained from having put on drama performances. Their increased confidence enabled them to communicate their aspirations and led to their speaking up for others too, becoming spokespeople around issues relating to learning disabilities. When a disabilities strategy was being drawn up, they wrote their own section and they also speak at conferences, inspiring others to join the group and speak up A group of women felt that the service they received through local mental health services was poor as it focussed on what was wrong with them and what would be done to them. They disconnected from the service to set up their own group for socialising. They became better engaged with this group and the increased control it gave them in achieving change for themselves. A year on, they have told the NHS what they have been doing wrong and how to improve their services A young man from a dysfunctional family became involved with dealing drugs and violence at the age of 10/11 but, with support from local services, was able to find the confidence to turn his life around and distance himself from his former negative activities Making Dundee a safer city helps to promote confidence among the city’s residents. A project at the Hilltown multi’s involved increasing safety measures through sheltered housing, safety wardens, etc. Community surveys and feedback demonstrated a clear link between increased safety and greater confidence A project at St Mary’s involved getting to know residents and building trust. Engaging with the community was a transformative process. The community centre became an important focal point for the process. Activities were created for people of all ages. However, despite best efforts, some people were still hard to engage with As part of the overhaul of Skills Development Scotland a project was created to build confidence among school pupils. The project aimed to build a relationship first and then to look at what the young people enjoy and value in their personal life. This was a different approach to provision of careers advice. It was noted that higher achievers at school tended to be more confident A peer project involved young people aged 13-15 took part in a successful project based on twelve weeks of training – speaking to peers about sex education, drugs, alcohol, etc. Businesses also took part Page 9 of 15 Round Table Discussion 2 Please identify practical steps that we can take to further improve confidence among Dundee’s people, communities, businesses, institutions and organisations. BE POSITIVE Share positive stories in order to inspire confidence among others Ensure good news stories, including more positive articles in local papers and more publicity regarding, e.g. Dundee Partnership Community Regeneration funding Make use of the ‘About Dundee’ publication (due to be completed soon) to promote positive aspects of the city Identify the key people that can spread a positive message about Dundee, e.g. taxi drivers Focus on the positivity experienced in small areas e.g. individual streets, sheltered housing complexes, etc. as this evolves into larger and larger areas until wards and then Dundee as a whole are covered. “What’s good in your street?” turns into “What’s good in your City?” Foster a belief that things are achievable not just possible Celebrate success, improve Dundee’s media profile and promote Dundee as Scotland’s most liveable city Promote a positive vision for the city CONNECT PEOPLE Highlight the importance of people feeling that they belong to a particular area More engagement and consultation is required with communities to break down the barriers to greater involvement and influence in the city’s key issues, e.g. consultation regarding the affordability of public transport, e.g. to the new Olympia Work together to bring the will and ideas to make things happen Find more innovative ways of engaging communities Apply collective energies to achieve real results Raise community aspirations Education providers and employers should work in partnership to deliver the aspiration that every young person leaving school will be offered a job or a training opportunity Help community groups to maintain their confidence by promoting their activities and involving them in a wider (strategic) capacity in addition to their core activities Increase the profile of Local Community Planning Partnerships and develop their role in bringing stakeholders together to support communities Develop improved strategies to combat deprivation in Dundee OVERCOME ADVERSITY Stories about people experiencing adversity are familiar but stories about people who have overcome adversity (like the example in the Hot Chocolate Trust presentation) are less well known. We should get better at sharing stories of hope with communities, where they will resonate and be a powerful positive force SUPPORT YOUNG PEOPLE Increase engagement with young people Show young people how to play a role in Dundee Support young people to take up opportunities wherever they appear Help young people to develop their vocational and life skills Make young people feel part of a community Engage young people in the transformation of the city, promoting a positive message and a positive image of Dundee Highlight the opportunities that are emerging for young people and the next generation of our workforce, whether in construction, service, hospitality or creative sector Retain more of the city’s graduates Provide a platform for in-coming students to speak positively about the city and show pride in having been educated here Develop more employment and training opportunities for young people Page 10 of 15 Ensure that school education responds to the specific need to build confidence among pupils Non-academic pupils are not always supported towards a successful, confident outcome Some parents use school as childcare and do not see their role in building confidence Schools often have to ‘pick up the pieces’ from poor parenting and lack of confidence PROMOTE ENTERPRISE Promote enterprise and encourage development of technical and life skills (as an extreme example, consider how young hackers have gone on to take up jobs in IT security) Nurture and harness motivation in the pursuit of confidence and success Ensure that work is the prevailing ethos/purpose Encourage people to seek advice from the full range of support services Help people to avoid the benefit trap or fall through the support net Ensure that support services for employment/training/learning are streamlined and accessible People need to experience a sense of achievement Private Sector Ambassadors – engaging businesses to lift confidence and inspire action Cross promotion of businesses Bigger businesses taking smaller ones under their wing Continue to take on pilot projects. At present we support the largest Carers Centre in Scotland, and they continue to take on a range of new initiatives and project work Maintain the Dundee to London air service as a symbol of a successful city economy Create mechanisms that will increase connections between businesses and communities Encourage more new businesses and talented people to locate in Dundee CREATE OPPORTUNITIES Develop a structured approach to major life changes such as housing and communities so that the expectations of all types of families and households can be satisfied by initiatives such as the Western Gateway Make connections between all Dundee residents and the opportunities provided through the V&A and make it a relevant, popular community resource that is well used by local people Put the V&A at the heart of a range of tourism opportunities across the wider region Create a new railway station that provides an impressive gateway experience to the city Create more opportunities for community volunteering Page 11 of 15 Appendix 2 Dundee – A Confident City Draft Action Plan The below actions are drawn from the Round Table discussions at the event and are potential contributions for the development of a more confident Dundee, including contributing to the Cultural Strategy. Activities to build on the positivity expressed at the DP Forum Ensure that good news is well circulated, through diverse channels, and celebrate successes Promote positive aspects of the city including a positive vision for the city Better promotion of the activities of local groups Networking activities to develop better integration within communities, and between communities and services Help positive ideas that start off being very local to grow to cover wider areas or the whole city Continue to develop Time Banking as a community resource Engage with communities to work on breaking down barriers to people accessing services e.g. consultation on travel costs and subsidised access to venues for activities LCPP’s should raise their profiles within local communities to be better placed to bring stakeholders together in support of communities Find innovative ways to engage with communities Help to bring local community members together to tackle local issues Include activities designed to encourage and motivate older people to get involved Encourage people with learning disabilities to be more involved, perhaps through self-advocacy groups Find a useful measure or measures for ‘community confidence’ to help show that progress is being made Find ways to help people to appreciate the skills that they posses Encourage community leaders to start new activities within their communities Increase engagement with young people in order for them to feel more included within their communities and play a bigger role in developing Dundee Encourage Education and employers to work together more so that pupils leaving schools are more able to enter employment Find ways for less academic pupils to express themselves and do well e.g. community theatre, or Aspire Encourage families to focus on the positive things their children do / achieve, to encourage them to build on their successes, and to be more involved in their children’s education Encourage people to challenge poor service in order that steps are taken to improve Make more use of peer learning / peer mentoring (with both young people and adults) as an approach to improving people’s skills and confidence Continue to improve strategies to combat deprivation in Dundee Encourage people to make full use of the range of advice and support agencies Page 12 of 15 Develop more employment & training opportunities and ensure that the pathway to employment is streamlined and supportive of the individual Promote increased enterprise and entrepreneurism, and entry of new businesses into Dundee Engage with private sector businesses to help inspire others and create better links with communities Develop a business mentoring scheme, where larger / more established firms help smaller / newer ones Ensure that Dundee residents are informed regarding developments at the Waterfront, including the V&A, to enable employment opportunities to be taken up and facilities are used by all once open Ensure that Dundee continues to take on a piloting role for a range of initiatives Page 13 of 15 APPENDIX 3 DUNDEE PARTNERSHIP FORUM Wednesday 23rd April 2014 at Malmaison Dundee (44 Whitehall Crescent, Dundee, DD1 4AY) Dundee – A Confident City PROGRAMME 08.45 Registration 09.10 Welcome Councillor Ken Guild - Chair, Dundee Partnership 09.15 Introduction Stewart Murdoch - Director of Leisure and Communities, Dundee City Council 09.25 Keynote speaker Carol Craig - Chief Executive, Centre for Confidence & Well-Being 10.05 Round table discussion 1 From your own experience, please describe an example of how confidence has helped an individual, group or organisation to achieve success in some way. 10.25 Confidence through culture Clive Gillman - Director, DCA 10.45 -- Break -- 11.10 Community confidence John Hosie - Community Regeneration & Health Manager, Dundee City Council Kathryn Torode – North-East Local Community Planning Partnership 11.30 Building young people’s confidence Charis Robertson - Hot Chocolate Trust 11.50 Business confidence Andy Lothian – Chief Executive, Insights 12.10 Round table discussion 2 Please identify four practical steps that we can take to further improve confidence among Dundee’s people, communities, businesses, institutions and organisations. 12.40 Feedback and next steps 13.00 Close - Lunch Page 14 of 15 APPENDIX 4 Delegates List Forename Dr Karen Peter Tim Gillian Laura Kay Alice Lyall Steve Dave Carol Doug Steven Paul David Maureen Blair Mike Clive Cllr Ken Neil Bryan Liz Cllr Kevin Darren Joe Andy David Jim Graham Diane Stewart Laurie Christina George Charis Bert Rose-Marie Martin Kathryn Stan Pauline Michael Baillie Helen Rory Surname Adam Allan Allan Baillie Bannerman Barton Bovill Bruce Carter Close Craig Cross Dalton Davies Dorward Esplin Finlay Galloway Gillman Guild Gunn Harris Kay Keenan Kelly Lafferty Lothian Lynch McGovern McKee Milne Murdoch O'Donnell Potter Renouf Robertson Sandeman Stewart Tait Torode Ure Wallace Wood Wright Young Organisation Go Dundee Community Planning, DCC Unicorn Property Group Scottish Enterprise Social Work, DCC Scottish Government Strathmartine LCPP Fleet Collective Go Dundee Hot Chocolate Trust Centre for Confidence & Wellbeing Dundee Community Health Partnership Alcohol & Drug Partnership Community Planning, DCC Dundee City Council Scottish Government Community Planning, DCC City Development, DCC Dundee Contemporary Arts Dundee City Council Dundee Community Safety Partnership Dundee Sustainability Partnership Dundee Community Safety Partnership Dundee City Council Job Centre Plus Go Dundee Insights Dundee Community Health Partnership MP for Dundee West University of Dundee City Development, DCC Leisure & Communities, DCC Go Dundee Dundee & Angus College Alliance Trust Hot Chocolate Trust Integrated Children's Services Skills Development Scotland Scottish Fire & Rescue Service North East LCPP City Development, DCC Skills Development Scotland Education, DCC Dundee City Council City Development, DCC Page 15 of 15
© Copyright 2026 Paperzz