For the third year running, Scottish Rural Action (SRA) partnered with a fantastic range of organisations to deliver the Community Showcase at The Royal Highland Show 2026. We’d like to thank The Scottish Government and The Scottish Rural Network for making this collective opportunity possible.

The Royal Highland Show (RHS) takes place every year at the Royal Highland Centre, Ingliston, bringing together hundreds of thousands of people in a vibrant celebration of rural life. The goal of the Community Showcase is to place ‘community’ at the heart of the RHS, alongside the traditional sectors — agriculture, forestry, and fisheries — that have long shaped the event.

This year for the first time, SRA hosted two events on the Friday, inviting partners, members, MSPs, and the general public along, in celebration of four things that give fire to the incredible potential of rural and island Scotland: the Community Led Local Development programme, youth leadership, the Scottish Rural & Islands Parliament and Community Wealth Building. The opening addresses were delivered by Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action & Rural Affairs, Gillian Martin, and Minister for Public Finance, Hannah Mary Goodlad.

As part of the programme, we showcased The Poverty Alliance‘s exhibition of powerful photo storyboards created by local Citizens’ Panel members from Argyll & Bute and Aberdeenshire. The exhibition is helping to change the conversation around rural poverty and inequality. Remaining in place throughout the weekend’s Community Showcase, it attracted more than 800 visitors, who stopped to read these powerful stories.

We also screened a series of short films created by the Scottish Community Alliance and The Scottish Beacon, highlighting the work of community organisations pioneering Community Wealth Building in Scotland. Complementing Hannah Clinch’s excellent presentation on the regeneration and enterprise activity taking place in Dunoon, visitors had the opportunity to sample delicious, heritage-inspired, locally produced cordials from The POP Shop. We were also delighted to once again welcome pupils from George Watson’s College and Lochgelly High School, who worked against the clock to build and dismantle a kit car.

Scottish Communities Climate Action Network (SCCAN) have published their ‘NOW’ Manifesto – driven by what needs to happen for meaningful climate action- with communities at the heart of social transformation.

Between 2019 and 2024, Scotland’s onshore wind sector made an estimated £5.6 billion in post-tax profits. Around 73% of that profit – £4.1 billion – is estimated to have been paid in dividends to corporate shareholders, with £729 million of that to companies owned by private equity or based in tax havens. During that same time, only around £147m in total in community benefit was paid by developers to communities near to those windfarms.

These were some of the key findings of research from the Centre for Local Economies (CLES), commissioned by us along with Community Land Scotland and Uplift. The findings in the report: Blown Away: following the money in Scotland’s onshore wind sector, showed clearly just how much money from commercially owned onshore wind farms is leaving not just the communities that they’re near to but also Scotland itself, and also put paid to the idea that there isn’t enough money from onshore wind to go round.

Read more at Community Energy Scotland

The SURF Regeneration Forum Awards are delivered each year with over 300 cross-sector member organisations across Scotland, in partnership with the Scottish Government.  The purpose is to highlight, celebrate and share the  achievements of initiatives that address physical, social and economic challenges in communities across Scotland. So if you know of or work with a great project or you think the area that you live or work in is worthy of an Award you can apply here.

Closing date, 7th September.

Scotland is experiencing more frequent heatwaves and record-breaking temperatures. Climate change is no longer a distant issue—it’s something communities and organisations are dealing with right now.

ClimatACTical, a gamified learning resource from Growing Climate Confidence, helps organisations explore these challenges in a practical, hands-on way. Through gameplay, teams respond to climate events, make decisions under pressure, and see how their choices shape what happens next.

In sessions so far, participants have been caught out by unexpected events, then quickly reflecting on what they could have done differently. The result is simple but powerful: a clearer sense that small decisions made today can build resilience for tomorrow.

ClimatACTical is supporting organisations across Scotland’s voluntary, community and social enterprise sector to move from awareness to action. In some cases, this has already led to practical changes, including teams setting up green groups to take ideas forward. It creates space to test ideas and identify realistic next steps as part of everyday work.

Creating space for confident action

ClimatACTical was developed in response to a clear need. There is strong willingness across the sector to take action, but time, capacity and headspace are often limited.

The game brings climate considerations into familiar organisational decisions, giving teams space to step back and explore choices together in a way that feels manageable and relevant. No prior knowledge is needed.

As one participant reflected:

“I was approaching this from a community spaces perspective, and the game felt like a useful way to get people thinking about climate resilience and net zero in a related context, but removed from day-to-day pressures. It opens up conversations and helps people see a wider range of options, including lower-cost actions like setting up a green team or greening outdoor spaces, not just focusing on grant funding.”

Developed with Verture and Small99, and shaped by input from across the sector, the aim was to create something practical and grounded.

Taking ClimatACTical on the road

A series of pop‑up and play sessions has taken climatACTical across Scotland, with each session adapting to its setting and the people taking part.

At the Village Halls Conference in Glasgow, a drop‑in session introduced the game to a range of community organisations, sparking immediate discussion. In Dumfries, participants explored scenarios in more depth, with conversations ranging from community energy to food growing and waste reduction. Many reflected on the value of stepping back to consider longer-term priorities alongside immediate pressures.

Across other locations, similar themes emerged—highlighting the importance of local knowledge, community resilience and shared learning. The flexibility of the game has been key, working equally well as a short introduction or a more in-depth workshop.

Capturing and celebrating what is already happening

Alongside delivering sessions, visits to Dumfries and Galloway and Moray created space to capture real-life stories from across the sector.

These visits highlighted the breadth of activity already underway. At KPT Development Trust, collective local action is powering change, from community hydro projects to food growing and shared green spaces. Dumfries Swift Group emphasised the importance of protecting biodiversity, while Moray Waste Busters demonstrated how the circular economy can come to life through a busy reuse store. Full stories will be shared in early autumn.

Much of this work is already happening, often with limited resources. ClimatACTical helps surface and connect this activity, making climate considerations more visible in day-to-day decision-making.

Learning through real-world scenarios

At the heart of climatACTical is the opportunity to explore decisions in context. Players balance actions against budgets, priorities and unexpected events, with climate scenarios adding a level of realism.

These moments often lead to the greatest reflection. Participants see how early preparation can reduce disruption, while delayed action can increase pressure on services and staff. In a supportive environment, teams can test ideas, make choices and reflect without risk—leaving with practical next steps.

Role play is also key. By stepping into different organisational roles, participants gain insight into financial constraints, service pressures and competing priorities, helping teams have more effective conversations about how to move ideas forward in practice.

What we are learning so far

A few clear themes have emerged:

• Confidence grows through doing
• Action feels more manageable when linked to everyday decisions
• Flexible formats make it easier to take part
• There is already strong activity across the sector to build on

ClimatACTical brings these elements together, supporting organisations to take practical next steps in ways that fit their work and communities.

Get involved

This is just the start. As more organisations take part, climatACTical will continue to develop through feedback and shared experience.

If you would like to host a session, try the game with your team, or find out more, please get in touch at chiara.fingland@scvo.scot or complete this enquiry form.

In response to the incredibly positive Local People Leading event at the Scottish Parliament in February, SCA member SCOTO CIC were inspired to revisit their idea of a visual aid to highlight a community tourism enterprise – for the benefit of visitors and locals. Following a positive exploratory session with the SCOTO network in April, the May SCA member thematic session introduced the idea to the wider network and with a broader focus on community owned assets.

Russell Fraser, Chair of SCOTO and colleague Carron Tobin explained why this concept is becoming increasingly important for community tourism enterprises and their belief that this is about the community sector as a whole.

Carron highlighted how so many communities across Scotland are stepping in where the public sector have stepped back – taking over toilets and setting up visitor information points – and also providing much needed motorhome air stop overs, hostels, shops, pubs and cafes on or in community owned assets. Although these are visitor facing many are primarily for the benefit of the community.

Russell shared insights into the moment when visitors finally realise they’re experiencing a community-owned asset and how it changes their attitude and propensity to spend money and actively support the community.  The same applies to general public awareness of community owned assets.  A pilot would help define community and community owned.

Below is an extract of Russell’s thoughts.

A SINGLE NATIONAL SYMBOL TO MAKE COMMUNITY OWNERSHIP VISIBLE

“Just as people recognise an accommodation accreditation, a recycling symbol, a net zero symbol, whatever it may be, there should be a symbol that says;

“This place belongs to the community.”

The symbol becomes a public declaration that:

•      Local people own this asset.
•      Wealth generated here stays locally.
•      Decisions are made locally.
•      The asset exists for community benefit, not private profit.

Most people can identify NHS facilities, council facilities and National Trust properties.  But very few can identify community owned-assets, or understand what that means.

This creates practical problems:

• people don’t realise what has been achieved 
• they underestimate the scale of the movement across Scotland
• they don’t choose to support community-owned enterprises
• policy makers don’t see the collective impact
• communities feel isolated rather than part of a national movement

The Opportunity: Scotland has facilitated the acquisition of hundreds of community-owned assets – each representing local people choosing hope over decline. A common symbol would turn these separate projects into one visible Scottish movement, making Scotland’s quiet success story finally visible.

Why Now? Scotland is a leading light in community ownership, but it isn’t obvious. With communities increasingly opting to own assets, deliver what were previously public services, and build local wealth, community ownership deserves visible national recognition.  This is community wealth building in action and needs greater profile.

Through my work with Loch Ness Hub & Travel, we’ve hosted visitors from Japan, Canada, Sweden, and Malta – all aspiring to achieve what Scotland is already delivering. It’s time Scotland shouted louder about our communities and what they are achieving.  

Hundreds of community owned assets already exist.  The movement already exists as we witnessed at the Local People Leading event.  What we need now is collaboration across the community sector – and visibility.”

The response from those attending the thematic session was resoundingly positive, recognising this needs to be kept simple and non-bureaucratic to administer. There was strong agreement that this should be fully scoped out and a short-life working group would be created – if you would like to be part of this group or share any thoughts please email: info@scoto.co.uk.

An overview of the proposal will soon be circulated with a survey to gauge support from each of the SCA members and their network members.

To read the full-length version of Russell’s initial thoughts, click here >: https://www.scoto.co.uk/blog/a-symbol-for-community-ownership/

“We’re here because we want to tell better, richer stories about our communities; not ignoring the difficulties and challenges, but leaning into those complexities.”

These were the words of Rhiannon J Davies, founder of the Scottish Beacon, on Friday last week when journalists, campaigners and experts from across Scotland gathered in The Byres Community Hub in Glasgow. The event celebrated the launch of a special one-off magazine, The Power Shift – the result of a collaborative reporting project co-edited by Davies and Mike Small.

The Power Shift project explores Scotland’s green energy boom and what it means for communities. It has been supported by the Tenacious Journalism Awards and campaign group Uplift.

It also marked the launch of a new environmental journalism network for Scotland, made up not only of reporters and editors but experts, campaigners and researchers like those at Friday’s event.

Over a series of panel discussions, presentations, and roundtable conversations, attendees highlighted the importance of community involvement in decisions about green energy developments; the need to confront misinformation and climate denialism; how communities can get their fair share of the benefits of renewable developments; and lots more.

“If it’s going to be done to us, we should gain some community legacy”

The event kicked off with a panel of journalists who each contributed stories to the Power Shift magazine. Jane Cruickshank from the Bellman in Stonehaven reported on wind farm substation developments in local forests. Hans Marter from Shetland News spoke about the piece he co-wrote with Erin Rizatto Devlin which compared the constitutional set-up of the Shetland Islands and the Åland archipelago, an autonomous region of Finland in the Baltic Sea, comparable to Shetland in size, population, and exposure to renewable energy projects.

Silvia Muras from the Kyle Chronicle shared her reporting on a surge of new windfarm proposals in the North Central Highlands, and Paul Dobson from The Ferret discussed an investigation which found that more than 20 wind farms in Scotland are failing to pay recommended dividends to local communities, potentially costing communities over £50m.

The panel highlighted how communities can both appreciate the need for renewable energy, while still being concerned about the impact of developments on their own doorsteps – especially when it feels like the wealth they generate does not always benefit the local community.

“If it’s going to be done to us, which is how it feels at least, we should gain some community legacy,” said Cruickshank. “You have your own personal environment as well as the global environment. It’s perfectly feasible to have concerns for one and also the other – and they can be in conflict.”

Speakers also shared the difficulty of accessing clear and transparent information about new developments in their communities, with Cruickshank comparing her reporting experience to “putting a jigsaw together” and Muras highlighting the practice of ‘salami slicing’, where developments are systematically split into several parts for approval, obscuring the overall picture.

In this context it can be easy for climate denialism to creep in, most panelists agreed, again highlighting the need for communities to be informed, involved and empowered about developments in their areas.

“One of the big things allowing it to creep in is the feeling in lots of communities that people are disempowered,” said Dobson. “[They don’t feel they can] register opposition in a way that’s impactful or meaningful; they don’t feel they have any stake in the political system… community wealth building is a bulwark against this kind of thinking.”

“The same wind stripping heat from your home is the thing delivering record profits to shareholders”

Next, attendees heard from a panel of campaigners, each working on different aspects of community energy, wealth and empowerment.

Flick Monk from Platform shared clips from a new documentary film “highlighting different voices of the energy transition, with the aim of reinvigorating discussion around these complex issues.” Nat Gorodnitski from Uplift introduced the‘Our Power’ campaign, a set of demands for the next Scottish Government aimed at ensuring people in Scotland get a fair share of their energy wealth.

Josh Doble from Community Land Scotland highlighted the organisation’s current priorities, including increasing community energy and shared ownership, improving community benefit payments and establishing a wealth fund managed by communities which would enable community organisations to acquire or develop their own revenue-generating assets.

Daniel Gear from Voar in Shetland provided a powerful insight into the experience of communities affected by renewable developments, telling attendees: “If you live in the central mainland of Shetland, you get up in the morning, open your curtains, and see the largest onshore windfarm in the UK.

“At the same time, a letter comes through the door; it’s your electricity bill and it’s higher than it’s ever been before, and you realise you’re almost certainly going to need help to pay it. You’re in poverty.

“The newspaper is delivered, you see that the people who own the wind farm are reporting record profits, and you realise that the same wind stripping heat from your home is the thing delivering the record profit to these shareholders, who built something you didn’t really want in the first place.”

The panel discussed the need for local authorities to have greater powers and funding around planning and renewables developments, and once again highlighted the importance of community and public ownership and control.

“Ultimately it gives the government and communities more options,” said Monk. “The crucial question is about this new industry that’s emerging: how are we going to set it up in a way that learns the lessons of the past – privatised oil and gas industries that saw profits go to very few people, pockets of the country very dependent on industries now facing job losses and economic uncertainty?”

“Creating that safe space where people can find nuance”

The afternoon saw Clare Harris from the Local Storytelling Exchange introduce a new film focusing on communities along the east coast, on the line of the Great Grid Upgrade – the UK’s largest energy upgrade in generations and one which has been divisive for the communities most affected.

The film aims to “try and find middle ground and space we can inhabit together,” Harris said. Tackling polarisation is about making space for people to have challenging but constructive conversations, she told attendees. While the energy transition is widely discussed, far less attention is given to what might come afterwards. “[It’s about creating] that safe space where people can find nuance and say: what next?”

Harris’ primer on polarisation led into a series of roundtable discussions, where attendees discussed how to effectively tackle it, as well as a range of other questions including how to tell better stories; how to amplify community voices; how to build our ‘democratic muscle’; and how to strengthen our information ecosystems.

Discussions were rich and wide-ranging while also highlighting some common themes: attendees highlighted the importance of getting people physically into the room together, as well as using arts and creativity to explore these issues and move beyond polarisation. Others emphasised how the planning system needs to be improved to give communities as much power as developers.

Communities need to be given agency and power, rather than being “beaten over the head with what’s not working,” attendees suggested, and people need to see tangible blueprints about what local democracy and a “collective people’s movement” can look like in practice.

“Great, rich nuanced discussion”

In closing, Rhiannon J Davies explained that copies of the Power Shift magazine would be sent to every incoming MSP and to libraries around the country, as well as being distributed in local communities across Scotland by members of the network – from Shetland and the Western Isles to Argyll, Midlothian and Sutherland.

The wider Environmental Journalism Network will continue to meet regularly, creating a space for complex and nuanced discussions with Scotland’s communities at their core.

“I’ve really enjoyed today; there’s been absolutely great, rich, nuanced discussion,” said Daniel Gear from Voar in the Shetland Islands. “There’s something about the ability to have this kind of discussion with no agenda other than to examine these complex issues in as nuanced a way as possible… I can’t think of any other space that exists to do that.”

If you would like to receive a copy of The Power Shift magazine, you can order online here. 

If you are interested in joining the new Environmental Journalism Network that is open to journalists, campaigners, researchers and experts, sign up here.

Scottish Men’s Sheds Association are calling for a national health strategy that would recognise the specific health needs of men and boys to tackle inequality and reduce preventable deaths. The campaign has gained over 1000 signatures and reinforces the need for resourced community led preventable solutions.

The Scottish Government and COSLA have published the Democracy Matters: A Routemap to Reform. The document outlines both key proposals for empowering communities as well as a proposed approach for further formulation and implementation moving forwards. Alongside this, the Minister for Public Finance, Ivan McKee MSP and the COSLA presidential team have released a joint statement reaffirming shared commitment to empowering communities, improving participation, and ensuring that local voices have a stronger role in shaping local and national priorities. An update on the development of Single Authority Models in Orkney, Argyll and Bute and the Western Isles has been published in parallel.

As a coalition, the Scottish Community Alliance are committed to work with partners to develop local democracy that places communities are the forefront of decision making. Our next steps will be to work with our members to produce a SCA blueprint.