Our current strategic plan has promoting access, improving wellbeing, supporting communities and facilitating learning and skills development at the core. It highlights the potential of inclusive places and stories to deliver benefits for communities across the country.
Publications
Read the documents that guide our work, and find out more about our vision and work streams.
Our skilled staff also regularly contribute to publications and panels to share their wide range of expertise. You can view examples of these below.
Scottish Civic Trust
Strategic Plans
This plan highlighted five key priorities for our work: empowering communities to become more active participants in heritage and the wider built environment, celebrating Scotland’s places and buildings, acknowledging and supporting grassroots contributions to heritage and regeneration, monitoring and commenting on planning issues of national significance and leading thinking and action in improving the diversity of Scotland’s heritage.
Review: 2019-2024 Strategic Plan
Ahead of drafting our current strategic plan (Scotland’s Places, People, and their Stories), we took stock of the impact and success of our previous strategic plan (Celebrate, Take Action, Advocate).
Scottish Civic Trust
Annual Reports
Highlights include the launch of our new Community Champion award and the inaugural year of our My Place Workshops programme for young people from refugee, asylum-seeking and migrant backgrounds. You can also view the 2023-4 Financial Statements.
Highlights include an expansion of our sector-leading Diverse Heritage programme to North East Scotland and our largest hybrid Doors Open Days festival to date. You can also view the 2022-3 Financial Statements.
Highlights include the capstone event for our My Place Mentoring programme and a special lecture series on heritage, equity and the Climate Crisis for COP26. You can also view the 2021-2 Financial Statements.
Highlights include a national conference about race and heritage in Scotland and the first ever digital Doors Open Days. You can also view the 2020-21 Financial Statements.
Highlights include the celebration of Doors Open Days’ 30th anniversary and the publication of a toolkit to help heritage organisations connect with Black and Minority Ethnic groups. You can also view the 2019-20 Financial Statements.
Highlights include the launch of our My Place Mentoring programme which provides heritage advice and support to community groups across Scotland and the first of our Heritage Hooley heritage networking events.
Highlights include celebrating the work of Scottish heritage volunteers at the Scottish Heritage Angel Awards and supporting the Action for Children Heritage and Inclusion project.
If you’d like a hard copy of our most recent Strategic Plan or Annual Report, please drop us a line at sct@scottishcivictrust.org.uk or give us a call at 0141 221 1466.
Other Strategic Documents
Climate Crisis Response (2020)
To better prepare Scottish Civic Trust and our amenity groups to face the Climate Crisis, we prepared a range of sustainable policies and procedures that we will be putting into practice in the coming years.
Action Plan for the Scottish Parliament Election (2021)
Ahead of each Scottish Parliament election, we release our actions points for the incoming government. We believe that the new Scottish Government must prioritise planning that benefits all, safeguarding built heritage, homes and environments for well-being and climate change resilience and education that builds civic pride.
Talks
Co-creating heritage projects with marginalised people (2022)
Diverse Heritage Officer Jen Novotny discusses how to identify partners to work with, how to get in touch with potential partners, how to facilitate co-planning meetings and above all how to ensure that the partnership is mutually beneficial.
Using social media to promote heritage (2022)
Communications and Events Officer Erin Burke discusses how community heritage organisations can use social media to promote their activities.
Micro-volunteering for heritage: the sustainable future of volunteering? (2021)
Director Susan O’Connor delved into what micro-volunteering is, what types of volunteer tasks it’s suited for and how to advertise micro-volunteering roles.
Restoring our future: how investing in buildings can make for fairer, greener places (2021)
Director Susan O’Connor explored the hidden impact of local and national government decisions on marginalised people, the built history they engage with and the environment they live in.
How to engage non-traditional audiences with heritage (2021)
Director Susan O’Connor shared her experience with making heritage events more inclusive. Delivered as part of Pollokshields Heritage’s 2021 spring lecture programme.
Empathetic Social Media During a Pandemic (2020)
Communications and Events Officer Erin Burke and Digital Content Officer Laura Paton gave tips to the Scottish Heritage Social Media Group on how to meaningfully engage with audiences during a time of crisis.
Identifying, developing and delivering historic building projects (2020)
My Place Mentoring Officer Jamie McNamara contributed to a panel of experts to discuss funding, facilitating, mentoring and delivery of heritage projects.
Toolkits
How to hold safe in-person events during COVID-19 (2021)
Tips for how to follow government guidance for heritage attractions, enhance hygiene protocols, reengage volunteers and above all keep visitors safe.
How to use social media (2021)
A helpful guide on how heritage organisations can use social media, including choosing platforms, identifying audiences, planning content, making content accessible and evaluating reach.
We collaborated with the National Trust in England to create a toolkit to help European Heritage Days coordinators co-create, deliver and evaluate inclusive events.
In order to increase knowledge of the Scottish built environment and provide fun activities for audiences during the COVID-19 lockdowns, we developed and released templates of 11 Scottish buildings that people can print off and assemble at home.
Produced for Doors Open Days 2019’s 30th anniversary celebrations, this toolkit is filled to the brim with ideas for engaging children and young people with the buildings, spaces and places around them.
New Uses for Former Church Buildings (2010) (Scottish Civic Trust)
Originally from 2010, this document looking at new uses for old churches is as relevant todays as when it was first published. It provides innovative examples of the re-use of religious buildings, which will have expanded over the years.