My Place Awards: Equalities Project
The Equalities Projects category of the My Place Awards celebrates community-led projects to remove barriers to ensure that normally under-represented demographics are involved in community life. Projects must take a place-based approach to equalities and community involvement, this could include participation in:
- civic groups, community councils, heritage societies or similar
- volunteering in the community
- breaking down barriers of access to civic institutions such as museums, town halls, libraries, historic venues etc
- creating successful interventions to ensure under-represented audiences are able to participate in existing community groups or projects, or are involved from the inception of new projects which take a place-based approach to benefitting the whole community
Award winners are celebrated at an award ceremony attended by major stakeholders in the built environment and heritage sectors, as well as representatives from local and national government.
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Judging Criteria
For the inaugural 2026 Awards, submissions will be considered for projects completed between 1st January 2021 and 31st December 2025.
The projects must have been completed by or involve a large element of community consultation and participation. Community groups include but are not limited to:
- civic societies
- community councils
- building preservation trusts
- development trusts
- city heritage trusts
- other community-based voluntary groups, charities and heritage societies
The winning project(s) will score highly in all of the following ways:
Community Involvement, Benefit and Impact
- The community will have been involved in the project from the start through project management, consultation, or other mechanisms which evidence this.
- The project directly addresses the spirit of the awards as outlined above.
- The project has had a demonstrable impact on either Place or the historic built environment.
Project Quality
- The project will be sustainable and be able to evidence the continued participation of under-represented communities.
Preservation or Enhancement of the Local Built Environment
- The project will take a Place Based approach either reflecting its surroundings sensitively or providing an informed contrast
Judging Panel and Process
The judging panel will be appointed and managed by the Scottish Civic Trust and will include Scottish Civic Trust representatives. Panel members will have knowledge of and interest in Scotland’s buildings, places and spaces. The panel chairperson will be nominated by the Scottish Civic Trust.
After an initial review of submissions, shortlisted entries will be invited to submit a short film showcasing their project to the judging panel. The films will also be promoted externally through Scottish Civic Trust channels to raise the profile of the Awards and the shortlisted projects. In these short films, judges will want to hear from, at minimum, a member of the group responsible for the project as well as a member of the community that makes use of the project’s space or services. The judges won’t be looking for professionally-made films, and films will be judged on the basis of project quality rather than video production quality. Shortlisted projects will be sent a guide with tips for how to put together their film.
Judges will then review the short films and invite shortlisted projects to an interview to learn more about the project and ask any further questions.
Finally, judges will meet to discuss the short films and interviews and make awards decisions, which will be final. At the joint discretion of the Scottish Civic Trust and the judging panel, there may be a number of commended entries. In the event of the judges being unable to determine a single winner, it will be left to their discretion to offer a joint award. There will be a ceremony held to celebrate the award winners.
Use of Information
Data supplied by submissions, including images, plans, drawings and narrative text submitted in support of the My Place Awards will only be used for assessing, awarding and promoting the My Place Awards. Personal contact information will not be disclosed to other parties.
Data will be held by the Scottish Civic Trust in perpetuity to maintain a record of entries.