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Scottish Rural Equality Network SREN Registration Guide Word Doc Report: SREN Seminars 2009_10 Pdf Report: SREN Seminar 2009_10 Word Visit the SREN Online Discussion Forum http://www.scvo.org.uk/srenonline/ "Rural Diversity Uncorked...Putting the fizz back into community action" SREN National Conference, Wednesday 16th June at a venue near to you For more information on our 'virtual' conference delivered by webcasting technology, please visit our Calendar of Events SREN Seminars: Thanks to all who took part in our series of seminars across rural Scotland in 2009/10. The Report on 'Identity and Rural Equalities' is now available in Microsoft Word and PDF formats (See links at top of this page) The Highlands & Islands Equality Forum (HIEF) was appointed by the Equality & Human Rights Commission (EHRC) in September 2008 to develop a Scottish Rural Equality Network (SREN). A vision of the SREN The SREN is visualised as a multi-dimensional network in which rural equality stakeholders at all levels (viz. national and local public bodies, advocacy and support groups, and individuals experiencing barriers to equal opportunities) can interact with others and share common concerns, issues, interests, ideas etc, thereby building capacity to tackle the barriers to equality in rural areas and effect positive change on the ground in their own areas. It is more than just a database of contacts, more a live organism of those who have a keen interest in dismantling barriers to equal opportunity and quality of life in rural Scotland. The SREN aims to ease and add value to the workload of its members. It must be accessible and extend beyond the parameters of online contact through use of intermediary agents who can reach the most isolated individuals in our rural communities. The SREN has online and face-to-face dimensions to facilitate the balance between enabling anonymous and more personal networking, as well as to make the SREN as accessible as possible. Seminars, conferences, workshops and conferences on emerging issues provide necessary human contact and relationship building. Online Discussion Forum From the various discussions held across the country we now have a vision of what stakeholders would welcome in a SREN. Although some of this is slightly ambitious for our current funding situation, we have decided to publish a basic online discussion forum with membership available to public and voluntary sector equality stakeholder organisations who would find the SREN useful to their day-to-day work. This is now live and comprises: · Public Bulletin Discussion Forums on key themes · Option for SREN members to communicate anonymously if preferred · Option to create private discussion forums on subjects of choice · Basic resources such as ‘Key Documents’ Non members are also able to view the public discussions and access key resources from the website. Discussion boards featured are: News and Hot Topics - what's happening in the world of Rural Equality - discussions on emerging news stories, updates and key issues Shared Resources - requests for help, support, advice and expertise; sharing and signposting of key resources (includes link to HIEF Equality Toolkit) Events and Training - Adverts, requests, discussions, reviews on anything and everything to do with events and training Top Tips - Sharing Best Practice; news stories, case studies, shared experiences (good and bad) that will help others. Handy tips and advice from members Public
Duties - all issues around public sector duties This Online Forum has been created because
people across rural Scotland have told HIEF that it would be a useful tool to support their local work in equalities. Marginalised
groups and individuals in rural areas face challenges to inclusion which are often caused or made worse by living in a rural
environment and the SREN network is being developed to allow shared learning on common issues. The Forum can only succeed
as a support network if folks from across rural Scotland contribute regularly to the sharing of learning and information. The
SREN will be strengthened by numbers - no one person holds the answers to all questions but collectively we do have a
lot of knowledge, it's just a matter of linking up and exchanging those pearls of wisdom! So members should be prepared
to contribute as well as to learn - taking pride in and sharing their local case studies as they will be an inspiration
to others. We hope, therefore, that the
SREN will be well used and prove a useful tool in local equality work. We have stripped the website down to functional
basics in a bid to make it easier to access by a diversity of busy people. However, we are always keen to learn how we can
do better, so constructive criticism is always welcome. Feel free to use the online link to SREN Administrator to pass
on your views on the SREN. The SREN more generally - Priorities for 2009/2010: · Define the vision and purpose of the SREN network · Build its functionality and sustainability (Website Pilot Study and face-to-face networking events on emerging themes) · Encourage interaction between equality agents in at least two local networks such that local capacity to address rural issues is developed Local Forums A key part of the work of building local capacity of equalities in rural Scotland is to grow local equality forums. If you feel there is a need to develop existing forums or form new ones in your area, please contact HIEF to discuss how we might help. Suggested ways HIEF can help develop your local equality network: · Facilitating meetings and seminars · Training on key topics or skills · Bringing key stakeholders together to identify skills and needs (including any research needs) that can be aligned in joint working and so build the local capacity to drive through good equalities practice. We are keen to focus on empowering local people to drive their own agenda and to leave a legacy of new connections, skills, and knowledge that will live on in the development of localised equality work. ie we are a free resource for you to use to develop your own capacity. If you would like HIEF to work with you as you develop your local network, please get in touch to discuss how we might help. You might find it useful to consider if any of the following issues suggest areas of focus: Public sector agencies: · Do you know/understand the needs of local equality groups and individuals? · Have you a plan of practical actions that will deliver a better life for marginalised groups and individuals accessing your services and working as your employees? · Do you know what skills and knowledge are held locally and how they could contribute to your equalities work? · Do you know of any local research and/or training needs? · Have you an effective process of community engagement in place with a wide spectrum of equalities groups and individuals? · Can you identify areas of potential capacity building (within your organisation or CPP group, or within voluntary sector groups and individuals to support them in their engagement with you) that will improve your equalities work and community engagement? Voluntary sector agencies: · Do you have an awareness of the needs of other equalities groups – either within the same area of equalities as your own, or those who face unfair treatment because of other issues? · Would knowing about the common barriers faced in rural areas help you address them collectively with others? · Would you like to work closer with public sector agencies to ensure that they deliver services that include the needs of the people you support and what would help you to do this? · Are there key issues/concerns (eg funding, lack of resources etc) that you feel could be addressed better by working jointly with others and have you the established networks that can assist in this? Emerging Themes HIEF is delivering a calendar of events Scotland-wide on rural issues and is keen to learn what key themes would be of interest for SREN members to discuss. Please let us know of any issues or emerging equalities themes that you feel we should focus on as we bring people together. This year we have held seminars on the topic of Identity and Rural Equalities and will publish a report with the learning from these sessions early in 2010. We are also planning a National SREN Conference on 18th March, so check the SREN website for more details as they become available. It is important to stress that HIEF has no magic wand and does not hold the key to any instant remedies! It is through bringing the members of the SREN network together that we hope to address issues of inequality. The network can provide a flow of shared knowledge, tools and resources. By discussing emerging themes together, we can collectively identify where the skills and knowledge lie, where we need to direct ourselves and other agencies to research further information, and where the gaps in knowledge and capacity lie. This will allow us to make the most effective use of the limited resources we are able to access in these testing financial times and with an ever pressing need to deliver better working practice. How you can get involved To register as a SREN member, go to http://www.scvo.org.uk/srenonline/ We have prepared guidance documents on how to register and how to use the discussion forum (see above) If you need to speak further to us, please telephone Morag Redwood HIEF Project Leader on 01463 251738 or Matt Tyrer, Development Officer on 01463 251727, and for more details on this exciting piece of capacity building in rural Scotland, please read the attached Interim Report. |
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