Social action during the coronavirus pandemic – learning from the crisis to help build forward, better (part of the Social Action Inquiry Scotland)
The world has changed and will continue to change for some time. Social action has been at the heart of society’s response to the crisis. Existing groups and organisations have quickly and imaginatively rethought how they deliver support, and new groups – many informal – have emerged to enable mutual support at a street or neighbourhood level across the UK.
As attention begins to shift from the initial crisis response, to the need to ‘build back better’ (or ‘build forward, better’ as some have suggested is a more appropriate phrase), social action will continue to play a key role.
There is an opportunity to learn from what is happening, how communities have organised and responded, and how the environment has arguably become more enabling of social action almost overnight. There is also a necessity to ensure those most impacted by the crisis, and those for whom the ‘old normal’ did not work are at the heart of shaping what comes next.
This project forms part of the wider Social Action Inquiry, and so shares its vision of:
A Scotland where social action is valued and is able to make change happen in communities.
In 2018, a group of interested people got together to explore what Scotland could learn from the Civil Society Futures Inquiry in England. During the exploratory work a focus on social action emerged. The spontaneous surge of social action in response to the coronavirus pandemic has helped the partners to focus and re-frame their thoughts. The time is now right to put the inquiry into action.
The closing date for tenders is 5pm Monday 29 June 2020.
Anyone interested in tendering is welcome to contact Shelley Gray (shelley@corra.scot) if they would like to discuss anything or seek further information to help inform their proposal. Proposals will be scored with shortlisted agencies invited to meet the partners group week commencing 6 July. These meetings will inform the partners’s final decision.
Social Action Inquiry – coronavirus project – tender June 2020
Social Action Inquiry Scotland – summary founding document – May 2020
The partners involved in developing the Social Action Inquiry are: Carnegie UK Trust, Corra Foundation, the Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE), Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO), The National Lottery Community Fund and, The Robertson Trust.
