The CLDSC submitted a response to the Scottish Government’s consultation on a replacement funding vehicle for the current EU “Structural funds” – the European Regional Development Fund and the European Social Fund. Scotland benefits from over £780m under the current 2014-2020 programme, and key aspects of both the existing EU priorities and those that the Scottish Government is considering relate closely to CLD interests and activities.

The CLDSC response benefited from contributions by members with direct experience of applying for and using the Structural Funds. It argued that a future funding programme should:

• Have a strong focus on community capacity building and active citizenship in support of the Inclusive Scotland policy objective;
• Support community-led local development, enabling and empowering people to drive change locally, with recognition of the support needed for this to happen;
• Strengthen the connections between economic and social objectives and activities.

Information on the use of structural funds in Scotland, and issues on post-Brexit replacement funding, is available in this SPICe (Scottish Parliament Information Centre) briefing: https://sp-bpr-en-prod-cdnep.azureedge.net/published/2019/4/10/EU-Structural-Funds-in-Scotland/SB%2019-19.pdf

Information about the consultation (which is now closed) is available on the Scottish Government website – https://consult.gov.scot/economic-development/replacement-of-european-structural-funds/

CLD Standards Council Members’ Annual Lecture and Conference 2020 Registration is now OPEN!

The Lecture and conference will take place on Tuesday 24 and Wednesday 25 March 2020 respectively, and will be held at the John McIntyre Centre, Edinburgh.

Having taken account of feedback from previous events, we have extended the Conference experience with the option for members to attend a CLD Values in Theory Lecture the evening before. You can choose to attend either the Lecture OR the Conference OR BOTH!

We have packed agendas at both events. Key highlights include:

CLD Values in Theory – Tuesday 24 March 6-8pm

• Andy Turner, Lecturer, Goldsmiths University of London – Empowerment, Tension and Social Movement
• Dr Louise Sheridan, Lecturer, University of Glasgow – Embodying ‘Alfirmo’

CLD Values in Action – Wednesday 25 March 9.00am – 4.30pm

• Ministerial Keynote – Mr Richard Lochhead, Minister for Further Education, Higher Education and Science
• Keynote – Gavin Oattes – Tree of Knowledge
• Keynote – Dynamic Earth
• Community Empowerment – a Human Rights Approach
• Equalities and Inclusion – CLDSC Workforce Research findings; Implications and Actions for CLDSC

This is a members only conference. An email has been sent to members with the lecture and conference booking link.

If you are a member but have not received the email, please contact us on contact@cldstandardscouncil.org.uk for the conference booking link.

The conference was over-subscribed last year so do book early to avoid disappointment.

GTC Scotland invited views from anyone with an interest in education on a refreshed set of Professional Standards for teachers as well as a new Professional Code for teachers.

The Professional Standards and Professional Code are integral to the working lives of teachers. These documents guide teachers through their careers, ensuring high standards and encouraging professional learning in order to continually update and develop skills
The Professional Standards have been refreshed and the Code revised to reflect the changing educational landscape and the needs of teachers and, importantly, children and young people.
The consultation opened on 30 September 2019 and closed 20 December 2019.

See further details on the GTC website

THE CLD provided comments in response as follows: –

The GTC will publish their response in April 2020.

The latest thinking on adult learning looking forward to the development of a new national strategy from Richard Lochhead, Mhairi Harrington OBE and our own Dr Marion Allison.

Read at – https://www.cdn.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Reach-2020-FINAL-compressed.pdf

Article in Reach the College Development Network magazine

LAST FEW DAYS !

There is still time to get your adult learners to contribute to the development of the National Strategy by completing the Adult Learning Survey https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/AdultLearningSurvey2019/

Now in our 11th year, the CLD Standards Council continues to go from strength to strength.  Our partnerships with organisations such as Education Scotland, COSLA, TES, ACOSVO and SCURL are strengthening our Membership Offer and our numbers are steadily growing.  We now have a public register meaning that anyone can enquire by name to check the registration status and region of our 2500 practitioners.  We are delighted to hear from our international partners that our public register is the first of its kind and hope that we inspire many other countries to follow suit.  We have more than 5000 Twitter followers across our accounts and between launching “Working with Scotland’s Communities”, welcoming our new Chair, Mr Alan Sherry at our Annual Members’ Conference in March, it has been a busy year.  This work, together with on-going Approvals, Registration and Professional Learning activities would not be possible without the dedication and support of our members and I would like to thank you all for your continued contributions.

So, here’s to a well-earned rest over the Christmas holidays and here’s to the coming of age of CLD in the new decade ahead.

Best wishes

Marion

The CLD Standards Council 2020 conference will be on the theme of CLD – Values in Action. Registration will open soon – the last conference was heavily over-subscribed, so keep an eye on your inbox. As an added bonus, the CLDSC annual lecture on the theme of Theory in Action, will be on the evening of 24th March.

The register of members of the CLD Standards Council is now public.  Any interested person can now enquire online by name to find the membership status and geographical region the member predominantly works in.
The online enquiry function can be found on i-develop –
http://www.i-develop-cld.org.uk/blocks/membersearch/index.php
See full information on the website.

The CLD Standards Council and the Scottish Confederation of University and Research Libraries (SCURL) are delighted to have signed a new Memorandum of Understanding to support CLD professional learning and promote inclusive access to lifelong learning.
For details of free access to university and research libraries now available for members of the CLD Standards Council, go to  http://cldstandardscouncil.org.uk/memorandum-of-understanding-with-scurl/

Requests for members to renew their registration are being rolled out. Please don’t worry if you have not received your request yet – we have quite a backlog to get through – back to registrations in 2013 – so it may take us a few months to get through all outstanding renewals.
Please do make sure you keep us up to date with your contact details so we can reach you for renewal.
Also if you have any colleagues who are members but have not been getting updates from us please encourage them to make sure we have up to date contact information.
Please email any queries to contact@cldstandardscouncil.org.uk or phone 0131 244 3444.

Adult Learning Survey
The Adult Learning Survey, which is being conducted by the Scottish Government in partnership with Education Scotland and the CLD Standards Council, will be open until the 17th January.
It is designed to capture the views of all adult learners and in particular those who have faced barriers whilst trying to access and progress through learning. Information from the survey will be used to develop the Adult Learning Strategy for Scotland.
Please highlight this survey to adult learners to help build the future strategy to meet their needs.
https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/AdultLearningSurvey2019/

Survey on the Future of Youth Work in Scotland –
https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/NationalYouthWorkStrategy2020-2025SurveyforYoungPeople
A survey by young people for young people to help to shape a renewed National Youth Work Strategy.

Survey closes on 24 December.

The CLD Standards Council continually promotes the essential role of professional CLD practitioners, and this is all the more important as resources get ever-scarcer.
The Why Employers need professional CLD practitioners paper sets out the ways in which professional CLD practitioners are not just valuable but indispensable.
The paper and further information are available on the  website.

The CLD Standards Council is delighted to once again sponsor the National Youth Work Award for Team of the Year. Nominations are now closed and we look forward to the awards ceremony in March 2020.

The CLDSC raised the profile of CLD at the SERA conference held in November, with Marion Allison presenting on the role of social capital practices in professional learning, and Colin Ross, together with John Galt of Education Scotland and Shannon Anderson of Rocket Science UK, presenting on the issues raised by the Working with Scotland’s Communities research.

Scotland receives over £780 million of funding through the European Regional Development Fund and the European Social Fund under the current 2014-2020 programmes. The Scottish Government is consulting on a replacement funding vehicle.
Major elements of the European Structural Funds’ objectives align closely with the role of CLD. Can the potential replacement programme be designed to meet the needs of, and create opportunities for, communities, more effectively by utilising CLD?
The consultation paper is available at https://www.gov.scot/publications/replacement-european-structural-funds-scotland-post-eu-exit/pages/1/. The closing date for responses is 12 February 2020.
Please share your thoughts and comments, including any experience you have of using or engaging with the European Structural Funds, to inform the CLD Standards Council’s response by emailing us a contact@cldstandardscouncil.org.uk, and encourage your CLD colleagues and partners to feed in their views.

Anthony Beekman, Theresa Marsili, and Evelyn Scanlan (who work for Falkirk, Stirling and Angus Councils) were among members who benefited from passes, which the CLDSC offered to each CLD Professional Learning Network area, to attend the World Community Development Conference, held in Dundee in June.

They were impressed with a “particularly inspiring workshop on community development from the perspective of indigenous people combating the legacy of colonialism” and the “similarities of work done in other countries and how we are all tackling similar problems”; and commented that in the current “trying times” it was “excellent; eye opening, mind broadening, inspiring and engaging”, with “such a friendly and captivating atmosphere,” “a truly world conference with perspectives on community development from people around the globe”.

Ever wondered what goes on over in the Twitter-sphere?  Here’s a selection of #BecauseOfCLD tweets from the last few months.  See if you can spot anyone you know!  If you want to find out more, why not follow us @cldstandards

Open University Roadshows
Awards Network
Gift Tech – Giving the Gift of Technology
North Lanarkshire Carers Celebrating Success
Adult Education 100
Happy Birthday Lead Scotland!
Video – See Jamie talk about a life in care and his move to a career in CLD
Life after Graduating in CLD
A history of CLD? There’s a book for that!

The CLD Standards Council Staff team will be taking a break over Christmas and new year.

Our last day in the office will be Friday 20th December and we will return on 6 January 2020.

We hope you have a very Merry Christmas and happy new year.

The register of members of the CLD Standards Council is now public.

Any interested member of the public can now enquire online by name to find the membership status and geographical region the member predominantly works in.

The online enquiry function can be found on i-develop –
http://www.i-develop-cld.org.uk/blocks/membersearch/index.php

The change to make the register fully public was voted on by members and conclusively approved.

Making the register public :-

• Declares that we are an open and proud profession. Happy to be recognised and identify with our member colleagues.
• It is consistent with regulatory bodies such as GTCS and SSSC
• It will make it simpler for individuals to provide evidence of membership when applying for jobs.
• It will make it simpler for employers verifying the membership status of applicants for jobs.

It is a significant step forward for the recognition of CLD and is the first register of CLD practitioners made publicly available in the UK.

If you have any questions please contact us at contact@cldstandardscouncil.org.uk

Save the Date! Next year’s Annual Members’ Conference will be held on Wednesday 25th March 2020, at the John McIntyre Conference Centre in Edinburgh.
Furthermore, due to Member requests,  the CLD Christmas Lecture will now be the conference-eve lecture.  “CLD Theories in Action” will be presented, at the conference venue, on the evening of Tuesday 24 March 2020.

Book the date(s) in your diary and keep a look out for conference registration opening in the new year.

Remember this is a Members only conference, so if you or a colleague would like to attend but are not members –  register now.

CLD Standards Council

The CLD Standards Council and the Scottish Confederation of University and Research Libraries (SCURL) are delighted to have signed a new Memorandum of Understanding.

Whilst a number of university and research libraries already support public access, this agreement specifically provides Members of the CLD Standards Council  free access to SCURL member library buildings and collections, and allow loans of up to 5 physical items and on-site use of library e-resources.

Both organisations welcome the opportunity to work in partnership to support CLD professional learning and promote inclusive access to lifelong learning.

You can find the SCURL establishments on their website  https://scurl.ac.uk/who-we-are/scurl-members/

CLD Standards Council Members wishing to take advantage of this access opportunity should contact us to request their new Membership ID Card to use as proof of membership which may be requested at some of the SCURL sites.    The membership cards will being issued on registration renewal and also shortly to new members as they register.

Full detail of the Memorandum: Memorandum 2019

The CLD Standards Council continually promotes the essential role of professional CLD practitioners, and this is all the more important as resources get ever-scarcer.

We’ve produced a paper that sets out the ways in which professional CLD practitioners are not just valuable but indispensable, and are making this available for members to use in your own context.

The paper outlines how professional CLD practitioners:

• Bring added value;
• Undertake approved qualifications;
• Commit themselves to recognised Values and a Code of Ethics;
• Are guided by a framework of Competences;
• Commit themselves to continuing professional learning;
• Can register as members of a recognised professional body;
• Have a distinctive role in achieving public policy goals; and
• Are needed to meet statutory obligations.

Download: Why employers need professional CLD practitioners 2019