Old industrial areas
Good practice case study
Community Enterprise Strathclyde (CEiS), UK
The Community Enterprise in Strathclyde (CEiS) is a development agency in Glasgow, Scotland. This social enterprise has created over 2,000 jobs since 1997. This case study highlights some important lessons about the empowerment of actors at the local level:
- A rich diversity of ‘bottom-up’ activity can be initiated by local authorities and other key local partners.
- But this diversity needs to be brought together into a coherent whole by effective partnerships at the strategic level. Such partnerships can bring together money, people and ideas.
- Empowering local actors through partnership is not merely about injecting funding. It is necessary to build assets as well as to invest in the long-term capacity of people and organisations. Effective local employment programmes require credible organisations that can bear the ‘weight’ of policy. Such investment can provide sustainability and thus long-term impact.
- Indeed, it is most important to invest in people rather than strategies, although of course strategies are important.
- Investment needs to offer continuity and certainty – uncertainty destroys additionality.
Case study
Community Enterprise in Strathclyde [pdf, en, 13kb]
