Our Work

Below you will find a list of our live and previous projects. For more information please contact the project lead listed.

LIVE PROJECT

Tackling Stigma for Drugs and Alcohol in Scotland Co-design Process

Tackling stigma on drugs and alcohol co-design workshops are a part of supporting a national mission to reduce drug related deaths and harms in Scotland.

Scottish Government have commissioned Deciding Matters to deliver a series of workshops, identifying where changes to services and public perceptions in Scotland can address stigma experienced by against people affected by drugs and alcohol use.

We will be seeking the views of people with lived or living experience of substance harms, service providers, and family and friends of those with lived experience to help shape how stigma can be tackled in Scotland.

Deciding Matters are hosting a series of seven full-day workshops over the course of 2024 and 2025 with a small cohort of 20-24 people who have lived or living experience of drug and alcohol use who want to inform a set of recommendations that can tackle stigma and meet these needs through influencing services, media, education or public behavioural change. Participants will receive input from a range of experts and take part in conversations and activities hosted by neutral facilitators.

The recommendations from these workshops will be shared with the Scottish Government, along with feedback from a range of professionals and service providers. The Scottish Government will use all of this information as the basis for recommendations for a national campaign programme of work to tackle public stigma and a Scotland-wide-pledge for organisations and services to tackle stigma related to drugs and alcohol.

Project Lead - annie@decidingmatters.co.uk

LIVE PROJECT

FIRNS Funded Community Inclusion Standard Phase 2

The consortium of partners has received additional funding through FIRNS to undertake a market readiness phase led by Deciding Matters. Pleas see FIRNS Phase 1 for previous work.

Phase two will focus on the following processes:

Testing: Deciding Matters will test the Best Practice Guide with place-based partners, ensuring the steps and actions identified are relevant to a range of projects (in both size and scope) and provide useful guidance for projects undertaking community engagement processes for the first time.

Development: Deciding Matters will further develop the Best Practice Guide based on the testing phase. Scottish Land Commission will develop a training module to help projects progress from meaningful community engagement to a co-designed community benefits agreement. Further development, led by Soil Association Certification, will be done on the Community Inclusion Certificate to ensure it aligns with the other Codes and is as functional as possible.

Audit: Soil Association Certification will audit three test sites using the draft CIS criteria, testing the types of evidence which will be collated, whether the certification requirements are reasonable for a range of projects, and whether the criteria are clear and concise.

Consultation: additional consultation will be undertaken with relevant stakeholders to strengthen the Certification and Guide, and to encourage buy-in from nature-finance projects.

Operationalisation: the consortium will work on producing a digital hub to collate certification information and will determine how the CIS will be hosted so that it is ready to be introduced into the nature finance market once this next phase has completed.

Project Lead - rachel@decidingmatters.co.uk

LIVE PROJECT

Lochgelly, Fife Facilities Local Engagement Workshops

Fife Council commissioned Deciding Matters to host two deliberative workshops in October 2024 aimed specifically at the local community to develop recommendations for future town planning. The outcomes of this engagement will be published by Deciding Matters and fed back to participants for review and Fife Council in report format. The sessions were an opportunity for the local community, in particular, organisational stakeholders to directly inform Fife Council's approach to future town planning of Lochgelly in particular the use of town halls.  

Fife Council is excited to engage the local community in an open dialogue about the future of Lochgelly’s town halls and their use, in particular, Lochgelly Town Hall, St Andrews Church and Lochgelly Centre. This includes a discussion about overall town planning, amenities, and infrastructure. Fife Council are assessing the needs and aspirations of residents, and recognise the importance of community input, especially regarding the future of the Lochgelly Town Hall that has been in a state of disrepair and is nearing the end of its life. Everyone in the local area is invited to share their visions for revitalising the space and discuss what you believe should be prioritised in local planning efforts. There was also a separate public drop-in, survey and youth engagement process held by Fife Council to gather views. A Lochgelly Engagement Report will be made available in Reports on our website once finalised.

Project Lead - annie@decidingmatters.co.uk

LIVE PROJECT

Police Scotland Community Engagement Training Package

Deciding Matters were commissioned by Police Scotland to support them in developing a Community Engagement Training Package that can support officers across Scotland to design and deliver meaningful local engagement in different formats that suit their needs. The training package includes addressing ownership, outcomes, intent and power dynamics, managing conflicts and disagreements in the community, identifying engagement and recruitment methods that suit the needs of the community, framing the right questions that can lead to change, designing and delivering a workshop, working with partners, facilitating meaningful discussions and building consensus and other engagement methods.

The work connects to a broader programme of work for Police Scotland around what does policing look like for the future in Scotland, building trust and confidence in communities and having a no wrong door approach. This training package aims to support officers to have meaningful conversations with their communities about the real issues affecting risk and threat (for example, police are currently addressing online harm but people expect to see police on the streets), wellbeing and the right to feel safe.

Project Lead - annie@decidingmatters.co.uk

PREVIOUS PROJECT

Open Government Participation Framework Engagement Workshops

The Participation Framework is a guide to good practice in participation work across Scottish Government. It provides information about participatory methods and when to use them, the development of an effective participation strategy, and signposts to further resources.  The Participation Framework was first published in February 2023, with the intention for the document to be a first draft to be reviewed by the public before being updated. 

The Open Government team commissioned Deciding Matters to deliver a series of workshops with the public between March-April 2023, reviewing the newly published Participation Framework, and commenting on the inclusivity and accessibility of the document with the following goals:

Enable critical reflections on the Participation Framework and its application in future policy decision-making settings and contexts. 
Ensure the Participation Framework supports inclusive practice and is cognizant of equalities and diversity. 
Participants will inform feedback on the Participation Framework, its design, functionality, and key improvements for reformation. 
Clear identification of any gaps and any new participatory engagement methods not outlined in the existing Participation Framework
Clear identification of which individuals and groups with lived experience might be impacted by the Participation Framework and areas for improvement regarding accessibility.

Approach & methodology

We delivered six workshops delivered over two-month period:

Online (Zoom) and in-person (Edinburgh)

Morning, afternoon and evening options

Weekday and weekend sessions

Workshops included a range of engagement methods:

Discursive activities

Independent written activities (using flipcharts/Jamboard)

Presentations (with closed captions and visuals)

Participant votes

Key lines of enquiry and background information (including the Participation Framework) were shared in advance to support meaningful engagement. See our Participation Framework Feedback Workshops published report for more information.

Project Lead - annie@decidingmatters.co.uk

PREVIOUS PROJECT

Scotland's Just Transition Business Stakeholder Engagement Workshops

The Scottish Government has committed to ensuring that Scotland’s transition to net zero is fair and just. The aim is to ensure that as we transition to a net zero economy, no sector of society is left behind. It is important therefore, that plans to transition to net zero are considered through a Just Transition lens, ensuring that we think about, and take steps to mitigate impacts on people, communities, the environment and the economy. In response to the initial report of the Just Transition Commission, the Scottish Government committed to deliver a series of Just Transition Plans (JTPs) focussed on sectors which the Commission identified as key to delivering Scottish Minister’s ambitious net zero targets: Buildings and Construction, Land Use and Agriculture and Transport. The transition to net zero has the potential to impact businesses and workers in a multitude of ways, from availability of jobs and a skilled workforce, to impacting supply chains, reforming their day-to-day operations and presenting opportunities for them to create and innovate in a way which could transform Scotland’s economy.

In June 2023, Scottish Government Published three sets of discussion papers relating to the three sectors noted above. These papers, informed by evidence, policy experience and early stakeholder engagement, propose a number of areas of potential focus for future discussion and policy development. You will find the discussion papers online using the following links:

Just transition for the built environment and construction sector: a discussion paper

Just transition in land use and agriculture: a discussion paper

Just transition for the transport sector: a discussion paper

Scottish Government’s Energy and Climate Change Directorate commissioned Deciding Matters to host 12 workshops aimed specifically at the business and worker communities and covering the breadth and width of the Just Transition discussion papers. These workshops took place in locations across Scotland, as well as online, throughout July and August 2023. The outcomes of this engagement will support the co-design of draft JTPs that will be published in early 2024. See Just Transition Business Engagement Report for more information.

Scottish Government was particularly keen to engage representative business organisations, Industry Leadership Groups, Enterprise Agencies and other business organisations/groupings and workers impacted by the move towards Net Zero. Deciding Matters worked closely with the Scottish Government (SG) team to identify key lines of enquiry, a series of questions which would be brought to workshop participants to enable deliberative discussions around the Just Transition Plan Discussion Papers for each of the three sectors.

This series of workshops was/is complementary to wider engagement being undertaken by other Scottish Government Climate Change teams which target the public sector, local government, community groups and under-represented groups, as well as a variety of sectoral engagements being taken forward through existing Scottish Government channels.

Project Lead - annie@decidingmatters.co.uk

PREVIOUS PROJECT

FIRNS Community Inclusion Standard Phase 1

Deciding Matters led a consortium of partners funded by FIRNS (Facility for Investment Ready Nature in Scotland grant scheme from NatureScot and National Lottery Heritage Fund) to begin development of a Community Inclusion Standard (CIS): an auditable certification for nature finance projects who are delivering best practice in community engagement. The CIS was conceptualised by the Nature Finance Certification Alliance (NFCA) and its development is a collaborative venture with wide-ranging stakeholders.

Nature finance is the method of investment activity where money is used specifically to finance or invest in improvements to the natural environment. This could be private investment (from, for example, a bank or investment firm), government funding, philanthropic donations, etc. Nature finance projects can include peatland restoration, biodiversity programmes, woodland regeneration, marine protection, etc. Many of these projects will seek validation through existing nature codes (e.g. Peatland Code, Woodland Carbon Code) to evidence best practice for land and climate, and while these codes often do have a compulsory community engagement element, the intention of the Community Inclusion Standard is to strengthen meaningful community engagement and ensure communities benefit from changes being made to the land around them (whether this is receiving a share of any profits made, access to educational programmes, flood prevention, or other benefits identified by the community and delivered by the project).

From October 2023 to March 2024 the consortium delivered the following workstreams:

Financial Feasibility Study

Finance Earth conducted a series of interviews with buyers and investors to gauge appetite for a Community Benefits Standards, whether this certification would illicit a premium, or be seen as desirable for investors. The response was overwhelmingly positive, although no price figures could be estimated due to the rapidly evolving market.

Literature Review: Community participation for community benefits from natural capital projects

University of Strathclyde undertook a literature review of academic and practitioner literature to explore best practice approaches for facilitating community inclusion and participation in order to generate lasting community benefit from nature-based projects

Best Practice Guide: Community Inclusion for Community Benefit

Deciding Matters led a co-design process with our place-based partners to identify key steps for a project to take ensuring meaningful community engagement. A wider consultation with over 40 stakeholder organisations across the nature finance sector was also held, shaping the draft guide.

Draft Community Benefits Standard

Soil Association Certification took all phase one outputs and drafted the first Community Benefits Standard (which has since been renamed the Community Inclusion Standard).

Project Lead - rachel@decidingmatters.co.uk

PREVIOUS PROJECT

Co-design Befriending Networks in Waltham Forest

Waltham Forest Integrated Commissioning Team commissioned Befriending Networks and Deciding Matters to identify where befriending services can have the biggest impact for adults aged 18+ in Waltham Forest.  

Befriending Networks engaged with a range of professional stakeholders in the form of a Voluntary Advisory Group, while Deciding Matters designed and delivered a community co-design process to help identify key recommendations for befriending services in Waltham Forest.

Insights gathered from the Voluntary Advisory Group and outputs from the community co-design workshops will be reviewed alongside a range of other information sources (including best practice guidance, user surveys and delivery reports) by the Waltham Forest Commissioning Team. The Commissioning Team will then design a provision tender which will be open to applications from existing and new befriending service providers.

Ten participants from the Waltham Forest community engaged with a series of four co-design workshops, taking time to understand different models of befriending before identifying priority community challenges and drafting a series of recommendations for the Waltham Forest Commissioning Team to take forward with future befriending service provision.

See Waltham Forest Befriending Service Co-Design Workshops Report for more information.

Project Lead - rachel@decidingmatters.co.uk

PREVIOUS PROJECT

Re-introduction of Beavers in Glen Affric Area Local Engagement

Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) and Trees for Life (TfL) have been working in partnership since 2022 to engage with the local community regarding a potential proposal to return beavers to Glen Affric, above the Beinn A’ Mheadhoin Dam. In 2023, TfL published the Community Consultation Report which recommended additional discussions with the Strathglass community before any possible beaver release moves ahead. FLS and TfL commissioned Deciding Matters to facilitate these discussions and design a set of recommendations for actions the community would like to see before any potential proposals are submitted.

Deciding Matters (DM) worked closely with TfL and FLS to engage with those living locally who may be affected by future beaver reintegration, conducting one-to-one interviews and hosting a group workshop to understand the specific challenges associated with the local land, and identify priority concerns and risk mitigation measures that could be implemented. This work was built upon conversations and public events which had previously taken place, led by TfL, as part of the initial consultation phase. This process offered an opportunity for residents, landowners and land managers in a targeted postcode area to further engage on this topic.

This topic of deliberation has elicited highly polarised responses from the community, with individuals having a diverse range of perspectives on the potential reintroduction of beavers into the Glen Affric area. This polarisation has resulted in tensions between community members, which has been exacerbated by fractured relationships with, and lack of trust in, both FLS and TfL. Please see our Learnings and Reflection Blog and Beaver Consultation Report for more information.

Project Lead - rachel@decidingmatters.co.uk

PREVIOUS PROJECT

Riverwood's Community Engagement Blueprint

Riverwoods is a Scotland-wide initiative spearheaded by Scottish Wildlife Trust, aiming to support healthy riparian woodland networks across the country. Community engagement is a key element of the wider Riverwoods initiative, with work being undertaken to explore the opportunities for communities and landowners or land managers to work collaboratively and for community benefit.

Deciding Matters were commissioned by Involve to support delivery of the Riverwoods Community Engagement Blueprint by working directly with nature-based projects across Scotland. Deciding Matters will connect with five project leads, delivering a series of interviews and supporting the delivery of a wider community engagement piece with the following aims: