Priorities – What's your action.scot

People identified three key priorities for individuals, communities and businesses.

Covid has taught us all we need to make time for being kind. Change starts today.
Be connected. Commit to making time to stop and chat – help build community one conversation at a time.
Seek out ways to get to know people with different backgrounds. Create opportunities to expand your bubble.

Take action to improve the natural environment such as pick up litter on your street, volunteer with a local environmental group or take part in national initiatives such as the Great British Beach Clean.
Take responsibility for finding out your impact on the world (e.g. use a free tool like Pawprint), and take action to reduce that impact.

Be a conscious consumer. Wherever you can, use your spending power to support businesses that make a positive impact.
Ask how others are using your money. Assess how your money e.g. savings or a pension, are invested to make an ethical impact.
If you have spare savings, could it be doing more than sitting in a bank? Consider investing in the things or places you care about e.g. new local investment angel groups.

Be welcoming and open to new people. Groups are critical to helping people connect and build relationships.
For groups that have a formal role in communities, ensure decision makers have been trained to be inclusive e.g. anti-racist education, unconscious bias training in order to fulfil their responsibilities.
Join in initiatives to help raise awareness of the power of being connected e.g. the big lunch, play streets, window wanderland
Invest in youth work to realise its power to support young people and communities.
Build support around young people so it’s there as and when they need it e.g. through youth work.

Encourage more people to volunteer and work together to make sure that everyone has access to nature on their doorstep. Make sure playgrounds and parks are accessible for disabled children.
Use the momentum of national campaigns (such as Scotland’s Young People’s Forest) to help.
Use the learning from other communities that have taken collective action on the environment (e.g. community energy projects, green spaces) to bring more and faster progress in your local area.

Seek out ways to work with other organisations to support and improve your local community.
Use initiatives such as ‘shop local’ campaigns and projects to improve the local economy. Collaborative efforts maximise impact and build a thriving local ecosystem.

Adults said: Embed working conditions that treat staff with fairness, dignity and respect.
Children said: “Make sure everyone is paid enough money to be happy, healthy and safe, and make sure that there aren’t big differences in how much different people get paid”.
Deliver systematic improvements through fair pay, equality of opportunity, transparency and responsible working practices.
Encourage staff to treat customers and each other with kindness, in all aspects of their lives.
Review recruitment and employment processes. Are they a barrier for some people? If so, change them.

Take action to reduce environmental impact across your whole supply chain. For example: retailers and manufacturers use less packaging, especially single use plastic and make it possible to recycle more.
Publish a plan for reducing the environmental impact created by your business. Be transparent about your progress towards that plan.
Manage any land and buildings to minimise climate impact (e.g. energy efficiency, etc).

Prioritise living wage and conditions that support fair work.
Evaluate the social and environmental impact of your business and supply chain – including pensions.
Maximise positive impact through your purchasing power. Help customers make more conscious choices by showing this impact.
Be an active part of your place e.g. local partnerships, training opportunities, and supporting those in need.

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