About this Event
SAVE THE DATE!
Tuesday 24th November, Stirling Court Hotel, Stirling
As usual, our annual gathering isn't just another conference, it’s something different. It’s an interactive day filled with energy, connection, and real local power for local people.
We want this day to be an antidote to the terrible things we’re currently experiencing and witnessing. This winter, we’ll brighten each other’s day, share the joy of helping each other solve everyday challenges, and get inspired for what we know is a rocky road ahead.
Not a SCCAN member? No problem, this event is open to everyone. Or if you would like to join SCCAN you can do so here for free :)
Here’s some of what is waiting for us on the grounds of the University of Stirling, a beautiful and historic parkland and loch landscape set against wooded lower slopes.
- Celebrating Local Action! We will host the inaugural SCCAN Awards, where you can get nominated and vote for your fellow members across different categories and celebrate the achievements powering our communities.
- Collaboration and problem-solving. Bring your ideas, your challenges, and your passions. Experience the joy of mutual support, getting help with your goals and helping others achieve theirs. Leave the day with solutions and plans.
- Interactive workshops & networking. Connect directly with leaders, experts, and peers driving community climate action across Scotland.
- Share your work. We’ll have a dedicated literature table, so bring your flyers and printed materials to share your story!
DETAILS ON THE PROGRAMME AND WORKSHOPS COMING SOON!
Food and family 🙂
- Enjoy a delicious, high-quality, locally produced, plant-based lunch. We will accommodate diverse dietary needs
- Would you need or want to bring your children with you? If you’d like to use our crèche so your small ones can play while you join the gathering, let us know by filling out the registration form or emailing [email protected] with the number of children, their ages, and any specific needs.
Don’t miss this chance to celebrate, connect, and recharge. Come claim the power and the joy of community action right now
NOTE: If you can, please consider buying a Pay Forward Ticket alongside your ticket and support others who are facing financial barriers to joining in.
University of Stirling photograph from https://blog.stir.ac.uk/10-free-things-to-do-around-the-university-of-stirling/
Cover photo by Chloë Forbes-Kindlen on Unsplash
WORKSHOPS
Below you will find details of the workshops you will be able to join at the Gathering. More to be added!
WORKSHOP 1
Income Generation for Community Organisations: Working With Real Examples From Across Scotland with Craig Dunn and Fabio Villani from SCCAN
Community organisations are constantly navigating the challenge of sustaining their work while serving local needs. Rising costs, limited volunteer capacity, and unpredictable funding cycles make financial resilience more important than ever. This workshop is built around real community examples and practical, achievable income‑generation strategies that groups can apply immediately.
The session begins with two grounded case studies — community energy and Pizza for Planet — to show how mission‑aligned enterprises can generate unrestricted income while strengthening local engagement. These examples act as a springboard into a wider conversation about how community organisations can build reliable revenue without compromising their values.
Core Focus
We will introduce a simple, memorable framework for thinking about income generation:
- Identifying your need
- Recognising the real value your organisation provides and pricing services fairly.
- identifying new offerings that fit your mission and capacity.
- increasing the frequency or reach of existing activities to create dependable income.
This framework is designed to help organisations move from reactive fundraising to proactive, confident income planning.
Interactive, Real‑World Group Work
The heart of the workshop is an interactive exercise using three real examples from community organisations. Participants will work in small groups to explore:
- What each organisation already does well
- Where income potential is currently under‑used
- How the pathways could unlock new revenue
- What small, practical changes could make a meaningful difference
This is a collaborative, hands‑on session where participants learn by doing, using real situations from real communities.
Who This Workshop Is For
Community groups, climate hubs, local charities, social enterprises, and anyone who wants to strengthen financial resilience through practical, mission‑aligned income strategies.
WORKSHOP 2
When the story is the message - thinking with stories about community, climate and change with Kaska Hempel and Alette Willis
How do we understand community climate resilience when we start with the richness and complexity of people’s lived experience?
In this workshop, we will think with a story from East Haven, a Scottish coastal community already living with erosion, flooding and storms. Through listening, reflection and sharing our own stories, we will explore what climate change looks and feels like in different places - and what becomes possible when people come together to make sense of it and to imagine responses.
You will leave nourished by the sharing and take away new ways to work with stories, including your own, to open up conversations about climate change, connect with people’s everyday experiences, and create space for your community to explore resilience and solutions together
Dr Kaska Hempel is a SCCAN Story Weaver and audio storyteller with over 15 years’ experience supporting community climate action and facilitating conversations for change. She produces SCCAN’s 1000 Better Stories podcast and is the Story Lead for the Unbound project.. She's passionate about using stories to help communities start difficult conversations, make sense of climate change and imagine what’s possible.
Dr Alette Willis is a recovering academic, award-winning author and performance storyteller with more than 25 years of researching how stories shape everyday ethics and behaviours. She is a community member of the SCCAN Storytelling Circle and led a research project funded by the British Academy into how community-based narrative arts can help shift society towards net-zero. She developed and taught Story Routes to Sustainable Futures for the Edinburgh Futures Institute for several years as well as taught on the MSc in Science Communication at the University of Edinburgh.
WORKSHOP 3
climatACTical: Practical climate action for Scotland’s voluntary, community and social enterprise sector with Chiara Fingland
What is ClimatACTical?
climatACTical is an interactive, team‑based learning game designed around real organisational challenges.
Participants make decisions under pressure, including financial constraints, competing priorities and climate‑related disruption. Each session includes a structured debrief so teams leave with clear, realistic next steps they can take back into their organisation.
No prior climate knowledge is needed.
Who is it for?
climatACTical is designed for people working in voluntary organisations, community groups and social enterprises. It works well with staff teams, trustees, boards, managers and senior leaders, particularly where organisations are at an early stage of climate action.
Event venue & nearby stays
Stirling Court Hotel, Airthrey Road, Stirling, United Kingdom
Concerts, fests, parties, meetups — all the happenings, one place.