As the funding environment has become more competitive, projects and organisations increasingly find themselves under more pressure to present 'evidence' of needs and demand such as statistics or academic research.

A survey in 2004 by the Greater Govan Social Economy Team found that 8 out of 10 social economy organisations within the Greater Govan area believed that lack of awareness prevented them from making effective use of information. In January 2004, it was decided to put together a project to support these activities on a regular basis and expand the service into a project in its own right.

The Community Knowledge Centre supports organisations and individuals that are working to make Greater Govan a better place. The Centre designs workshops to provide organisations with the skills and confidence to access and make research and statistics work for them.

The Community Knowledge Centre has spearheaded a community development approach centred on critical statistics alongside helping local organisations acquire the skills to conduct their own research studies. The Centre has organised workshops and seminars for a variety of information requests for a wide range of organisations.

Since April 2004, over 110 people have attended events organised by the Community Knowledge Centre. The Centre has responded to 74 diverse information requests from over 30 organisations/projects. Service users have gained a broader range of skills, including audit mapping, networking and localised information.

Several learning points from the project include:

Local community organisations

The project is funded by:

ERDF funding

Community Knowledge Centre
Martin Taulbut, tel. +44 0141 585 6843

/04/2004

case

Urban Policy > Social inclusion & integration > Community development

Capacity building, Support for local groups