Toolkits and other sources of support

Keen to take a more active role in sharing your local heritage but not sure where to start? Help is at hand as we have compiled a list of toolkits and supporting organisations, which will provide a good starting point for any group or individual looking to get the most out of their local heritage. 

These links will direct you to a wide variety of training, events, and online resources that you may find useful. This isn’t an exhaustive list of the support that is available and if you can’t find what you’re looking for, or have a suggestion for a useful link we might want to add, then please get in touch at developmentandcommunity@hes.scot and we’ll do what we can to help. 

• The Climate Conversation Pack and Climate Outreach are useful resources for anyone looking to start conversations around climate change. 

• The Place Standard has been a useful tool for having conversations about place since its launch in 2015. Place Standard with a Climate Lens has now been produced to provide a framework for including climate change in these discussions too. 

• Adaption Scotland provides advice and support to help Scotland be prepared and resilient to the effects of climate change. 

• Keep Scotland Beautiful is full of resources and advice for combatting climate change, reducing litter and waste, and protecting and enhancing the places we care for. 

• The Ethnic Minority Environmental Network is a platform and resource for all ethnic minority voices to engage in climate change issues and policies and to develop links with environmental stakeholders.

• The Scottish Community Development Centre is the lead body for community development in Scotland. 

• The National Standards for Community Engagement (NSfCE) are good practice principles designed to improve and guide the process of community engagement. 

• The Scottish Community Councils project, managed by the Improvement Service on behalf of the Scottish Government, provides information, support and resources for Scotland’s 1,200 community councils and the 10,000+ volunteers who serve as community councillors. 

• The Place Standard tool provides a simple framework to structure conversations about place. The tool provides prompts for discussions, allowing you to consider all the elements of a place methodically. The tool pinpoints the assets of a place as well as areas where a place could improve. 

• Built Environment Forum Scotland is an umbrella body for organisations working in the built environment in Scotland. 

• Heritage Network is a membership organisation for community groups and Trusts formed to bring together heritage professionals and enthusiasts tackling our nations’ buildings at risk and can provide support through a peer-to-peer network. 

• The Stove Network, with support from South of Scotland Enterprise, have published a new PDF guide to Community Wealth Building and Community-Led Place Development. It focuses on looking at how creativity and culture can work collaboratively with communities and support cross-sector working, addressing civic, economic, and development needs locally with communities.

• Make Your Mark is a Scotland-wide campaign to increase the number and diversity of volunteers in the heritage sector. It is free to join and provides access to support and training for volunteer managers, as well as an online volunteer recruitment portal. 

• Make Your Mark's Inclusive Volunteering Toolkit provides advice on practical steps that voluntary organisations can undertake to increase the number and diversity of their volunteers. 

• Volunteer Scotland have a variety of helpful resources and downloads available online. 

• Findings from the Wrestling with Social Value project have been translated into a Social Value toolkit for practitioners looking to understand and work with the social values of the historic environment. 

• The Third Sector Lab have produced some guidance on how to recruit Digital Trustees  - volunteers with experience in digital, data or design who sit on the Board of a third sector organisation. 

• This Communications toolkit from NatureScot aims to help grantees inform and engage with stakeholders about the Natural and Cultural Heritage Fund. 

• This interpretation guidance from the Heritage Fund is full of useful advice and links. 

• Safeguarding intangible cultural heritage together with museums. This toolkit provides you with all the content you may need to safeguard intangible cultural heritage in your organisation.

• The Scottish International Storytelling Festival have produced A Wee Guide to Intangible Cultural Heritage. It gives a really useful overview of ICH as well as some interesting Scottish examples.

• The Arts Marketing Association works with and supports individuals and organisations in the arts, culture, and heritage sector. 

• Third Force News – Culture & Leisure. 

• The Association of Independent Museums has a range of events, training, and resources available that are aimed at independent museums, galleries, and heritage organisations. 

• Your Church, Your Community has been developed by the Community Ownership Support Service, Heritage Trust Network and Historic Churches Scotland to meet a growing need from communities for specific guidance around churches and accompanying land. 

• Inner Forth Futures have created a tourism toolkit to support hospitality and tourism in the Inner Forth area.

• The AMPHORA guidelines have been designed to support heritage-related projects focused on delivering mental health benefits. They were developed in partnership by Solent University, University of Winchester, and Bournemouth University and consist of three toolkits that can be used by project providers, social prescribers, and potential participants. 

• Think Health Think Nature have worked with health care professionals and third sector organisations across Scotland to put together a variety of resources around using the natural environment to improve wellbeing. 

• The Scottish Government’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy sets out their approach for improving mental health and wellbeing for everyone in Scotland. 

Do you have a toolkit that you think would be useful to share? Get in touch by sending us an email at developmentandcommunity@hes.scot