Clyde Mission Call for Ideas

Clyde Mission is a Scottish Government-led initiative composed of five Missions that are developed and delivered by a range of partners across a variety of sectors. It is driving forward a national, place-based, mission to make the Clyde an engine of sustainable and inclusive growth for the city, the region and Scotland. This is an opportunity to not only put the Clyde back at the centre of our economy and communities, but also at the heart of our plans for a net zero future.

The five Missions are:

• Create new good and green jobs, and a workforce with skills to secure those jobs.
• Use vacant and derelict land for the benefit of the economy, the environment and communities.
• Use the river to make better places for people and communities.
• Adapt to climate risks, especially flooding.
• Accelerate Scotland’s progress to net zero.

We asked, through the Call for Ideas exercise, that individuals, organisations, businesses, and communities reflect on these five Missions and consider how  the Mission-led approach can have a lasting, meaningful, and sustainable impact. The questions asked in the Call for Ideas were as follows:

1. What does this Mission mean for your area, business, organisation or community?
2. What would success look like for this Mission?
3. What would your priority actions be to deliver this Mission?
4. Who should be involved in shaping this Mission?
5. Do you have any further views or ideas in relation to this Mission?

We received 113 responses, 53 from individuals and 60 from organisations. . Individual responses were distributed across the full length of the Clyde, and tended to be from working-age respondents. The vast majority of individual responses came from people in the 25-44 years age bracket (20) or the 45-64 age bracket (25). 5 were from 65-74; and 1 from 75+. Notably, only 1 response came from the 16-24 years age range, and 1 was Not Stated.

Organisational responses again represented the full length of the river, and were spread across local government, public sector organisations, private sector, and third sector organisations. The most represented sector was private-sector organisations in built environment or real estate (13 responses); followed by public sector organisations such as statutory bodies (8); local governments in the Clyde area (7); and third sector/charity organisations (7). Other responses came from conservation organisations (5); businesses or trade bodies (5); environmental non-governmental organisations (4); community councils (4); universities or research bodies (4); sports and recreation groups (2); and entertainment (1).

Responses were submitted across the range of Missions although some Missions received significantly more responses than others.

You offered hundreds of ideas, many of which could contribute to multiple Mission aims. This confirms the complexity of the challenge, the range of potential opportunities for change and the need for cross-organisation and cross-sector partnerships to deliver effective solutions.

Key themes include:

• Looking at opportunities for innovation and the transition to net zero, building on prominent sectors such as maritime;
• Community input into the use of unused sites, including design and regeneration;
• Creation of greenspaces, for leisure and climate change mitigation;
• Creation of low-carbon heat networks;
• Increased and improved active travel routes.

The findings from the Call for Ideas exercise have been shared with our Mission Leads who will use these responses, alongside other evidence and analysis, to help determine the course of action for their respective Missions.

A final report is currently being drafted to share the actions that have been suggested by individuals, businesses, organisations, and communities. The response to the Call For Ideas will be critical to helping inform our Missions about what people want to see in terms of future activity and development along the Clyde.