Learning Report on the Development Phase

May 2024

“The Regenerative Futures Fund is ambitious for a kind of change that meets that moment more intentionally and resources it by bending and pulling funding together at a scale that the city’s communities need.”

In 2022, a wide network of funders, campaigners, local authority leaders, grassroots organisations and facilitators came together around a vision for a new long-term community fund for Edinburgh.

Everyone involved joined the project with an openness to the idea that change is needed in grantmaking if we are to ‘end poverty’ and ‘be climate ready’ in Edinburgh by 2030. For some, this openness stemmed from commitment to deep transformation in grantmaking models, and for others, it was more a curiosity and willingness to explore how we might collaborate to shift decision-making power and resource long-term, regenerative work.

Sharing learning and working in the open is an integral part of this collaborative project. In this learning resource, we capture the experiences of those involved, sharing key insights around the activities, values and behaviours that brought people to the project, and kept them involved. We also explore some of the challenges faced and set out points to keep in mind as the fund moves from design into delivery.

The resource is for: 

o   People involved in initial stages of the fund, documenting their learning and the contribution they have made.

o   People who will deliver the fund, to help with planning and staying on course. 

o   People interested in collaborative grantmaking models and resourcing regenerative work.

It is focused on what has underpinned, energised and facilitated a network of people to design a grantmaking model that takes us away from centralised decision-making and short-term, risk-averse, crisis work and towards long-term, risk-aware, participatory and regenerative practice.

Read the full report here