Empowering Communities Through Culture: Our New 18‑Month Creative Programme
17 March 2026
We are delighted to announce that we have been awarded funding through the Scottish Government’s Culture Collective programme, administered by Creative Scotland. This significant support enables us to launch a new, 18‑month cultural programme that will work with communities across the country to explore land, place and justice through creative practice.
A Creative Programme Rooted in Community
Over the coming months, we will collaborate with communities at different stages of the community ownership journey—both rural and urban—to co‑design a programme of artistic work that reflects local priorities, voices and experiences.
The programme will bring together a diverse range of creative approaches, including:
- Partnerships between artists and communities
- Support for emerging theatre makers
- A new podcast series
- Traditional storytelling commissions
- A documentary film amplifying the voices of women at the heart of Scotland's community land movement
The documentary will serve as the foundation for a short touring film festival on land justice, planned for 2027.
All creative practitioners involved will be paid in line with Fair Work principles, ensuring that this programme not only benefits communities but supports Scotland’s creative workforce.
A More Flexible, Responsive Way of Working
Iain Craig, Cultural Programme Manager at Community Land Scotland, welcomed the announcement:
“This funding allows us to work in a new way — to be much more flexible to the unique needs at community level, and to broach topics that we could otherwise struggle to find funding for. This model of funding shows real trust in communities and organisations to embed culture at the core of our work and will make a huge difference to the organisation as a whole.”
Investing in Community, Creativity and Land Justice
We are hugely grateful to Creative Scotland and the Scottish Government for this investment in community‑led cultural work and for recognising the role that creativity can play in opening conversations about Scotland’s relationship with land, place and justice.
We look forward to sharing more about the programme as it develops, and to working alongside communities, artists and partners across Scotland over the next 18 months.