Blog: Want to change the world? Start by listening

By Lucy Higginson, David Hume Institute

15th March 2021

“We all have something to offer, just some of us have lost the connection with ourselves, so it's hard to talk about what we want...

Why hope and think of ideas when you are ignored anyway.

Taking part made me feel I had something to say and I did.”

‘John’, Clackmannanshire

Across Scotland in 2020, we started conversations; with people in different places, from different backgrounds and with different life and professional experiences. Some had experience of engagement with policymaking but many had never been involved in this kind of conversation before. Some had been involved in past consultations of one sort or another and felt not listened to or disenfranchised by the process or outcome.

From the start, The David Hume Institute pledged that The Action Project would be different.  It had to be about listening.  And, it had to be us working in a way that enabled people to take part beyond the usual suspects.  This meant working with partners to tailor our support to individuals.  It was the difference between equality and equity of involvement.

What resulted was the largest inter-generational research exercise in Scotland in the last 5 years. We worked in partnership with local organisations on conversations with mixed age groups as well as national organisations such as the Children’s Parliament, the Scottish Youth Parliament and U3A groups across Scotland.

What we’ve heard throughout these conversations is disenchantment with politicians and policymaking. Some people felt so disenfranchised they didn’t see any point in voting. Power came up again and again as an issue affecting who gets listened to.

For years now some people have been challenging the phrase “hard to reach”. People are not hard to reach - you just have to make more effort.  It takes time and trust. You might need to adapt your process. But too often this means policy makers do not try hard enough. 

Together with partners, we have been listening to people talk about what actions they would take to make Scotland more prosperous, sustainable, inclusive and fair. Throughout these conversations, and echoed in anonymous polling, was the call to be actively kind, to support nature and the environment, and to be conscious with our spending. Irrespective of what the conversations were about, these themes were present again and again.

Diversity is critical. 

For the David Hume Institute, this echoes our research last year into the diversity of Scotland’s leaders. Lack of diversity limits perspective and risks group-think. Businesses are losing out, communities lack representation, and institutions stagnate if we fail to address Scotland’s diversity of thought.

We worked with Angela, from Resonate Together in Clackmannanshire, who has been supporting people in her community to feel listened to for more than 10 years. She summarised this problem:

“The disconnect across communities in Scotland cannot continue. Not only is it exacerbating the inequalities, but it costs us all so much more money and as a forward thinking society, Scotland needs to do better. DHI knew to hear real voices trust was important. Local community connectors, like me, were given support to enable people to connect in a truly authentic way. Building trust within a relationship takes time and is core to 'enabling' a mutual opportunity; dealing with areas of anxiety, depression, lived experience, addiction and so many of the feelings and experiences that a difficult life and environment can bring, are often huge barriers to connecting with others.”

Since October 2020 The Action Project has engaged over 4,500 people on the question of actions we can take. We will continue to reach out to more people through WhatsYourAction.Scot.  Engaging widely and across different demographics as equals has shown an energy for action to help each other that we know is a key to unlocking faster progress.

Throughout this research, the process of conversation has been powerful. All sorts of different people have found, we have more in common than we might have thought.

Share your action and read more on the research at WhatsYourAction.scot