Phil Prentice considers how Scots can contribute to making their towns better during National Towns' Week

This week is National Towns Week, so how can volunteers, the third sector and social entreperprises help Scotland's towns?

Right now, making any sense of humanity and urbanity in a chaotic and fragile world is difficult. However, when we pause to reflect, the things we can still influence are those that matter most to our sense of contentment, such as our family, friends and community, the places where we live and our day-to-day routines.

The town centre is at the heart of our communities and Scotland has some of the best towns in the world. Towns are where most of us live, 69% of us to be extact, and where 65% of Scotland's jobs and businesses are based, afterall.

Some of Scotland’s towns are doing really well but many are at a crossroads. The continued drift of talent and youth to city economies, structural changes in retail as a result of the internet and digital developments, and out and edge of town retail parks are all impacting on town centres. This, on top of the ongoing impact of the economic recession, dysfunctional property and housing markets, welfare reform, less disposable local income and a fast shrinking public sector sounds like an awful lot to fix. Where would you even start and where would you seek permission?

At Scotland’s Town’s Partnership though, we think that maybe it’s not as difficult as it first appears.

People can make a difference. Start talking and building collaborations, there is no right or wrong way, it all begins with the recognition that things could be better. Start to identify some willing contributors and start to discuss what the key issues are and build consensus and partnership.

The next step is to build evidence, which is why Understanding Scotland’s Place provides you with the typology of your town along with a list of comparator towns across the country. The Place Standard exercise can also give you a consensual picture of the main issues your town is facing.

It’s also worth checking out Scotland's Towns website, which is a free web portal hosting case studies, funding, training, events advice.

Having the right structure and governance shouldn't act as a barrier to taking action if people are flexible enough to adapt, evolve, change and grow over time. When it comes to improving towns, there are action groups, business improvement districts, development trusts, community interest companies and charities all ready to work in partnership with town-centre management, traders groups, local chambers of commerce, town teams or council led initiatives.

There are early wins that can be easy to deliver in any town. They may seem obvious, but communities could do worse than organising a community cleanup, painting shop fronts and tidying up their town.

Other easy wins include:

• listing assets and building existing networks of social capital, clubs, churches etc
• putting in some flowers and planters, grow vegetables, green up and get some lights and banners
• arranging an event – a fashion show, discount day, link to towns heritage, markets etc
• starting a Facebook Page
• getting schoolkids engaged in activities – eg design a heritage or fitness trail
• closing a street and making it bike or pedestrian only for the day
• taking on an asset and make it work for the community

Always evaluate and scan the horizon to make the most of opportunities that may arise – the worlds of digital, health and the environment in particular will be prone to change. Volunteers and social entrepreneurs know that its their town, so now is the time to do something about that.

Phil Prentice is chief officer of Scotland’s Towns Partnership, the national agency supporting towns.