Mapping the Future: The Role of the Scottish Glass Society in Sustaining and Developing the Glass Sector in Scotland
In our 40th anniversary year, we seized the opportunity to take stock of what we had achieved; what the current needs of our members and the wider Scottish glass sector were; and what was needed to ensure the volunteer-led Scottish Glass Society could continue to effectively promote Scottish glass and support practitioners in the coming years.
Using funding from Creative Scotland’s Open Project Fund we employed a creative industries freelancer to review the current work of the Society and make recommendations on the operational and strategic direction for the organisation based on the needs of our members and the sector. Surveys and focus groups with SGS members and interviews with key individuals in the creative sector identified a strong and widespread belief in the value of the work of the Society, a desire to see the Society widen its activity base, and the recognition that a more sustainable working model, with less reliance on volunteers, was required in order to do so. The key areas of the Society’s work were identified as member support, education and sector support.
In terms of developing the work of the Society to strengthen the future of glass in Scotland, the report recommends focus on the following five key areas:
1. Practitioner Support and Development
2. Use of Digital Resources
3. Support for Education
4. Sector Support
5. Organisational Development
We invite you to read the full report here.
We would like to share our greatest thanks to Kirsten Gow for her continued commitment and enthusiasm in helping us produce this exceptional report. We would also like to thank Creative Scotland and all individuals, organisations and businesses who have generously contributed.
If you have any thoughts or comments we invite you to email us at sgsvicechair@gmail.com.
Image: Off The Map – Inge Panneels (Photo: Kevin Greenfield).