WHO WE ARE & WHAT WE DO
CSPP 21 is a SCIO and therefore a charity.
Our central purpose – as we hope the name shows – is to examine Scottish Public Policy and to provide another critical voice and commentary on the ideas, strategies and policies of all those organisations that have an interest in and engagement with the lives of people in Scotland .
We try our hardest to keep an open mind on the challenges that face Scotland and the proposals that are brough forward to address them.
We do so by:
- The organisation of public events where policy challenges and possible solutions are discussed.
- The promotion and support of ‘dialogue discussions’: invitation only events where people can discuss tentative and complex ideas in an open forum without individual or organisational commitment.
- We publish commentary on policy options & proposals that are the subject of both formal consultations and informal public discussion.
- We invite selected participants to open ‘online debates ‘which are hosted on this site [see ‘Ideas & Discussion’]. This debate runs over a period of weeks and is opened up to moderated contributions from members and supporters. At a suitable point the ideas developed are then shaped into substantive policy proposals.
- We also collaborate with other policy organisations, government and third sector bodies and trading companies where we find and can build shared interests.
CSPP21 is the successor organisation to the Centre for Scottish Public Policy which was a not-for-profit organisation; the CSPP itself grew out of the John Wheatley Centre, created in the 1990’s, so we have a 25 year track record of commenting on and influencing the direction of public policy in Scotland.