Shetland Partnership Network Meeting Tuesday 28th February 2023
Representatives of partner organisations of the Shetland Partnership Network held their first in person meeting since 2019, on Tuesday 28th February at Islesburgh.
The Shetland Partnership Network aims to help partners create a sense of shared ownership of community planning and to create a safe environment for open and honest conversations around the challenges and opportunities to tackle inequalities in Shetland. The Network brings together representatives of all community planning partners in Shetland and offers opportunities for information sharing, developing ideas and building relationships.
Due to the covid-19 pandemic and staffing changes over the past couple of years, meetings had been less regular. Partnership Officers from Shetland Islands Council’s Community Planning and Development team met with partners throughout 2022 to reconnect and gain their views on how the Network should work going forward.
Following feedback, Tuesday’s event was an introductory meeting with background information on the Shetland Partnership, the Network and how it works; including a chance for partner introductions to get to know each other again. There were opportunities for networking alongside interactive tasks and discussion. Representatives from partner organisations confirmed the Purpose of the Network, shared their organisation’s priorities, strengths and opportunities and looked at prioritising areas to work on together.
Representatives from eleven organisations took part. Comments highlighted that people enjoyed seeing each other in person again, reconnecting with partners and having a chance to have discussions in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. Partners were looking forward to future events on particular themes, testing data to see if partners are doing the right things, hearing project updates and finding solutions to issues, as well as learning more about and the individual work of partners.