‘Today, amid the new neatness required by capital as it turns dirty old cities into presentable products and symbols, Dundee may find it lonely, and eerily quiet, at the top’.
Politics
MSPs miss the bigger picture
MSPs on finance committee debate the Scottish Budget: ‘Coming in the midst of the parliament’s 20th anniversary celebrations, this was not a good advert for parliamentary effectiveness in holding the government to account’.
Scottish local government: a geopolitical approach
In the latest of our series on local government and devolution, the head of the Cosla office in Brussels analyses whether a European model makes sense.
Greens take on far right
A green wave has swept over Europe (but not in Scotland)…lessons for the ‘big’ mainstream parties? Mobilise on the streets against racists/fascists…
What does the recent failure to improve Scotland’s productivity ranking tell us?
‘All in all, great care needs to be applied when making judgments comparing national productivity levels. As a result, choosing a shift in international rankings as a government policy target is probably unwise.’
Culture
Once more with feeling: rediscovering local history ‘from the ground up’
Change is a constant fact of city life but Fay Young finds a sense of place endures in a digital archive of local history, told by local people. ‘These Leithers – born or made – sound connected to a place that matters.’
Music education is learning for life: Part Four
Teenagers who are absorbed in healthy “passions” tend not to be causing trouble. Abi Rooley-Towle concludes her series on music education as a skill that extends far beyond academic box-ticking
Songs of Freedom: Music education 3
Part 3 of Abi’s series on music education: ‘If the early years are the roots of the ‘musical learning tree’, then this next stage develops the all important stem, where unconscious and conscious intellectual learning begin to blend together’.
Teaching music to young children with body and soul: Part 2
We all have a voice, Abi Rooley Towle describes how children’s education can benefit by introducing song from the earliest years.