7N, with partners BRE and Parsons Brinckerhoff, have just completed a design Charrette in Callander, which forms the second of the Scottish Government sponsored Scottish Sustainable Communities Initiative: Charrette Mainstreaming Programme.

It was an inspiring, exciting and exhausting five days in Callander, where the local community, together with statutory and agency stakeholders came out in force to formulate a plan for Callander’s future. Fuelled with hundreds of cups of tea, and armed with stacks of post-it notes, the community came together in a series of workshops, designed to help highlight the strengths of the town, the areas needing improvement; create an open forum for ideas and decide what the future vision for Callander will be. During the five days, the Charrette Team compiled all of this information into a comprehensive set of principles for future growth and an overall masterplan vision.

We would like to thank our fellow partners on the Charrette Team, BRE and Parsons Brinckerhoff, as well as the consultants who joined us with their expert input, Simpson & Brown Architects, Jura Consultants and Roger Tym & Partners. We would also like to thank the Callander Partnership for hosting the event, and most importantly, the Callander community, for throwing themselves whole-heartedly into the Charrette process. We have found it to be a hugely rewarding process, and hope that the community continue to keep the momentum and enthusiasm of the five days going as they move into the future.