Image courtesy of Perth & Kinross Countryside Trust
Cateran’s Common Wealth will use one of Scotland’s hidden gems, the Cateran Trail, as a stage for a multi-year programme of diverse arts, cultural and heritage activities and events aimed at inspiring people to think about and celebrate our ‘common wealth’.
The original phrase “the common-wealth” or “the common weal” dates from the 15th century and comes from the old meaning of wealth, which is well-being. Today it defines the things that belong to all of us: the biosphere on which we all depend; our cultural heritage and history; public infrastructure like the judicial system and the internet. Some are bestowed to us by nature; others are the product of co-operative human creativity, some are entirely new (think of Wikipedia), others are centuries old (like our language, our skills in managing the land, our myths and our musical traditions).
All these and more are examples of assets we hold ‘in common’. Each forms part of a dynamic combination of laws, relationships, values, cultures, and commitments – interdependencies that are present in all our communities which enable us to live and work.
The Cateran Trail itself exemplifies this ‘common wealth’ and the people who live and work around the Trail and the many visitors who spend time in this beautiful part of Scotland enjoy its abundance.
Each of the activities and events in the Cateran’s Common Wealth programme will be designed to offer new insights into these valuable assets and their importance in creating a more liveable world.
Our hope is that by harnessing the perpetual physical presence of the Cateran Trail, together with the ancient metaphorical power inherent in pathwalking and path making, this new project will act as a catalyst to involve, engage and inspire residents and visitors alike in revaluing this shared inheritance and find new ways to sustain it for future generations.
“a proper community … is a common wealth: a place, a resource, an economy. It answers the needs, practical as well as social and spiritual, of its members – among them the need to need one another.” Wendell Berry