SCOTLAND could become top of the pops if plans for the world’s first sustainable soft drink bear fruit.

It is hoped the project can also put the fizz back into Dunoon which was once home to a thriving soft drinks industry.

From the late 1800s right through to the 1970s, the town was sparkling with the energy of the trade until it was hit by the rise of the supermarkets.

Now it is the scene of what is hoped will be a soda revival after a new creative partnership secured funding to launch a soft drink brand called Dunoon Goes Pop.

It is one of three projects selected to be supported by the Place Makers: Micro-cluster Networks Fund, run by Culture Heritage and Arts Argyll and Isles (Charts), in partnership with the Innovation School at The Glasgow School of Art.

Described as a cultural heritage project, Dunoon Goes Pop is a collaboration between Hannah Clinch of locally based design agency Tacit-Tacit, local illustrator Walter Newton and heritage innovation expert Manda Forster of DigVentures.

“Securing this Place Makers: Micro-cluster Networks Fund from Charts is not just a vote of confidence in the project but a vital step in providing the support we need to make Dunoon ‘go pop’ again,” said Clinch.

“Scotland has a complex relationship with pop and we are interested in exploring these tensions, learning more about the industry and figuring out if it is possible to build an ethical soft drinks business in our town.”

She pointed out that for over 100 years a soft drinks factory had thrived in Dunoon as the town expanded rapidly with the advent of steam powered transport and wealth generated through global commodities trading.

The carbonation technology needed to make and bottle soft drinks was developed in Europe in the 1850s. These processes were understood by pharmacists who made up health remedies using a wide range of technical equipment and ingredients.

One of them was Dunoon-based George Stirling who seized on the technology to make his “Aerated Waters” which were sold throughout the town and surrounding areas to visitors and locals seeking refreshment and an alternative to alcohol.

His eldest son, also called George, carried on the trade and built a drinks factory, which boasted a steam powered carbonation plant, just off Dunoon’s main shopping street.

The factory survived two world wars and a company buy-out by Glasgow based Dunns. It finally closed in the 1970s as the centralisation of food manufacturing and distribution systems, linked to the rise of the supermarket, reduced the viability of small scale food manufacturing operations.

These shifts in food buying culture also hastened the demise of glass bottles being refilled and resold as they were replaced by the environmentally toxic, single use plastic bottles used widely today.

The Dunoon Goes Pop project will now work with Zero Waste Scotland and Business Gateway to look at the viability of bringing a sustainable soft drinks business back to the town.

“Our goal with Dunoon Goes Pop is to use this enterprise heritage to inform the development of a new brand of locally made soft drinks for, and with, our community,” said Clinch.

The other projects to gain the awards are Eco Creatives Cluster which is establishing a creative community network around a community dye garden in the grounds of the Rockfield Centre, a newly refurbished culture and heritage venue, and Take Flight, an arts programme led by the SO:AR artist collective to introduce regular arts experiences on Jura, linking with communities on other islands.