Scottish Government ministers are to spend the summer touring the country seeking ideas on how to create a fairer and more equal Scotland.

The initiative will be launched in Coatbridge by cabinet secretary for social justice Alex Neil, who claimed it was a unique reversal of traditional politics.

We are not going out with a document and asking people to take it or leave it or amend it," he said "this is a blank sheet of paper and we are asking people to tell us what they think social justice should look like.

"For the last 50 years we have been talking about social justice in Scotland - but what do we mean and how do we want to achieve it."

Mr Neil said ministers including health secretary Shona Robison, finance secretary John Swinney and rural affairs secretary Richard Lochhead would be among those attending public meetings designed to build on the heightened public engagement of the referendum campaign and the backing for a social justice agenda achieved by the SNP in May's general election.

The results of this national discussion will feed into a social justice strategy to be developed towards the end of the year, designed to shape policy for the next 15 years.

John Downie of the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations backed the initiative but said it would only work if the views of the public were genuinely listened to.

"We want a Scotland that tackles poverty and equality and ministers are right that we need to change the current perspective. The Scottish Government can't do this on its own, and needs to reach into communities and engage people directly," he said. "But this initiative will succeed or fail based on whether they genuinely get out and engage with real people.

"Tackling poverty, health inequalities and inequality of opportunity will take two generations. If the Scottish Government is serious about this we need to see this policy shaping the spending review in the autumn," he added.

Sir Harry Burns, former Chief Medical Officer and now Professor of Global Public Health at Strathclyde University said he hoped the government would work with communities, rather than doing things to them.

"By meeting and listening to the marginalised and excluded people of Scotland, they will hear in raw detail what it's like to live with fear of violence, hunger, cold and addiction," he said. "If communities are genuinely involved in shaping solutions to their own problems, those solutions will be enduring and effective."

Peter Kelly, Director of The Poverty Alliance, commented: "Today's launch holds out the potential for a new approach to the problems of social injustice in Scotland."

Mr Neil said community-led discussions would take place the length and breadth of Scotland,with groups and individuals asked to set out their vision of a fairer Scotland and suggest practical ways to achieve it.

Voluntary organisations and public sectors, charities, councils, large and small businesses, trade unions will also play a pivotal role, he said.

"It is important that we are an open and accessible government," he added. "We want to tap into conversations many people and communities are already having throughout Scotland, rather than consult on whether or not people agree with a range of ready-made proposals.

"Conversations will take place across the country and online, including a series of events over the summer and autumn where people can discuss the issues that mean most to them. An action plan, with people and their priorities at its heart, will be published in the new year with milestones to the next Parliament and beyond to help us achieve our goals."