Tag: Community engagement

Join us for this member exclusive Lunch and Learn session focused on how different councils are working in neighbourhood focused ways. We’ve spent the last few months working with member […]

24th October, 2025

Community engagement • Neighbourhood • Place

Building trust and lasting relationships between councils and communities across a place starts with genuine engagement—bringing staff and local stakeholders together to listen, learn, and co-produce solutions is a vital […]

16th September, 2025

Community engagement • Participation and co-production

Nicol McConnell on Sunderland City Council’s work towards making Sunderland a fully digitally inclusive city.

2nd July, 2025

Community engagement • Community Voices • Digital • Sunderland City Council

This member-exclusive Innovation Explored focuses on how place shaping could look for your council and the benefits of this way of working both for colleagues and for communities.

24th June, 2025

Community engagement • Place building • Place shaping • Regeneration

At this event we will talk through our latest research report, Where People Meet: How We Celebrate, Sustain and Reimagine Community Centres. Following the launch of the report, we would like […]

8th May, 2025

Community assets • Community centres • Community engagement

Community centres have long stood as pillars of local life, but we are losing these spaces at pace and at scale. Summer Simpson explores why this matters.

7th May, 2025

Community assets • Community engagement • Community Power • Health and social care

This report sets out the vital role that community centres play in local areas and makes the case for investing in their future.

7th May, 2025

Community assets • Community engagement • Community Power • Local government

This member-exclusive Innovation Explored explores how bringing systems leaders together connects services and improves outcomes for residents.

29th April, 2025

Community Cohesion • Community engagement

Alice Black, Sophie Taylor and Sue Sheehan explain how the London Borough of Camden is embracing neighbourhood ways of working.

22nd April, 2025

Community engagement • Community Power • Local government • Strategy and leadership

Bridging the digital divide is essential for local authorities striving to create inclusive and thriving communities.

18th March, 2025

Community engagement • Digital

Join us for this member exclusive Lunch and Learn session focused on how to impactfully use participatory budgeting to engage with your communities. We’ve spent the last few months […]

12th March, 2025

Community engagement • Impact • Participatory Budgeting

Tackling empty homes in the UK is a critical step toward addressing the housing crisis and revitalizing communities.

27th February, 2025

Community engagement • Housing • Regeneration

This member-exclusive Innovation Explored explores building community cohesion to help communities and places thrive.

28th January, 2025

Community Cohesion • Community engagement

How do we tell better stories? Use data intelligently? Connect with diverse communities? Counter misinformation? Community-powered councils require a different kind of communications. Join New Local for our first workshop […]

6th December, 2024

Communications • Community engagement

Neighbourhood ways of working are being considered by many councils as a way to bring them closer to their communities.

4th December, 2024

Community engagement • Neighbourhood

This member-exclusive Innovation Explored explores explores different approaches of democratic working that local authorities have used and see the impact it has had on their relationships with their communities

28th November, 2024

Community engagement • Democratic engagement

At this event we will talk through our latest research report, Constructing Consensus: The case for community-powered development and regeneration. Unblocking the planning system is a top national priority, and […]

22nd November, 2024

Community engagement • Planning • Regeneration

Bridging the digital divide is essential for local authorities striving to create inclusive and thriving communities. Addressing digital literacy challenges empowers individuals to better access opportunities and engage with local […]

11th November, 2024

Community engagement • Digital

Caroline Wilson, Director of Inclusive Economy and Jobs at Islington Borough Council, explains how the council’s approach to community wealth building has emerged and deepened, how it’s helping to tackle inequalities, and how it touches the lives of people...

11th November, 2024

Community engagement • Community Power • Economy and business • Local government

At this event we will talk through our latest research report, Constructing Consensus: The case for community-powered development and regeneration. Following the launch of the report, we would like to […]

7th November, 2024

Community engagement • Planning • Regeneration

This member-exclusive Innovation Explored explores long term investment in prevention and working in different ways in partnership across local systems of public services and voluntary sector organisations

25th October, 2024

Community engagement • Prevention

We put Hal Khanom in our ‘How We Did It’ hot seat to hear how the London Borough of Barnet has developed its equalities strategy, A Fairer Barnet.

17th October, 2024

Community engagement • Community Power • Equality • Local government • Strategy and leadership

Working towards a fairer share of wealth across a locality helps bind communities together and gives the impetus to help drive forward the local economy.

15th October, 2024

Community engagement • Community-led • wealth building

Creating a strategy that is shaped by frontline services as well as those accessing them is vital for local authorities.

17th September, 2024

Community engagement • Equality • Public Services

This member-exclusive Innovation Explored explores community-powered methods to put residents at the heart of budgeting decisions and how to shift to more open dialogue about what stretched finances mean for services.

13th September, 2024

Budgeting • Community engagement • Local government • Strategy and leadership

By listening to and valuing the insights of communities, the public sector can build better services, improve outcomes and use limited resources more wisely. But what are the essential ingredients for effective collaboration? And how can you overcome barriers...

14th August, 2024

Collaboration • Community engagement • Community Power • Local government • Public Services • Wellbeing

New Local worked with the newly formed Westmorland and Furness Council to develop a vision, strategic approach and delivery plan to put communities at the heart of its operating model.

12th August, 2024

Community engagement • Community Power • Local government • Strategy and leadership

Kath O'Dwyer has spent the last 40 years making her mark in public service, most lately as the chief executive of St Helens Council. Picking questions at random, she talks life outside work, inspirational quotes, and why she's a...

22nd July, 2024

Community engagement • Leadership • Leadership Lucky Draw • Local government • Northern England • Strategy and leadership

Tackling inequalities within communities is a vital issue for all local authorities. But often equalities strategies do not deliver for residents in a way that they expect or need. How […]

22nd July, 2024

Community engagement • Equality • Public Services

Sometimes even the most well-meaning idea can be turned into a source of polarisation and anger. How can deliberative and consensus-building approaches be used to take the heat out of public discourse? Five changemakers share their insights.

22nd July, 2024

Community Cohesion • Community engagement • Community Power • Stronger Things 2024

Councils have long aspired to engage residents in hyper-local decisions and collaboration through local democratic structures like Area Forums. There are great examples out there, but amidst a huge trust […]

18th July, 2024

Community engagement • Democratic engagement

Maximising and building a strong local economy is essential to help communities thrive. Councils can use economic levers and work with their communities, anchor institutions and businesses to help drive forward […]

18th July, 2024

Community engagement • Community-led • wealth building

Real-time data is a powerful tool for councils. Throughout the life cycle of a project, data can show what works and what doesn’t, leading to better decision making and improved outcomes.

10th July, 2024

Community engagement • Community Power

For many councils, area forums are at the heart of democratic engagement. But despite nobel intentions, some have drifted away from their purpose. How do we reimagine them?

1st July, 2024

Area Forums • Community engagement • Devolution and reorganisation • Practice work • Strategy and leadership

This member-exclusive Innovation Explored explores the importance of collaboration with communities in planning and development

25th June, 2024

Community engagement • Planning • Regeneration

Our latest research project has focused on exploring Community powered regeneration. The project is in partnership with Browne Jacobson and Local Partnerships. We have been exploring how the current approach […]

11th June, 2024

Community engagement • Planning • Regeneration

11th June, 2024

Community engagement • Planning • Regeneration

On local election day we're celebrating some of the many ways councils are transforming their places with the help of community power.

2nd May, 2024

Community engagement • Community Power • Democracy • Local government • Politics

Labour lacks a strategy for a public sector under unprecedented pressure. The solution can be found on the frontline, says Adam Lent.

8th April, 2024

Community engagement • Community Power • Local government • Politics • Public Services

Adam Lent reflects on New Local’s fourth Radical Leadership session with local government leaders.

4th April, 2024

Community engagement • Community Power • Culture • Leadership • Local government • Public Services • Strategy and leadership

This member-exclusive Innovation Explored takes a look at how councils can develop their focus on community wellbeing.

4th April, 2024

Community engagement • Community Power • Local government • Measurement and Evaluation • Public Services • Wellbeing

Mari Roberts-Wood, Managing Director at Reigate and Banstead Council tells us about what makes the council unique and what you can expect to find along Banstead’s majestic Narnia Trail (complete with a lion, a witch and a wardrobe).

27th March, 2024

Community engagement • Community Power • Health and social care • Local government

Summer Simpson speaks to Lucy Colbeck, programme manager at Playing Out, about the benefits of street play for local communities, growing support for the movement in local and central government, why residents should stay in the driving seat and...

26th March, 2024

Community Cohesion • Community engagement • Community Power • Community-led • Local government • Wellbeing

From giving residents a blank sheet to determine the council’s priorities, to making statutory consultation processes interactive and fun, Test Valley Borough Council is pushing the envelope on community engagement.

20th March, 2024

Community engagement • Community Power • Local government • Public Services • Strategy and leadership

New Local’s senior practice lead Catriona Maclay explains how Barnet Council is supporting staff to embed community power across the borough and shares six lessons from the journey so far.

11th March, 2024

Community engagement • Community Power • Local government

Jo Fitzpatrick and Jim Leyland explain how Wakefield Council had a Big Conversation with residents, training 100 ‘conversationalists’ to have over 1,300 face-to-face conversations with people across the district to find out what they like about their area and...

4th March, 2024

Community engagement • Community Power • Health and social care • Local government • Public Services

28th February, 2024

Community engagement • Community Power

New Local's senior practice lead Catriona Maclay explains how Wealden District Council is charting its path to community power using transparent, collaborative self-evaluation.

6th February, 2024

Community engagement • Community Power • Local government • Practice work

Eleanor Brown shares three lessons from piloting designing thinking at Enfield Council, and makes the case for problem solving from the outside in.

1st February, 2024

Community engagement • Local government • Public Services

A former secretary of state is calling for Total Place style pooled budgets as the best use of public spending when there is no financial quick fix for public services. […]

31st January, 2024

Community engagement • Devolution and reorganisation • Health and social care • Local government • Local government finance • Place-based budgets • Public Services