How can community power unlock our fraught planning system?

21st October, 2024


Matthew China, Policy, Insight and Communications Manager at Wealden District Council tells us about Wealden’s ambition to become a community-powered council, how it’s building on strong foundations to take on the challenges of the future, and some of the...

10th September, 2024


How can councils turn town centre buildings into vibrant community-led hubs that benefit local people and strengthen the local economy?

2nd December, 2022


As MPs return to Parliament, and in the wake of an economic orthodoxy overhaul, Polly Lord examines the ‘tragedy of the commons’ phenomenon - arguing that the real tragedy lies in the assumptions made at Westminster and the failure...

7th October, 2022


Ideas and reflections on the challenges of: Developing a simple narrative that is owned by partners and communities, not just the council, and reflects the diversity of voices and experiences in the place; Making the narrative meaningful in practice and...

19th May, 2022


How can we measure long-term change in an area? Lily O’Flynn shares tools and advice for evaluating place-based change.

16th May, 2022


5 lessons from 15 years of supporting better outcomes by developing effective place-based partnerships.

25th March, 2022


Vidhya Alakeson looks at how to create social, not just commercial town centre spaces.

25th November, 2021


The right narrative or story can make the difference in creating change. How can you develop them? Bonnie Hewson of Power to Change shares some inspiring examples from communities.

9th September, 2021


A quarter of the buildings on Plymouth's Union Street were standing empty until local residents decided to do something about it. Now they've taken over four - bringing hope, jobs, money and fun to an area that felt the...

2nd July, 2021


The Community Ownership Fund announced in the budget is designed to help communities buy local assets. Power to Change’s Nick Plumb looks at the difference that community ownership can make and how to make the new fund a success.

23rd March, 2021


How to create a sense of shared purpose and navigate each partner's different objectives and cultures.

9th November, 2020


The paper identifies five pillars that need to form the centre piece of any approach: economic resilience, public sector resilience, community resilience, environmental resilience and workforce resilience.

12th October, 2020


A new Government White Paper envisages radical reform for planning. But, while it hints at a community-led approach, it also sets rules and targets to be imposed by national government. John Myers of the YIMBY Alliance sets out how...

6th August, 2020


‘Place transformation’ has become a well-used term, as the principles underpinning the positive transformation of place are becoming better understood and established. But does this mean we know what it is or how to deliver it? Place transformation needs...

11th May, 2020


On 14 February, Camden Council is celebrating Valentine’s Day in a rather disruptive way. 130 people from across the country and from a range of organisations are coming together in our borough to talk about love in public services....

14th February, 2020


Elizabeth Mitchell explains how Manchester City Council is creating a more inclusive city.

11th February, 2020


How does the design of the places we live, work and play shape our health and sense of belonging?

29th October, 2019


Woefully low levels of productivity in the UK have been observed for a number of years now. Data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) shows that UK GDP output per worker is 16.6% below the combined G7 nations...

16th July, 2018


As the dust settles on the local elections, newly elected councillors will be getting to work tackling what is, by now, an old problem. How do local authorities continue to deliver high quality services that meet residents’ expectations, in...

4th June, 2018


Exploring how councils are approaching inclusive growth in practice.

29th November, 2017


NLGN’s recent Place-based Health conference brought together many experts in local and national healthcare to discuss the need to move away from reactive health services, towards holistic, place-based systems – and the practical changes needed to make this happen....

6th April, 2017


In recent years, the word ‘place’ has become a bit of a buzzword in the local government sector. Terms like ‘place-leadership’, ‘place-branding’ and ‘place-building’ are now ubiquitous in strategy documents and comms plans – used to imply a more...

27th March, 2017


At Essex County Council we are passionate about making a positive contribution to the lives of Essex residents and businesses. It is what we exist for. The qualities of the places around us play an important role in our...

23rd March, 2017


Local government faces a funding gap of £5.8 billion by 2019/20. At the launch of NLGN’s latest research report Tomorrow’s Places, Theo Blackwell, Councillor at LB Camden, stated “Technology will help us balance the books if we do it...

22nd March, 2017


Few would deny the need for change, or even what needs to happen to improve our care system. From reaction to prevention, services to systems and institutions, to people and place, the theory is there. But how do we...

14th February, 2017


Having announced the fact of the Industrial Strategy almost as soon as she assumed office, this week we finally got the first proper detail of the centrepiece of the May Government’s domestic economic strategy. That the devo-ally Greg Clark...

23rd January, 2017


Many cities offer people tangible opportunities for discovering economic security for themselves and their families. And some of the world’s largest cities offer the greatest opportunities if they are to produce the correct blend of economic advantage, diversity and inclusion....

14th September, 2016


This final report moves the debate into practical territory by focussing on actions rather than structures, and the wider resources of places rather than the organisational boundaries of institutions.

17th March, 2016


New research from two leading local government think tanks has found that whilst 93% of local councils are reporting cuts to street scene and public realm budgets there is still and urgent need for councils to adopt different approaches...

4th September, 2015


In November 2014, NLGN held a roundtable discussion in partnership with Tata Consultancy Services to consider the role of local authorities in investing and developing local skills. The discussion brought together senior executives from the economic development sector and...

9th February, 2015


This collection provides an overview of what this new spirit of collaboration has achieved thus far, and looks ahead to how the new combined authorities could develop in coming years. With both the Conservatives and Labour now committed to...

12th June, 2014