In the latest episode of Placecast, Dr Nicola Headlam sits down with one of the UK’s most respected place‑based leaders: Kersten England, former Chief Executive of Bradford and York, Chair of the Young Foundation, and Co‑Investigator on the Yorkshire Policy Innovation Partnership (YPIP).
Across a rich, wide‑ranging conversation, Kersten reflects on her 30‑year career in local government, her early academic foundations, and the lessons she’s learned about building alliances, mobilising evidence, and rewiring the relationship between universities and place.
Placecast is a Local Policy Innovation Partnership (LPIP) Hub production based at City-REDI, University of Birmingham. Our new podcast is essential listening for those keen to explore the ins and outs of knowledge mobilisation for influence in central and local government, based on the view that it’s only through animating the power of place-based leadership that the wicked problems of 2026 can become more manageable.
Guest speakers
Kersten England CBE is the former Chief Executive of Bradford and York, Chair of the Young Foundation, and Co‑Investigator on the Yorkshire Policy Innovation Partnership (YPIP).
Passionate about building community, social justice, equality, diversity and healthy democratic practice, her career over four decades has included work in the voluntary and community sector, higher education, central government and more than 30 years in local government.
Host
Dr Nicola Headlam has over 20 years of experience working across all aspects of the multi-helix innovation system, including central and local government, civil society and campaigning, academic research and knowledge mobilisation, and industry. Along the way, she has honed her expertise in urban and regional subnational economic development, the roles of government in shaping place, and in utilising data and evidence for transformation.
In 2024, she became a freelance economic advisor on the role of leadership and partnerships, urban and living lab forms for research, future of cities and foresighting methods, urban transformations, place-branding and urban regeneration and the spatial consequences of public policy.
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Key themes and insights from the podcast
1. Lifelong Commitment to Place‑Based Impact
Kersten’s early academic activism in Southern Africa shaped her belief that research must matter to real communities. She consistently highlights the need for scholarship that drives tangible change.
2. Breaking Down Boundaries Between Sectors
A central theme is the necessity of collaboration between universities, local government, communities, and business. Kersten repeatedly stresses her instinct to disregard unhelpful institutional boundaries in favour of place outcomes.
3. The Power of Civic–Academic Collaboration
From Programme for a Peaceful City to Born in Bradford, Yorkshire’s history of university–local authority partnerships is a major thread. Kersten gives vivid examples of how such collaborations have shifted policy, attracted significant investment, and built long‑term capacity.
5. Precarity in Both Universities and Local Government
Kersten and Nicola discuss the shrinking capacity of local government and the precarious career structures in universities. This dual erosion of capability is a barrier to effective policy‑engaged research.
6. The Importance of Brokerage and Leadership
They explore what makes an effective knowledge broker and what good place leadership looks like. Kersten cites examples from Yorkshire, Bradford, South Yorkshire and beyond.
7. Challenges of Multi‑Level Governance in England
The conversation highlights England’s fragmented governance, contrasting it with more mature devolved systems in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. This fragmentation complicates attempts to scale place‑based innovation.
8. Community Resilience as a National Priority
Kersten’s “magic wand” wish is for a strengthened national and regional community‑resilience framework. She argues that England is insufficiently prepared for crises and needs better infrastructure for mutual aid, preparedness, and everyday resilience.
Transcript
Find out more about the Local Policy Innovation Partnership Hub.
Disclaimer:
The views expressed in this analysis post are those of the author and not necessarily those of City-REDI or the University of Birmingham.
Generative AI was used to summarise the transcript from the podcast to create the introduction and key points for the blog.