Inclusive and Sustainable Local Economic Performance: What Place-Based Leaders can do Next

Jamie Ounan calls for local authorities to lead economic transformation through mission-based approaches—focusing on bold, long-term goals, collaboration, and aligning resources to community needs—to achieve fairer, greener, and more inclusive local economies. If you’re a Chief Executive in a Local Authority or Combined Authority right now, you’re in the driving seat for a generational opportunity … Continue reading “Inclusive and Sustainable Local Economic Performance: What Place-Based Leaders can do Next”

Putting the Local in Local Growth Plans

Jessica Craig from Power to Change writes about how government and combined authorities can foster inclusive growth through the social economy. The Labour Government took power with a central mission of accelerating growth and tackling declining living standards. A little over a year on from the election, there’s now a more established roadmap to attaining … Continue reading “Putting the Local in Local Growth Plans”

Beyond Benchmarks: Reflections from Regional Studies Association Conference Session on Culture, Communities and Infrastructure in Place-Based Policy

At the recent RSA session “Culture, Communities and Infrastructure: Building Capacity, Capability and Confidence in Place,” Dr Sara Hassan and Professor Abi Gilmore brought together a group of researchers, engagement and knowledge exchange managers to explore exactly this question. Co-convened by colleagues at the University of Birmingham and drawing on the research of the UKRI … Continue reading “Beyond Benchmarks: Reflections from Regional Studies Association Conference Session on Culture, Communities and Infrastructure in Place-Based Policy”

Why Power and Privilege Matters: Key Considerations for Meaningful Community Engagement

Carly Walker-Dawson discusses how to achieve meaningful community engagement by acknowledging and addressing power imbalances to build trust, value lived experience, and foster equitable, inclusive participation. When doing community engagement – as academics, policy makers or practitioners – we often think or say that we’re equals with the communities we’re working with. But we’re not. … Continue reading “Why Power and Privilege Matters: Key Considerations for Meaningful Community Engagement”

People, Place and Value: British Academy Innovation Fellowship Within the LPIP Hub

Victoria Barker discusses her BA Fellowship, which looks at community engagement with cultural infrastructures and policy. As a researcher whose interests sit at the intersection of arts, humanities, social sciences and policy, I have long been interested in the different kinds of value that are created and celebrated by the cultural and creative sector, and … Continue reading “People, Place and Value: British Academy Innovation Fellowship Within the LPIP Hub”

TAF/EDF Project – An Introduction

Reen Blake-Carr introduces the TAF/EDF project, highlighting key themes—evaluation setup, innovative use of place-based data, and effective dissemination—as essential for impactful, place-sensitive policy interventions across the UK. The Evaluation Development Fund (EDF) and the Trial Accelerator Fund (TAF) are both funding streams from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) designed to evaluate interventions aimed at spreading … Continue reading “TAF/EDF Project – An Introduction”

Putting the ‘Policy’ into Local Policy and Innovation Partnership: Political Engagement and Cymru Wledig LPIP Rural Wales

In a previous blog, we noted the success of a visit to Westminster in January 2025, where MPs, Members of the House of Lords, and parliamentary representatives met with Professor Michael Woods (Director) and me (Rhian Curtis, Engagement Officer), as we presented Cymru Wledig LPIP Rural Wales. At the time, we were excited at the … Continue reading “Putting the ‘Policy’ into Local Policy and Innovation Partnership: Political Engagement and Cymru Wledig LPIP Rural Wales”

The Evolving Art of Place Leadership

In this blog, Sam Markey emphasises the transformative power of collaborative governance, strategic public procurement, and place-based impact investment in driving local renewal and prosperity amidst economic and social challenges. We live in an era of profound change. The erosion of the post-war order, coupled with economic upheaval and ongoing pressure on public finances, presents … Continue reading “The Evolving Art of Place Leadership”

The Role of Felt Experiences in Advancing People-Centred, Place-Based Approaches

We are delighted to share the latest report from the Arts and Humanities Research Council’s Place Programme with our colleagues at the Local Policy Innovation Partnership (LPIP) Hub. The report engages with one of the key themes for the LPIPs: felt experiences and pride in place and puts them into the context of how we … Continue reading “The Role of Felt Experiences in Advancing People-Centred, Place-Based Approaches”

Students Take on Sustainability Challenge with Data at University of Sheffield Hackathon

The Yorkshire & Humber Office for Data Analytics (YHODA) – one of the Yorkshire Policy Innovation Partnership’s (YPIP) work packages focused on tackling regional data challenges – recently played a role in the Data and Design Hackathon 2025, hosted at the University of Sheffield and organised by a multidisciplinary team based at the Faculty of … Continue reading “Students Take on Sustainability Challenge with Data at University of Sheffield Hackathon”