We've very excited to be working with @kinship.works on this exciting new project, supported by the @barrowcadbury.bsky.social.
People are innovating all around the ‘edges’ of the civic sphere and it's vital the centre learns from this knowledge and experience to improve the way we govern.
🎉 Announcing a new project today 🎉 A collaboration between Kinship Works and The Future Governance Forum, supported by Barrow Cadbury Trust @kinship.works @futuregovforum.bsky.social @barrowcadbury.bsky.social.
Mapping the energy at the edges to improve government
medium.com/@jamestplunk.... 1/n
A new post on the capabilities government needs to support the work of civic renewal. I share three insights. 1. This work doesn't scale, it spreads. 2. Don't go for speed, go for traction. 3. Use your power to hold space open. (1/n)
medium.com/@jamestplunk...
After years of crisis the UK needs a radical change of direction.
Our new Three Year Strategy aims to put FGF at the forefront of designing and sustaining a new vision for Britain - and will help our work transforming the state to renew the nation 🔽🔽🔽
futuregovforum.substack.com/p/transformi...
We liked the call for councils to be bold using approaches like co-production, participatory budgeting, and citizens’ assemblies - not as experiments, but as a “default way of working” in this report from @ippr.org for Local Trust
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We loved the recognition that some people see as shopping centres not just about retail - they are “integral parts of a neighbourhood’s social infrastructure”. Little wonder that the most successful turnarounds went beyond retail to revive the many mixed uses of these important spaces.
(2/2)
This report from Popular and ICON, sharing some wonderfully concrete case studies of ways people have turned around struggling local parades and arcades is worth getting a coffee (other beverages are available), a comfy seat and having a read.
(1/2)
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Most people won't talk about needing boring innovators but, in her response to @jamestplunkett.bsky.social's recent blog, @mssophiaparker.bsky.social calls for the "boring revolution"!
James' blog: medium.com/@jamestplunk...
Sophia's response: sophiaparker-241.medium.com/institutiona...
Off to Liverpool to see how the Citizen First incubator has been going. A trip to Anfield to hear what the entrepreneurs have been up to. What a treat! I wrote about these methods in this post:
medium.com/@jamestplunk...
Another quick share of this new post. 👇 On the capabilities required in government to make programmes like Pride in Place (and neighbourhood healthcare) a success.
We've been reading this from Place Matters on the infrastructure needed for community-led change. We loved the emphasis on the social & relational infrastructure that is needed for change to happen in a place - skills, leadership, relationships & coordination.
🔗 www.placematters.org...
🔔 NEW today from @kinship.works 🔔 Ending the institutional monoculture. How can we spread more diverse institutional forms across the public sector and civil society?
medium.com/@jamestplunk...
(1/n)
Next week, it's the 14th @transformgovtalks.bsky.social
Join us on Weds 25th, 6pm, MoJ/online, with:
- @liamhawkes.bsky.social & Violette Gadenne, CoLab, Home Office, on service design in a spending review
- @jamestplunkett.bsky.social @kinship.works on the energy at the edges
luma.com/q19znan6
A final Friday share of this new post, published this week. How do we activate citizen agency? Could we build an activation layer at the edges of public institutions? 👇
Excited to be finally giving a talk at TransformGov! 👏👇
NEW @kinship.works for @jrf-uk.bsky.social
Help us map the disciplines of civic renewal
- We know community-led approaches to reviving civic life (Big Local, etc) work
- But we lack understanding of disciplines/professional roles that enable it
What should we look at?
medium.com/kinship-work...
📰 We've been reading this post from Jessica Craig at Power to Change on the need for a new strategy for high streets - with loads of great links to relevant research and policy work.
We've been reading this excellent briefing from Professors Hannah Hesselgreaves & Chris Fox from @manmetuni.bsky.social, bringing together the latest thinking on relational public services & the changes to the state’s wiring that would be needed to bring this work to scale.
mmuperu.co.uk/wp-con...
📰 We've been reading this from David Robinson at Relationships Project with some sage advice for 2026. “It isn’t easy to make yourself big in some organisations, particularly large ones. It may even feel like an act of rebellion, but this is when it really matters.”
relationshipsproject...
Here James Plunkett gets specific about this process of activating the agency of citizens & keeps it practical by using a case study of one method, the Citizen First model developed by @publiclife.bsky.social that is currently running in Liverpool.
🔗 medium.com/@jamestpl...
(2/2)
The latest in a series we're publishing in which we make human and civic alternatives to bureaucracy more legible. You’ll often hear politicians say that communities are best placed to figure out their own solutions to problems. It’s a worthy sentiment, but it’s difficult to put into practice. (1/2)
📣 New today: How to activate the agency of citizens. 📣
A post exploring methods for activating citizenship, using a case study of the Citizen First model developed by @publiclife.bsky.social and currently running in the Liverpool City Region. 1/n
medium.com/@jamestplunk...
Green slide with text reading “Local Trust trusting local people” and “Civic rewilding: Applying the lessons from Big Local.” A report cover on the right shows illustrated trees, people, birds, and blocks under a sun, with text “CIVIC REWILDING: Applying the lessons from Big Local” and “A practical guide,” plus logos for Kinship Works, Local Trust, and The National Lottery Community Fund.
Green slide with the Local Trust logo and the heading “What did Big Local do?” Body text states, “Big Local followed the philosophy that with time, trust and resources, communities can develop the capacity to improve social outcomes for themselves,” with Kinship Works and National Lottery Community Fund logos.
Green slide with the Local Trust logo and the heading “How did Big Local do it?” Body text explains that long-term funding enabled holistic, relational, and preventative local action shaped by deep knowledge of local needs and assets, with Kinship Works and National Lottery Community Fund logos.
Green slide with the Local Trust logo and the heading “What does this mean for future investment in places?” Body text describes the approach as “civic rewilding,” creating conditions for organic, locally rooted civic life to grow, deepen, and spread, with Kinship Works and National Lottery Community Fund logos.
Did Big Local work?
Today, we’re sharing ‘Civic rewilding: Applying the lessons from Big Local’, produced with @kinship.works. The report tells the story of Big Local, reflecting on what it achieved over 15 years in 150 neighbourhoods across England, and how.
Read it here: https://bit.ly/49IGjqH
@kinship.works Really enjoyed this report - www.kinship.works/publications... - some real alignments with some things we're working on at @thecentriclab.com, thanks for putting it together and sharing the knowledge! ✊
Join us for our next event - 6pm, Wed 25 Feb, MoJ (SW1) & online
With:
- @liamhawkes.bsky.social & Violette Gadenne, CoLab, Home Office, on service design in a spending review
- @jamestplunkett.bsky.social @kinship.works on the energy at the edges - & how the centre can spread it
luma.com/q19znan6
Green graphic with the logo “Local Trust” and large text reading “Three phases to strengthen civic life and community-led renewal,” followed by “Based on James Plunkett’s analysis of the Big Local programme.” On the right is a black-and-white portrait of a man wearing glasses, with a right-pointing arrow and the “National Lottery Community Fund” logo in the bottom right.
Green slide with the logo text “Local Trust trusting local people” at top left and the heading “Phase 1: Protect local space.” Body text reads, “A programme carves out and protects local space in communities.” An icon of a hand holding a plant appears on the right, with the “National Lottery Community Fund” logo at the bottom right.
Green slide with the logo text “Local Trust trusting local people” at top left and the heading “Phase 2: The community instinct.” Body text reads, “Communities step into the space the programme has created, using the money and freedom to do work they care about.” An icon of three people held by two hands appears on the right, with the “National Lottery Community Fund” logo at the bottom right.
Green slide with the logo text “Local Trust trusting local people” at top left and the heading “Phase 3: Deepening and spreading.” Body text reads, “Over time, this work deepens and spreads beyond the immediate neighbourhood, influencing wider networks, institutions or movements.” An icon of an open book with arrows pointing outward appears on the right, with the “National Lottery Community Fund” logo at the bottom right.
Too many debates about what’s ‘broken’ in the UK focus on systems and institutions - not the people living with the consequences.
@jamestplunkett.bsky.social's latest blog draws on research on Big Local, highlighting what becomes possible when residents are trusted with time, resources and trust.
New post just out:
"Power to the People"
Today we have a guest post from @jamestplunkett.bsky.social on how Labour can counter the "Britain is Broken" narrative by investing in civic life and giving people more control over their community.
(Free to read)
open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/p...
New this week! The latest in our work mapping public sector reformers. 👏👏👏
@gavinfreeguard.bsky.social has pulled together the amazing responses we got to a shoutout before Christmas. He’s shared an update here: 1/n
medium.com/kinship-work...
A massive thank you to everyone who's so far contributed to our @kinship.works project, mapping where the communities interested in public sector reform are.
We've published a short update, but please keep sharing and adding (thank you!) medium.com/kinship-work...
Headline reflections:
📈 There was a lot of interest, but...
👎 We got a few things wrong...
👍 Our typology was broadly helpful, but...
🏢 Senior people inside government are vital...
🤔 There were mixed views on the private sector...
🌎 There’s a lot of international interest in this exercise
(2/2)