More than 6,300 assets are in community ownership in England today. This model plays an essential role in ensuring places are built on resilient entities and bringing benefit to those living locally. As well as improving service delivery and financial sustainability, community asset ownership has been found to reduce vacancy rates, enable ‘bottom-up’ regeneration, improve health and wellbeing, and support the reduction of harmful carbon emissions.
In partnership with Power to Change, the trust that backs community businesses in England, the Institute for Community Studies is delighted to present our May 2022 roundtable that brought together policymakers, community business leaders, researchers and sector experts to explore how asset ownership encourages communities to become more effective stewards in their places.
The event was chaired by Richard Harries, Associate Director of the Institute for Community Studies, with a panel discussion including:
- Kay Withers, Levelling Up Strategy Director, DLUHC
- Jess Steele OBE, Director, Jericho Road Solutions
- Dr Tom Archer, Research Fellow, Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research
In April 2021, the Institute for Community Studies was appointed as strategic research partner to Power to Change. We support their mission to strengthen community businesses to tackle some of society’s biggest challenges at a local level, including the three biggest challenges of our time: climate change, digital transformation and social inequalities.
Institute for Community Studies Posted on: 16 May 2022