Elinor Ostrom is the intellectual hero of the community power movement. She humanised the study of economics and politics and discovered what is possible, and the problems that can be solved, when we trust each other. In this new piece of work, New Local’s Dr Simon Kaye explores her ideas, and presents their lessons for the UK today.
commons community power economics polycentricity
Published: October 2020 | Document ID: 183
Published: 2022
This discussion paper draws on learnings from Lead Local: Community-Driven Change and the Power of Collective Action, a collaborative effort funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. It shows how the power-building ecosystem works in practice, showcasing examples of state and local power-building organisations and campaigns nationwide and r…
Published: 2022
Over recent years, the principles and practice of community organising have proliferated across a range of organisations and sectors. Keen to understand the impact of community organising and its potential as a tool for communities to tackle local issues, Power to Change commissioned a piece of research in 2020 looking in-depth at the experienc…
Published: 2021
A new UK-US collaborative study examining vaccine engagement highlights the importance of tapping into local knowledge and leadership in efforts to improve Covid-19 vaccine take-up.
The research was funded by the British Academy, the Social Science Research Council, and the UK’s Science and Innovation Network in the&…
Published: 2021
This report looks at the role of community businesses which exist within the foundational economy (the range of goods and services that ensure places can function, and enables people in those places to thrive). With a focus on four places (Grimsby, Leeds, Leicester and Plymouth) this research offers insight into the democratising, empower…
Published: 2021
Social infrastructure can play an important role in supporting the levelling-up agenda in local areas. It creates institutions and physical spaces that foster personal relationships, civic engagement and social networks, leading to more cohesive and healthier societies.
Frontier Economics was commissioned by Local Trust to bring together exist…
Published: 2021
New concepts of community power have risen up the policy agenda during COVID-19. Communities have widely been seen as integral to meeting local needs and as having the capacity to respond rapidly to the pandemic. The idea of community power is often assumed, in policy terms, to be a universally beneficial force. However, this fails to address i…
Published: 2021
This report is about the practice of decision making in a resident-led, place-based programme. It explores the operation of power within decision making, how decisions are made, by and with whom and in what contexts.
It considers how particular ideas gather appeal, how some voices are heard more than others, and how beliefs in ‘the right way…
Published: 2021
Community spirit has flourished and community power has been realised during the pandemic. But as thinking turns to recovery and ‘building back better’, it is timely to think critically about how power operates within and between communities, and to consider what this might mean for its potential for transformation. In this briefing we look…
Published: 2021
The term community power captures a wide range of different practices, approaches and initiatives. Common to all of these is the principle that communities have knowledge, skills and assets which mean they themselves are well placed to identify and respond to any challenges that they face, and to thrive.
This report sets out the wealth of comm…
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