Reports and research

Transformers: How local areas innovate to address changing social needs

1 January 2008 | Authors:

Innovation in public services is going to prove crucial to the UK’s ability to meet the social challenges of the 21st century. However, historically, the UK does a poor job of developing innovations in the public sector. We are particularly

Ward councillors and community leadership: A future perspective

1 November 2007 | Authors:

This report explores the findings from a study for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation by the Young Foundation and Local Government Information Unit. In 2007 when this report was released, the role ward councillors were expected to play in community leadership

Making the most of local innovations

1 November 2007 | Authors:

Making the most of local innovations – What makes places innovative and how local innovations can be best exploited’ is an interim report introducing the Young Foundation and Nesta research project about local social innovation and what makes places innovative.

Transforming Neighbourhoods: Lessons from Local Work in Fifteen Areas

1 October 2007 | Authors:

For many years, there has been increased political focus – both in Whitehall and in local government – on the need to boost opportunities for residents, both as individuals and collectively, to influence what happens in the local areas in

In and out of sync: The challenge of growing social innovations

1 September 2007 | Authors: Geoff Mulgan, Rushanara Ali,

This publication aims to provide a theoretically and empirically grounded guide for the many people involved in social innovation: innovators, funders, policy-makers and commissioners. It draws on a growing body of research on patterns of growth, and distills its conclusions

Improving Small Scale Grant Funding

15 July 2007 | Authors: Louisa Thomson,

A discussion paper, supported by The Office for Civil Society (previously referred to as The Office of the Third Sector at the time this publication was released), that brings together both domestic and international evidence to guide decisions on how

Good Neighbours

5 July 2007 | Authors:

The “Strong and Prosperous Communities – 2006 White Paper” outlined central government’s commitment to localism and community empowerment. At the time, many housing associations were not working in close collaboration with local authorities and Local Strategic Partnerships (LSPs) despite the

Why involve and what are the outcomes? The duty to involve for best value authorities

5 June 2007 | Authors:

This briefing was commissioned by the Department for Communities and Local Government to inform the development of the “Duty to Involve” – a duty which which was set to be launched in April 2008 for local authorities to work under.

Contentious citizens: Civil society’s role in campaigning for social change

1 May 2007 | Authors: Kate Lalor, Paul Hilder,

This paper traces the story of campaigning for progressive social change from its origins in the late eighteenth century through to the present day, analysing a range of British campaigns from “The Chartist movement” to “Make Poverty History, and international

Social Innovation: what it is, why it matters, how it can be accelerated

1 March 2007 | Authors: Ben Sanders, Geoff Mulgan, Rushanara Ali, Simon Tucker,

This report examines how social innovation happens in NGOs, the public sector, movements, networks and markets. It presents an analysis of the history, the theory and the process, paving a way for social innovation to play an increasingly significant role

Parliamentary Inquiry into the Role of Councillors

1 March 2007 | Authors:

This paper draws together evidence from the Transforming Neighbourhoods programme and research for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation about the role of elected members in neighbourhood working and how this role is likely to change as neighbourhood working becomes more embedded

Cities in Transition: Global exchange forum report

22 December 2006 | Authors:

The question of how we live together under conditions of rapid demographic change and economic and social transformation is at the very heart of thinking about cities today. We believe that only by waking up to the true potential of