Kinship Works

👓 Our recent reading has included "Collective stupidity is a security threat", in which Geoff Mulgan makes a compelling case for ‘cognitive rearmament’ - strengthening our ability to think well together as a society, in the face of growing threats. 📰

We've recently been reading "Good growth in every postcode needs power in every community" from Power to Change We liked the emphasis on community ownership as a way to create regenerative cycles of wealth in an area, as opposed to more extractive business models. 📰

We enjoyed working with the communities policy team at @jrf-uk.bsky.social on our recent 'Meet the Menders' work and recommend their recent report, Essential but Unequal. 📖 www.jrf.org.uk/neighbourhoo...

Some weekend reading for you: Meet the Menders: Our social fabric is frayed, so who’s fixing it? Summary by @jamestplunkett.bsky.social endstate.substack.com/p/meet-the-m... Full @kinship.works report supported by @jrf-uk.bsky.social menders.kinship.works

Read the report online here: menders.kinship.works With thanks to the brilliant policy team working on community @jrf-uk.bsky.social for supporting the work.

Our social fabric is frayed, so who’s fixing it? Big launch @kinship.works today! We are publishing a major new report, Meet the Menders, in which we map the disciplines of civic renewal. I’ve shared all the info here: lnkd.in/p/erATC_n9

📰 What we've been reading Governance 101 for Community Assets from Platform Places - a practical guide to legal structures and governance for community ownership of assets, full of stories from the field.

🔥 New today 🔥 The first publication from The Marshall Plan for Civic Life 👇 Today @kinship.works and @demos-uk.bsky.social have published a Discussion Paper to open a conversation about how to fund a decade of civic renewal. marshall-plan.netlify.app (1/n)

💬 New discussion paper | The Marshall Plan for Civic Life How do we fund civic renewal at the scale Britain needs? Today, Demos and @kinship.works launch the first discussion paper in the Marshall Plan for Civic Life, exploring the financing mechanisms we need to rebuild civic life.

Polly McKenzie @kinship.works: How To Save The British High Street @powertochange.org.uk | @financialtimes.com (SubReq) www.ft.com/content/f438...

📰 What we've been reading This resource hub on neighbourhood governance from the We’re Right Here campaign (complete with some lovely animations), supported by Local Trust and Power to Change

📰 What we've been reading A Nation of Neighbours from UCL Policy Lab and Demos, arguing that national renewal will not come from Westminster alone but from communities rebuilding connection, trust, and resilience from the ground up.

📰 What we've been reading The new high street playbook from Power to Change We loved the idea of the ‘civic high street’ - high streets as places not just for retail, and destined for decline, but also for care, learning, enterprise, culture, and connection.

This wonderful keynote address from David Robinson of Relationships Project makes a stirring case that relationships are the foundation of everything that matters. He throws down a challenge to the movement to go beyond being rebels to become “the soul of the system”. relationshipsproject...

I've written a new post exploring a fascinating turn in education reform. After a period in which there was pressure for ever narrower approaches to education, today's pioneers are advocating for a holistic model, with schools at the centre of a thriving civic life. (1/n) medium.com/@jamestplunk...

🎙️ Demos Chief Executive, Polly Curtis, spoke to BBC Radio 4's #TodayinParliament on what effective devolution should look like for communities across Britain, spotlighting Demos's new joint research initiative with @kinship.works: A Marshall Plan for Civic Life.

🔥 New today 🔥 Can a new style of political leadership unlock the energy at the edges? As Andy Burnham rises to the Premiership, I've written an essay exploring the value of a more enabling style of political leadership. (1/n) medium.com/@jamestplunk...

We've published a call for proposals for a platform at the heart of a new piece of work: a public-facing map where anyone can submit a building they love & are worried about, explore what's happening across the country & find out what their community can actually do. docs.google.com/document/d/1...

We found this article from Nicholas Mortimer - responding to our work on the Centre for the Edge - an interesting and thought-provoking read. 🔗 medium.com/@newmortis/w...

We & Demos have a major programme of research & deliberation to develop a new funding settlement for civic renewal in Britain. We're holding a webinar (Thur 9 Jul @ 09:30) to introduce the programme, share early thinking & open the conversation.

We & Demos have a major programme of research & deliberation to develop a new funding settlement for civic renewal in Britain. We're holding a webinar (Thur 9 Jul @ 09:30) to introduce the programme, share early thinking & open the conversation.

We & Demos have a major programme of research & deliberation to develop a new funding settlement for civic renewal in Britain. We're holding a webinar (Thur 9 Jul @ 09:30) to introduce the programme, share early thinking & open the conversation.

We & Demos have a major programme of research & deliberation to develop a new funding settlement for civic renewal in Britain. We're holding a webinar (Thur 9 Jul @ 09:30) to introduce the programme, share early thinking & open the conversation.

We & Demos have a major programme of research & deliberation to develop a new funding settlement for civic renewal in Britain. We're holding a webinar (Thur 9 Jul @ 09:30) to introduce the programme, share early thinking & open the conversation.

We & Demos have a major programme of research & deliberation to develop a new funding settlement for civic renewal in Britain. We're holding a webinar (Thur 9 Jul @ 09:30) to introduce the programme, share early thinking & open the conversation.

We & Demos have a major programme of research & deliberation to develop a new funding settlement for civic renewal in Britain. We're holding a webinar (Thur 9 Jul @ 09:30) to introduce the programme, share early thinking & open the conversation.

We & Demos have a major programme of research & deliberation to develop a new funding settlement for civic renewal in Britain. We're holding a webinar (Thur 9 Jul @ 09:30) to introduce the programme, share early thinking & open the conversation.

🚨 Upcoming Webinar | A Marshall Plan for Civic Life Join Demos and @kinship.works as we introduce the newly launched Marshall Plan for Civic Life. 📅 Join us on 9 July at 9:30am 📺 Online webinar 📌 Free tickets and more info ⬇️ www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/a-marshall...

We & @demos-uk.bsky.social have a major programme of research & deliberation to develop a new funding settlement for civic renewal in Britain. We're holding a webinar (Thur 9 Jul @ 09:30) to introduce the programme, share early thinking & open the conversation. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/a-marshall...

We welcome this input into the space of community power from Rt Hon Steve Reed OBE MP the Secretary of State for HCLG. It speaks to a lot of the wider work we've been doing and that @jamestplunkett.bsky.social has been convening. 👉 www.newlocal.org.uk/articles/com...

This is really good from @kinship.works and @richardpope.org . A shame that it has to exist outside of the NHS domain instead of being hosted by NHS Digital itself. operatingpatterns.org

Published today with @kinship.works NHS Operating Patterns - Ways to do good work together, in a decentralised system

Ok, this is a big one: Announcing the Marshall Plan for Civic Life. A landmark programme of research and deliberation to develop a funding settlement for civic renewal. More from @pollycurtis.bsky.social and me about the work: medium.com/@jamestplunk... Website: www.marshallplan.org.uk (1/n)

This, from the Community Land Trust Network on work to develop a viable Liverpool City Region community-led development service offers a practical look at the institutional scaffolding needed to support community-led housing and regeneration at scale.

What are the disciplines of civic renewal - the skills/expertise that support community-led projects? Over the past few months I've had the pleasure of speaking to (and visiting!) some amazing people/projects for @kinship.works @jrf-uk.bsky.social Some interim thoughts: medium.com/kinship-work...

🏘️ Today, Demos and @kinship.works are launching the Marshall Plan for Civic Life – a major new programme exploring how Britain can build a sustainable funding settlement for civic renewal. 🧵

This case study from Libraries Rising on the role of Sefton's libraries in Family Hubs is another reminder of how much libraries matter to the broader civic ecosystem. #LoveLibraries librariesrising.org....

This LinkedIn post from Benjamin P Taylor, pressing for more precision about what we mean by "relational" in public services. A welcome push to make the language of relational practice more concrete and useful - something we've been grappling with in our own work.

We’ve been researching disciplines of civic renewal. Thank you to everyone who commented on the launch - your replies gave us lots of leads! Have we got the disciplines right? Are they useful? Are we recommending the right things? Read @gavinfreeguard.com's update post medium.com/kinship-work...

New: Can the NHS leapfrog the rest of government on public sector digital work? (1/n) medium.com/@jamestplunk...

This from Nuffield Trust was on our reading list this month. We like the observation that what starts as a conversation about information & data often ends up being a debate about deeper beliefs & more human values.

We've had an amazing response so far, so today we're also launching a website, sharing all the publications, roundtable write-ups, and further resources. We are building a community - people working at the centre of public life, learning how to spread the energy at the edges. centrefortheedge.org

Some Thursday reading 👇👀

🔔 New today! 🔔 How do worldviews differ between the centre of government and innovators at the edges? A major new publication from The Centre for the Edge initiative from Kinship Works and Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF). And a new website too! 1/2 medium.com/@jamestplunk...

We've been reading Place Matters on the practice of noticing & naming the progress, assets & relationships that often go unseen in place-based work. A helpful reminder that change in communities is often already underway - the job is to spot it and share it.

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...