Delusions of grandeur

I was struck over the weekend by an ad for the Pennsylvania University Management Program.  Beneath the statement, ‘NOW I INVENT INSTEAD OF PREDICT.  I AM A VISIONARY’ a silver-haired senior excutive sits at the shoreline of an expansive lake, gazing out to the horizon.  With his strong chin and resolute expression, the man seems poised [...]

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Shaping places and awakening possibilities

Place shaping was among the list of words and phrases which earlier in the year, the LGA said councils should avoid using.  We might not like the term but the concept is well-embedded.  Indeed, in the Comprehensive Area Assessment, Whitehall has sought to develop a model to measure the outcomes that successful place-shaping might bring [...]

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Nudge Nudge Think Think

Matthew Taylor’s blog is a very useful source of information on new thinking on a wide range of issues, many of which relate to local government.  It is through his blog that I discovered a recent article, Nudge Nudge, Think Think: Two Strategies for Changing Civic Behaviour.  The article is written by Gerry Stoker, Peter John [...]

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DFID Consultation event

I went last night to a Department for International Development (DFID) consultation event.  The event was one of 12 that DFID is organising as part of an engagement exercise to inform a White Paper planned for later in the year.  It was good to see some other local government people there; amongst what was a [...]

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