Neil McInroy, Chief Executive, Centre for Local Economic Strategies

1. Neil McInroy, Chief Executive, Centre for Local Economic Strategies Forging resilient places for better health outcomes

2. What is CLES? Independent charity. No commercial sponsor or government grants 20 staff: planners, geographers, local government, environmental scientists, economists and french horn players! Established 1986 Growing-but will stay small Economic development but with social fairness and within limits of environment Hybrid; research, consultancy, members UK, but also work in Europe and beyond!

3. CLES Research and policy work • Economic resilience: • Norfolk Fellowship international research project • CLES resilience Pilot – with 12 Local Authorities • Economic and social tools • Economic footprint of public sector in Manchester, Swindon, West Lothian • Sustainable benefits of ‘progressive’ public spend (with APSE) • Social return on investment modelling and Social network analysis • LEAN Local Economic Assessment network • Economic Policy work • North West England Integrated Regional Strategy Review

4. CLES Research and policy work • Futures work: • Future city game (with British council) – Moscow, Pilsen, Blackburn, Riga and now in South West • Green Economy: • Green skills/green new deal/green behaviours • Financing economies/regeneration • Equity finance/changing behaviours to venture capital • Poverty/economic inclusion • Anti-Poverty strategies • Well being • Evaluation of BIG lottery well being programme (with New economics foundation)

5. Challenging times! • Climate change, peak oil, peak water, peak soil, energy insecurity • Economic recession • Unemployment, • lack of capital for investment, lack of economic diversity • Regeneration incomplete – Even the boom times were not that good! Still work to do…. • Inequality (socially and spatially)..and getting worse? • “Grossly unequal societies do not solve their problems they chase them around the policy map” (Robson and Turok, 2007) • Ageing and migration

8. Exploring Ill health, deprivation and the economy = Source: London Health Observatory

9. What does CLES think? • Frustrated and often angry: • Dreamy Local economic futures detached from what the people needed • Too many clunky and generic mantras and silver bullets as regard the ‘knowledge economy’ or ‘low carbon’, ‘inward investment’ • Failure to think ahead as regards the environment and changing demography • Existing economic development models.. • failed to factor in aspects such social capital, volunteering etc • failed to factor in environmental change. • Failed to factor in ill health and wellbeing

10. Present policy and crude assumptions • Big society. BUT we have a sector anyway? • Public sector ‘crowds’ out the Private sector. BUT what about public sector spend which nurtures and supports private sector capacity and social sector. • Local economies Its all about GROWTH. BUT...some places have NONE..and that has been the case for decades before the recession • Localism and Local Enterprise Partnerships. BUT.. lets not get too excited they will need power and resources • What about equity, fairness? • Can you do cuts and reshape society at the same time?

11. Local Economies as a Network of activity • Need to think of place, economy, society as one • Successful places are networks • Network of social, public and commercial activity • Our places are dependent upon complex connections • Vulnerable to small disturbances • Resilience allows us to think about connections and ways in which we can strengthen these links

12. Background to economic resilience

13. Scaring Economic Development Professionals

14. Policy assumptions underlining current economic policy

15. What has been going wrong? =

16. The problem of approach as regards economics and health • Its not been problem of resources, though it will be! • Its not a problem of effort • Its more of a problem of approach • Economic growth is seen as more important than social and health development • Economic wealth first and then social health will flow? • Trickle down? • A disconnect between economics, place and well-being

17. The way forward • Economics is not the end in itself….merely a means • We need to get economics to work for us more • The economic downturn should be an opportunity not a return to crude economic growth priorities • A wealth and health producing society • Focus on material and psychological needs and support

18. What is Resilience? Resilience is an emergent property of a system – it’s not a result of any one of the system’s parts but of the synergy between all its parts. Thomas Homer-Dixon, The Upside of Down, 2006. ‘the capacity of a place to be ready to deal with change and opportunity. This will require an adaptability so a place can respond, take advantage and learn, so that the place and its citizens are better equipped to deal with opportunities and negative change in the future.’ CLES

19. Resilience V Sustainability V

20. Key Principles around ‘resilience’ • resilience is not about the passive maintenance of a situation • Its more active, its about: • being ready to take on opportunities. • responding to shocks • dealing with change • being adaptable • taking a punch and bouncing back • Ensuring our local economies do not to go ‘belly up’ • making our places to go...............

21. Creation of place resilience

23. The resilience pilot • CLES decided to take forward eight pilot research projects in the UK: Dandenong, Australia Northumberland Blackburn with Darwen Ashfield and Mansfield Manchester Southern Staffordshire Cambridgeshire and West Suffolk Gloucester, Cheltenham and Tewkesbury Cherwell

24. Measures of resilience Measure 1 – The commercial economy Measure 2 – The Public Economy Measure 3 – The Social Economy Measure 4 – Commercial – Public Measure 5 – Public – Social Measure 6 – Social – Commercial Measure 7 – Health and wellbeing Measure 8 – Environment Measure 9 – Local Identity, history and context Measure 10 – Governance

25. The local economy Measure 1 – The commercial economy The commercial economy is defined as economic wealth creation generated by businesses that are privately owned and profit motivated.

26. Measure 2 – The public economy Stages of resilience

27. The local economy Measure 3 – The social economy The social economy embraces a wide range of community, voluntary and not-for-profit activities that try to bring about positive local change.

28. Core economy • Invisible economy that we take part in every day • The economy of the home, family, neighbourhood and community • It is an economic system as it involves the goods and services produced, exchanged and distributed • Like a computer • Operating system: The core economy • Specialised programs: Hospitals, schools, civil society • The programs may be ok, but the operating system is struggling!

29. Core economy • An emphasis on the core economy • UK 40% of all economic activity takes place in the core economy - not currently reflected in GDP • £87bn of unpaid care could be allocated to the core economy • If the core economy fails, burden on public and private sector grows

30. Internal measures Measure 4 – Commercial – Public Does a locality have an effective Chamber of Commerce that meets regularly with public sector partners? Procurement strategies Business Improvement Districts/Tax Increment Financing opportunities Measure 5 – Public – Social Procurement strategies Providing capacity through staff time Asset transfer schemes Grants – distribution of government money Running social networks and resident engagement Measure 6 – Social – Commercial Corporate Social Responsibility Funding opportunities Procurement

31. External measures Measure 7 – Broad health and wellbeing How is the local economic territory’s working practice is shaped by and shaping the broad health and wellbeing context Measure 8 – Environment How has the environment shaped place and has a locality understood the threats and opportunities that exist Measure 9 – Local identity, history and context How has the local history and identity of a place determined how its economy is structured Measure 10 – Governance How do different levels of governance affect the way the locality operates

32. The resilience scale

33. The resilience scale Resilient – Compelling evidence of robust relationships between the different spheres and these have developed in bold and innovative ways Stable – Evidence of sound relationships between the different spheres. Adequate communication between the sectors often facilitated by dependable forums Vulnerable – Relationships between the different sectors are significantly underdeveloped. Whilst there may be some communication, it tends not to be sustained or strategic. Brittle – Little evidence of relationships between different sectors. Where cross sector relationships exist, they are often characterised by tension and conflict.

35. Resilience workshop 1 What are the barriers to effective, positive partnerships between the public, private and social sectors in your area Public – Social Commercial - Public Social - Commercial

36. Timeline following a place based shock or disturbance Resilient Economic or environmental shock Performance Stable Vulnerable Brittle TIME

37. Emerging findings, an example from one of the pilot areas Relationship between commercial and public economy Relationship between social and public economy Relationship between commercial and social economy

39. How do we evaluate resilience? Preparation Response Readiness Learning Recovery Performance

40. Resilience Matrix Social - Commercial Environment Public Public - social Commercial - public Governance Local history, identity and context Health and well-being Commercial Social

41. SNA element of resilience project • Types of governance network • Mapping inter-relationships between sectors • Use of brokerage function – what to do to knit networks together • Phases – Scattered fragments, hub and spoke, small worlds, core-periphery • Diffusion across networks – structural implications

42. Knowing and knitting Building sustainable communities through improving their connectivity – internally and externally- using network ties to create economic opportunities. Improved connectivity is created through an iterative process of knowing the network and knitting the network Appalachian centre for Economic Networks

43. Governance networks • First stage is knowing the network • Once you have the networks mapped you can knit them together differently • Governance networks combine • Messy complex informal relationships • Institutions, organisations and agencies

44. Types of networks

45. Public Sector

46. Commercial, Public and VCS

48. Resilience workshop 2 Thinking about the barriers that have been identified in workshop 1, what are the key areas and relationships we should focus on to ensure better health outcomes

49. Concluding comments • Resilient places: • Need to think about what a wealth and health producing society will look like. • We need to face up to the need for environmental and social fairness and equality • Don’t just focus on symptoms and the effects • The causes are bound up with places, people and problems in how our society operate • Public and commercial economies are shaped more to fit the local needs and the social economy • Core economy of is the key to the solution • Devolution of powers needs to happen =

50. Centre for Local Economic Strategies • EMAIL. neilmcinroy@cles.org.uk • WEB. www.cles.org.uk • TWITTER. @nmcinroy • PHONE. (0044) 161 236 7036