Why trusting citizens can make things so much better

Trust thought for today - why trusting citizens to lead can make things so much better.

Brilliant work (Pls ignore the picture of Boris who had nothing at all to do with this important project) highlighted here in the Financial Times about a fantastic project by Saffron Woodcraft, @Ben Anderson at the Institute for Global Prosperity in which the citizens of East London developed with them a Local Prosperity Index which measures the things that are important. Spoiler: not simply growth and the economy.

To truly ‘build back better’ we must reimagine what prosperity looks like

"Focused in neighbourhoods predicted to benefit from the Olympic legacy regeneration strategy, teams of citizen social scientists and community organisations created a local prosperity index based on what local residents said prosperity meant to them, what factors supported their ability to prosper and live good lives, and what factors hindered them. Instead of measures of growth, productivity and income, the index identified 15 headline indicators that reflected the lived experience of prosperity for people in these places. It established that “human infrastructure” — public transport, affordable or free childcare, social care and low or no-cost digital services — was what made lives liveable and laid the foundations for a prosperous life. Prosperity was also affected by good quality and genuinely affordable homes, a sense of inclusion in the economic and social life of the city, rewarding work, life-long learning, good health, a healthy environment to live in and having hope for the future."

Here is the report and Index: RETHINKING PROSPERITY FOR LONDON: WHEN CITIZENS LEAD TRANSFORMATION. Which proposes "the start of a new conversation about what shared prosperity means in the UK, and the kind of new partnerships, policies, institutions and ways of working that are needed". Bring it on.

https://lnkd.in/gQnKjc9U