We are delighted to share our report from Connecting Communities: The North East Social Capital Summit.
On October 22nd, we brought nearly 300 people to the first-ever England social capital summit. Academics, community groups and local government took part in the day to discuss the importance of strengthening bonds and connections at a local level. The day highlighted the inspiring work already underway in the North East and reinforced the importance of building social capital as an ongoing priority.
The consensus was clear: we need to build social capital at a neighbourhood level to bring change to communities. The summit participants came up with two main themes on how this can be achieved:
- It’s time for local and regional government to rethink how it works with communities, shifting its role from provider to partner. Examples from Wigan and Sunderland show how local government can work alongside communities, building on the strengths and assets already in place.
- The national government needs to keep its focus on neighbourhoods. Pride in Place is a good start, but lasting progress depends on consistent effort, learning from previous neighbourhoods programmes and support for the ongoing initiatives happening in communities.
At 3ni, we aim to continue to further this work and conversation to support areas in building their social capital. Keep an eye out for our upcoming research and events to find out how to get involved.
We also want to say a special thank you to all our partners who helped make this day happen, including the Independent Commission on Neighbourhoods, Local Trust, New Economics Foundation, North East Combined Authority and Insights North East.
Read the report here.