Understanding Place - Creating rich contextual analysis

Description:

A key part in understanding what your town needs, is understanding what it currently has. This recorded event guides you through how best to analyse your place.

This recorded webinar includes a presentation of the key datasets to use to in your analysis, identify the unique characteristics of the Town and evidence need. 

About the speaker:

Rob Turner plays a lead role in Grant Thornton's Public Services consulting team. He brings particular expertise in the analysis of large quantitative and qualitative data, with the explicit purpose of deriving intelligent insight to inform service delivery, make the case for investment and to drive performance improvement.

On this recorded session, he is joined by colleagues from Grant Thornton, Sally Crawford and Cordelia Canning, who help lead on socio-economic analysis at Grant Thornton and have worked extensively for local authorities, using data to help tell a story of place.

An Introduction to Environmental Monitoring & Impact Analysis

One of the principles of the Towns Fund is clean growth. Clean growth increase productivity, create good jobs, boost earning power for people right across the country, and help protect the climate and environment upon which we and future generations depend.

Towns are well placed to incorporate clean growth investment in their TIPs. Using an ‘outcome-let design process’ Towns should set clear objectives at the outset of their TIP to drive positive environmental outcomes and clean growth.

This document provides outcome ‘themes’ that Towns could consider in their TIPs. It provides example indicators that can be used to assess the effectiveness of the environmental objectives as well as signposting to key guidance documents and information resources.

Sustainable Energy Brochure

Sustainable energy can make a contribution towards clean growth. Depending on the eventual interventions, sustainable energy projects are most likely to contribute to your Target Outcomes relating to local transport or urban regeneration.

In this short brochure we set out the key steps to realise your sustainable energy aspirations as part of your Town Investment Plan.

Total Towns Outcome Framework

To aid you in the request for all towns to complete the Total Towns Outcome Questionnaire, the Total Towns Outcomes Framework is a tool to help you think holistically about the longer-term factors and considerations in shaping a thriving, healthy and economically-sustainable place.

We’ve aligned this framework with MHCLG’s requirements for assessing Town Investment Plans and agreeing deals. We recognise many of the outcomes this framework references go beyond the lifespan of the Towns Fund programme. We therefore hope that it provides you with a way of framing the medium- to longer-term aspirations for your town. You should use it to identify the people, skills and investment you’ll need to achieve these aspirations.

How to Engage in a Digital World

Description:

Digital technology has changed the way we communicate. Embracing this change can open up engaging ways to reach new audiences - but the prospect can be daunting for presenters and participants more used to face-to-face interaction.

This recorded webinar provides some guiding principles for those taking their first steps in digital engagement, an overview of the tools available, and some practical tips on running your own online engagement activity.

About the speakers:

Diana Deans of Copper Consultancy teamed up with Claire Hazelgrove of Futuregov to present this webinar.

Copper is a strategic communications and stakeholder engagement consultancy specialising in the development of economic and social infrastructure. Diana has delivered community and stakeholder engagement programmes in the energy, aviation and rail industries. 

FutureGov is a change agency supporting 21st-century public institutions being catalysts for change in the internet and climate era. Claire has 13 years’ experience of organising, mobilising and campaigning for change within the political and non-profit worlds, supporting organisations and communities to affect the change they believe in.

EIA Screening Guidance

Our Environmental specialists have put together a short guide to the Environmental Impact Assessment Screening process. This note provides Towns with a brief introduction of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Regulations and overview of the EIA process.

It is recommended that Towns undertake an internal EIA Screening exercise for all projects in their Towns Investment Plan to ensure that sufficient time and budget for the EIA process is factored into the project programme and budget. This note sets out the steps for EIA Screening as well as providing a checklist for Towns to screen projects against.

Biodiversity Net Gain Webinar

Biodiversity Net Gain is an approach to development that leaves biodiversity in a better state than before. Where a development has an impact on biodiversity it encourages developers to provide an increase in appropriate natural habitat and ecological features over and above that being affected in such a way it is hoped that the current loss of biodiversity through development will be halted and ecological networks can be restored.

This recorded webinar provides an introduction to the topic, providing advice for towns in considering Biodiversity Net Gain in their proposals.

Panel Discussion: 'The Post Covid Recovery'

Description:

Covid-19 has impacted towns across the country, who are now facing a set of challenges on an unprecedented scale. The effects of Covid-19 have been felt directly by all towns and the long-term implications for towns are still unknown. This recorded session provided towns with the tools, knowledge, and context they need to understand the future impacts of Covid-19 and what they can do to address this in their TIPs. The panel involved topic experts in the following fields; Health and Wellbeing, Innovation and Digital, Education and Skills, and Urban Regeneration. This recorded session helped shape towns thinking and provided them with the tools to understand the impacts of Covid-19 on their town and how their strategy and prioritization can help address these in their TIP.

About the speakers:

The panel was made up from experts across a number of key related topics.

Tom Bridges (Vision and Strategy), who chaired the session, is a director of cities advisory and an experienced professional in town and city strategies, operations and regeneration.

Richard Hadfield is our Education and Skills expert, who provided an insight into job creation, skills and training interventions.

Will Cavendish (Innovation and Digital) provided expertise on the future trends in digital transformation and how to deliver change in this area.

Katie Wood is an Health and Wellbeing expert who advised on how the built environment can improve health and wellbeing at a city level.

Guide to Good Community Engagement

Description:

When done well, community engagement can mean that communities are invested in bringing about change; understanding what is possible and what is not and where conversations are focused on creativity to deliver tangible and meaningful outcomes for communities and other stakeholders. It can be applied to local development initiatives and projects from the earliest phases of planning through to project inception.

This ‘Guide to Good Community Engagement' webinar considered how local authorities can create partnerships with communities that last beyond the creation of a TIP and any follow-up intervention. Focus was given to how different approaches and messaging can be used to engage different community groups, along with effective means of collecting evidence and evaluating feedback.

About the speaker:

This webinar was presented by Copper Consultancy.

Copper is a strategic communications and stakeholder engagement consultancy specialising in the development of economic and social infrastructure.

Copper works with public and private sector organisations in the UK, to develop proposals and projects that articulate the benefits they will bring and are understood by communities.

Copper is expert at communicating complex concepts, often in challenging political, social and environmental situations, and engaging with communities to support advocacy and enable positive change.

Covid Vulnerability Tool

In developing a robust Town Investment Plan (TIP) it is important to consider the potential impacts and implications of Covid-19. These impacts will be felt across multiple sectors, they will change how people live and work and they will shape consumer behaviour and trends.

The purpose of this tool is to assist in understanding the full impact of Covid-19 on your town, providing data on a range of indicators that start to describe an area’s vulnerability to the effects and impacts of Covid-19.

The dashboard has three tabs:

• Introduction - an explanation of the purpose of the dashboard, and how to use it

• Indicator explanation - definitions of different vulnerability indicators

• Dashboard - the tool, presenting the data of vulnerable residents of your town in an easy to use dashboard format

Stakeholder and Community Audit Guidance

To develop a successful Business Case or delivery plan you will need to actively engage with key stakeholders within your town. A shared vision and commitment from a range of stakeholders, showing how they have played (and will continue to play) an active role in the development of your project, will go some way to demonstrating that you have secured buy-in from the local community.

This document, produced by Copper, provides an overview of the types of information to consider when developing your Business Case or delivery plan and identifying stakeholders to proactively engage in the process.

Stakeholder Engagement Plan Guidance

Written by our communication and engagement experts at Copper Consultancy, this guidance document aims to assist towns with preparing a plan for engaging, communicating and consulting with their local community and key stakeholders.

The document provides you with initial guidance when developing your approach to stakeholder engagement, and a template that can be followed to establish a stakeholder engagement plan. However, the approach to stakeholder engagement can and should differ according to local objectives, challenges and other specific characteristics of your town.

Including Health and Wellbeing in Your TIP

The Towns Fund Delivery Partner will be able to help you incorporate health and wellbeing into your Town Investment Plan through:

• Providing web content and blogs on the TownsFund.org.uk website

• Hosting group workshops with towns

• Providing 1-to-1 support, as requested through your Town Coordinator

This document sets out some high-level considerations for health and Wellbeing as you develop your TIP. It also sets out a format for engaging more in-depth with health and wellbeing in your TIP development, if you require 1-to-1 support in this area.

An Introduction to Crime and Security

It is imperative that projects designed to enhance the town, do not inadvertently compromise the safety, security and the well-being of residents, or adversely affect the attractiveness and ultimately the economic stability of the area.

Our Crime and Security experts have provided an introductory guide, highlighting the key considerations for towns when designing projects.

You’ve declared a Climate Emergency…Next steps: Transport

Excessive car-dependence is a critical component of many challenges towns in the UK are facing, including the impact of climate change, the health and well-being of people, and the vibrancy of neighbourhood and town centres. This guide focuses on practical actions towns can take now to encourage sustainable transport, while creating social, economic, and health benefits for residents.

Foresight Guidance

How do you make sense of the range of evidence to inform the development of your town strategy, to ensure it is robust, credible and has the support of the stakeholders?

This short guide highlights the evidence base supporting town strategies and TIPs. It provides information on:

• how to use evidence to build a shared understanding amongst stakeholders of the issues;

• how to consider the drivers for change impacting on your town; and

• future scenarios on how your town can develop and change in the future.

Sustainable Growth Index

The Towns Fund Further Guidance explicitly suggests that towns incorporate a focus on inclusive growth in order to reflect the fact that many of the towns face serious social and economic challenges.

In order to support discussion around this and to stimulate thinking, Grant Thornton’s Sustainable Growth Index provides a useful tool for analysing the different components that create successful places.  This document provides guidance on how to effectively use the Index.

You’ve declared a Climate Emergency...what next?

Many of the 100 towns have declared a climate emergency, and the Towns Fund Guidance issued by MHCLG states that “clean growth represents a huge opportunity for the UK economy, and is a core principle of the Towns Fund.” This short guide helps break down the challenge of tackling climate change, based on our experience of helping local authorities around the world to develop and deliver effective climate action plans.

Cycling for Everyone

A guide for inclusive cycling in cities and towns

Cycling is an ideal way to get around our towns – for work, shopping, education, leisure etc. But unfortunately at the moment many people are excluded from cycling. To help cycling become more inclusive in our towns, Arup, together with Sustrans, has produced this guidance with a number of recommendations that local councils can follow.  

An Introduction to Health and Wellbeing

Katie Wood our Health and Wellbeing expert, has curated a introductory reading list in which she has identified key documents that introduce and explore the ways in which the built environment can have a positive effect on our Health and Wellbeing. It should provide inspiration and relevant reading relating to how you can incorporate Health and Wellbeing into your TIP.