Over 2020-25 all places will need to face profound post-COVID-19 implications, unresolved issues around BREXIT and existential societal challenges like aging, climate crisis, technological and digital change, and increasing inequalities.
Places and their leadership teams need accessible, practical advice and support of the highest quality to plan and manage these challenges and realise enduring future success. PPP provides a starting point for accessing that advice and support.
“Positive progressive place-making” provides insights from over 50 Third Life Economics (3LE) interventions in the 2010s that have relevance to the challenges and opportunities for the early 2020s. These range from futures visioning and strategic prioritisation to delivering change and development; from regions and metropolitan cities to towns and communities; from detailed technical analyses to building leadership teams and new institutional arrangements.
I worked as a senior public servant, with a development economics entry point, for over 25 years. My last eight years (2000-2008) were as Chief Executive (CEO) of first a large metropolitan local authority and then a Regional Development Agency. I established Third Life Economics (3LE) in late 2008 to pursue "stimulating work in dynamic places with interesting people". Positive, progressive place-making tells part of that story - drawing on some of the highlights that might have particular relevance for the 2020s.
“Positive progressive place-making” is underpinned by David Marlow’s 25-year senior public services career in the UK and overseas, and his experience since 2009 establishing and operating 3LE. It gives you access to models, frameworks, and case studies relevant to delivering contemporary place-based plans and strategies. It explores the human dimensions of working with the ‘heroes and villains’ of devolution, the genuine burdens and tests of leadership, and how to manage in a complex context where there will seldom be single unique ‘right answers’.
