The London Collaborative is an ambitious programme designed to improve the capacity of London's public sector to work across boundaries of place, profession and organisation in order to meet future challenges facing the capital. It aims to make London a city where the 'whole' of the talent and resources within its public sector institutions is greater than the sum of its parts.

The London Collaborative was commissioned by Capital Ambition in 2007 and is led by The Young Foundation in partnership with OPM. It works closely with London's chief executives to drive and foster collaboration in key strategic areas and aims to build connections, a sense of common purpose and resilience across a network of senior staff from London's public sector.

The London Leadership Network, formed at the start of the Collaborative in early 2008, brings together people who make decisions, plan and deliver key services and policies that shape the capital. It has grown to over 400 members, primarily from local councils, but also from health, the police, the GLA and its group, social housing providers and other public bodies.

The work of the Collaborative includes:

Live, face-to-face events for the network to foster common purpose, to develop ideas and futures thinking, looking at innovation, responses to tough times, encounters with delegations ideas from abroad and leadership styles.

Work on specific challenges facing London. In phase one the Collaborative looked at retrofitting housing as a key contribution to reduce carbon emissions, understanding London's complex population flows, worklessness and the new thinking on behaviour change.

London futures challenge series. Since December 2009 we have been running a programme to ‘redesign' the shape of public services in the face of significant reductions in public spending. Propositions have been developed from the three more for less sessions at the Tate Modern and will be tested at an event that brings together the London Leadership Network on Thursday 11 February. The aim is to produce radical propositions for London's chief executives to consider at the Chief Executive Retreat on Thursday 4 March.

The new Network London website. In late 2009 we launched a new website alongside a social networking tool for the London Leadership Network. The public site is now live and contains all information about the London Collaborative. Find it at www.network-london.org.uk. There is also a private members' networking side to the site for members of the London Leadership Network to collaborate further.

Papers

There are a number of reports and working papers on our work, from early scenarios and analytical work to a guide to behaviour change. These can be found on the publications and papers page.

Further information

For further information on the London Collaborative, events, the London Leadership Network, publications and future plans please contact london@youngfoundation.org, tel. 020 8709 9035.