Articles & Newsletters
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"Yes, we should build a new airport in the sea" (October 2008)
By Peter Hall
This article by Peter Hall appeared in the Independent on Monday 27 October 2008. Heathrow was a wartime mistake that London has lived to regret. ...
'Social silicon valley' in the Basque region ( January 2009)
Following on from the SIX Summer School held in Portugal in July 2008, two participants have started a 'social Silicon Valley'. Read the full ...
10 world changing social innovations (April 2006)
By Geoff Mulgan
As named in the Young Foundation publication Social Silicon Valleys, A Manifesto For Social Innovation 1 The Open University - and the many models ...
A civic recipe for happiness (May 2008)
By Marcia Brophy
Can local authorities find a way to make us all happy? A groundbreaking project plans to find out, as Marcia Brophy explains. Everybody seems to be ...A meritocracy? What an awfully 20th century idea (November 2010)
By Paul Barker
It's near enough a fairy tale. Almost every newspaper fell with delight upon the story of the wedding of Kate Middleton and Prince William. It was ...
A moment with Eleanor Cappell (August 2009)
By Eleanor Cappell
Eleanor Cappell, our social entrepreneur in residence working for the health launchpad team to develop partnerships with NHS Birmingham East and ...
A Silent Voice (Feb 2009)
By Geoff Mulgan
All over the world, governments are responding to the recession with often desperate measures. At the head of the queue for bailouts are the big ...
Access all areas (March 2006)
Access all areas - Paul Hilder (March 2006)
After Capitalism (April 2009)
By Geoff Mulgan
After Capitalism - Prospect, April 2009 - to see this story on their website please click here. "The era of transition that we are entering will be ...
All cannot have prizes (January 2009)
By Geoff Mulgan
This essay was published in Prospect. Geoff Mulgan, in his review of the conservative social scientist Charles Murray's new book, Real ...An American Liberal (July 2007)
By Geoff Mulgan
An American Liberal
Another book on leadership? (December 2008)
Custom-Built Leadership by Robin Ryde Looking at the shelves of a typical bookshop, you would be forgiven for thinking that thelast thing the world ...Besieged in the East End, and only the BNP is listening (April 2006)
By Kate Gavron
Besieged in the East End, and only the BNP is listening. ‘I would lay part of the blame for family break-up on council housing. In days gone by, ...Calling an UpRising (May 2010)
By Andrea Coleman, Phoebe Griffith, Will Norman
How is it that the most politically heterogeneous cabinet in British history remained so glaringly homogeneous? Over 50% of the cabinet were ...Cameron's script for a new localism must take its cue from the word on the street (April 2009)
By Saffron Woodcraft
The Conservatives’ idea of localism falls a long way short of the real thing, This article appeared in the April 2009 edition of New Start ...
Can incentives really make people adopt a healthier lifestyle? ( January 2009)
Can incentives really make people adopt a healthier lifestyle? Can a free gym pass persuade a middle-aged man to start exercising? Can Mothercare ...
China's Power to dominate (March 2009)
By Sean Carey
China's Power to dominate. Published 3 March, 2009 in the New Statesman. Everyone especially new US President, Barack Obama, is well aware that ...
Chinese Lessons (December 2008)
By Geoff Mulgan
The numbers are staggering. China uses 40% of the world's cement. It employs 40mpeople in its construction industry and it was recently estimated ...Civil Engineering (October 2007)
By Geoff Mulgan
Imagine the world of civil society in 20 years' time. What will charities and voluntary organisations look like? Will the voluntary sector be ...
Clicking with the Residents (July 2008)
How can we involve residents in building communities when those residents don't yet exist? Liz Bartlett explains how a web resourcecan offer ...
Considered in Isolation (July 2009)
By Saffron Woodcraft
When it comes to deprivation, are very small estates doubly disadvantaged? Early findings from a new study suggest size does matter. Does size ...Councillors look for a new role (November 2007)
By Saffron Woodcraft
Community empowerment is a high priority on the Whitehall agenda. The government wants a new relationship between citizens and the state and to ...
CSR and the Credit Crunch ( January 2009)
By Sean Carey
CSR and the credit crunch. Published 20 January 2009 in the New Statesman (an expanded version of this article also appears on the Mauritius Times ...
Cutting through the Tension (July 2008)
By Vicki Sellick
Curring through the tension A toolkit will be launched this month offering a practical way to solve conflict in communities. It's all about ...
Democracy should go past the ballot box into your everyday life (January 2009)
By Mandeep Hothi
An interview with Mandeep Hothi published in SEF News Winter 2008/09. Following on from the publication of the report "Neighbourliness + ...Despatches from the frontline (December 2006)
Goodbye to all that
DIY health care (April 2008)
By Yvonne Roberts
Encouraging people with type 2 diabetes to monitor their own blood sugar levels may not improve care and is a waste of NHS resources, two studies ...Double or nothing (June 2006)
By Geoff Mulgan, Saffron Woodcraft
Double or nothing - Geoff Mulgan and Saffron James (June 2006) From Public Finance - Whitehall refuses to devolve powers to local government because ...
East Enders and the love for Labour lost (April 2006)
Lost in the shadows of Canary Wharf, Bethnal Green is not the sort of area you normally see in the public relations photos of 21st-century London. ...
Every Child Update: Social Impact Bonds
By Mhairi Aylott
Cuts to public sector services are biting deep. Yet there is strong evidence of major social benefits from investment in early years' programmes, ...Extreme makeover (April 2006)
By Geoff Mulgan
From health to housing, social innovation is the key to making public services smarter and more efficient. It’s time to take it more ...
Feedback and Belonging: Explaining the Dynamics of Diversity (Jan 2009)
Feedback and Belonging: Explaining the Dynamics of Diversity January 2009 French writer Albert Camus once called it the most painful question of ...First Political Memory (May 2010)
By Ginny Lee, Rushanara Ali
Five years ago a group of us were having a lunchtime conversation about childhood memories. The conversation took a turn when we asked when we became ...Fixed retirement rejects young spirit and old skill (April 2006)
Several decades ago, Michael Young [the British thinker and social entrepreneur] coined the term “chronologism” for society’s tendency to ...
Future Communities website launches
The Young Foundation, sponsored by HCA, IDeA and CIH, has developed a new website aimed at everyone involved in building the successful sustainable ...Going Global - Social Innovation (March 2010)
We launched The Open Book of Social Innovation - the third report of our Methods of Social Innovation project alongside the website ...
Good Business (May 2009)
By Geoff Mulgan
Following Geoff Mulgan's visit in April 2009 to the launch of the New Zealand Centre for Social Innovation this feature article appeared in Your ...Graduates don't need help getting jobs, do they? (July 2010)
By Cate Newnes-Smith
With 70 graduates applying for every vacancy this is going to be a tough summer for those coming out of University. It is likely to be even tougher ...Have you read? Digging for the Future (May 2010)
By Charles Leadbeater
The 2010 election showed that the ongoing financial crisis has left more than a hole in our balance sheets. It has deepened the chasm between our ...
How to develop a local charter (February 2008)
By Vicki Sellick
If you wanted to change something in your neighbourhood where would you start? Local authorities are doing much to engage individuals, but it can ...
HSJ Innovation Live (November 2008)
Following the Innovation Live event on Wednesday 12 November the HSJ produced a supplement with highlights and case studies. Included is a two ...If only we can teach resilience to those who need it (January 2010)
By Yvonne Roberts
The culmination of our Local Wellbeing work, our State of Happiness report showed that that promoting and influencing happiness should no longer be ...In my opinion: Social Innovation's hour has come - Simon Tucker (Autumn 2006)
This article appeared in the Quarter section of Prospect magazine.In Praise of ... the Young Foundation (December 2009)
Our Sinking and Swimming report into the needs, both met and unmet, in Britain today launched on 7 December 2009 and earned considerable (and ...In praise of the cash economy (October 2007)
By Sean Carey
Mauritius has changed. Long feted by economists and political scientists as an example to other African states with its open economy and multi-party ...Innovating in tough times (May 2010)
By Nicola Bacon
There are many different ways of saving money - from stopping doing things, to trimming and delaying. Some do immediate damage, and some store up ...
Innovating our way out of graduate unemployment (July 2010)
By Mary Abdo
Higher education in the UK is among the best in the world. Four British universities are in the top ten globally. Foreign students comprise 15% of ...Let power reflect the people (February 2008)
By Rushanara Ali
There has much discussion in recent weeks about unlocking talent and creating - in Gordon Brown's words - "an "opportunity revolution". But while US ...
Let users be the steer (July 2006)
By Saffron Woodcraft
As the Young Foundation publishes its suggestions for more ‘bottom-up’ neighbourhood involvement in public services, Saffron James explains why ...Local Matters II: Mulgan for people power (April 2008)
By Geoff Mulgan
Soon after EF Schumacher wrote his famous book, ‘Small is Beautiful’, he commented that if he’d lived in a world of small organisations he’d ...
Local power for local people (May 2006)
By Nicola Bacon, Saffron Woodcraft
Empowerment has become a familiar theme in debates about political life in Britain. Trust in political institutions is declining, people feel remote ...Luck and The Thing (May 2007)
By Geoff Mulgan
Leaders are never easy to judge. Part of their job is to dazzle, disguise and deflect attention. Some who, close up, appear to command all around ...Mary Douglas remembered (June 2007)
Few thinkers have changed how we see the world; even fewer have changed how we think about how we see the world. Mary Douglas, who has died aged 86, ...
Maslaha's new online exhibition
By Natalia Chan
Maslaha is working in partnership with the British Council's Our Shared Europe project to build an online exhibition all about the constant mix of ...
Michael Young - a note
By Rushanara Ali
Michael YoungMore than just rhubarb, rhubarb (July 2006)
By Saffron Woodcraft
Parish councils may seem synonymous with retired colonels discussing the state of the village green, but they could bring new life to urban ...Move on world (March 2005)
Move on world - Paul Hilder (March 2005)
Moving Towards Local Dialogue 2.0 (June 2009)
By Mandeep Hothi
As the name suggests, the World Wide Web has proven to be a magnificent platform for connecting all kinds of people, all across the globe. As the ...
My perk is your fiddle (June 2009)
By Sean Carey
This article is reproduced in full from an original piece on newstatesman.com, June 2009. Following the recent outrage over MPs' expenses, Sean ...Neighbouring's golden age... and the way we live now (June 2006)
Neighbourliness is one of those hazy concepts that seems both too trivial and old-fashioned to matter - like manners or not swearing. To ask whether ...Observations: come to the parties (October 2006)
Observations on reforming politics by Geoff Mulgan Monday October 16, 2006New Statesman This autumn Britain will have a rare national debate about ...One Step Removed: The US Nonprofit Sector and the World (Winter 08)
One Step Removed: The US Nonprofit Sector and the World (Winter 08), The Non-Profit Quarterly Like many outside the United States, I often look on ...
One year on (July 2006)
The terrorist attacks that hit London on 7th July last year looked at first like a turning point as decisive as 9/11 was for America. Although they ...Opening the doors to apprenticeships (July 2010)
By Neil Reeder
Britain has a long history of apprenticeships stretching back to the Middle Ages. From bakers to barbers, long-bow makers to legal text writers, the ...
Our riots (May 2006)
...our riots by Rushanara Ali Five years ago, the northern riots exposed Britain's racial divides. Have things improved?Rushanara Ali worked in the ...Parenting (May 2010)
By Yvonne Roberts
Over the past decade the family has come of age as a major political battleground in the UK. Previously, politicians regarded the area as a private ...Permanent Adolescence (May 2006)
By Paul Barker
A replica of the young Bob Dylan walks along the platform ahead of me, as I get off the afternoon Tube at Bethnal Green. He’s got the right shades, ...Persuading the people (October 2007)
By Geoff Mulgan
In politics expectations are everything. Keep them low enough, and everyone stays happy. Raise them too high, and everyone's disappointed. That's why ...Poor Prattle (May 2008)
By Yvonne Roberts
David Cameron is asking us to trust him to reduce child poverty. A request which doesn't sound quite as bizarre as it might once have done, given the ...
Powers to the People (August 2008)
By Nicola Bacon
Nicola Bacon, Director of Local and Advisory Projects, writes on 'Giving up power to make empowerment a reality?'. To download the whole pamphlet ...Pressing needs (July 2006)
By Alessandra Buonfino, Geoff Mulgan
There will always be poverty, but in a society experiencing rapid social change, deprivation has taken on unexpected new guises, argue Geoff Mulgan ...Promoting wellbeing and neighbourliness (May 2008)
By Geoff Mulgan, Nicola Bacon
Nicola Bacon and Geoff Mulgan of the Young Foundation write about how wellbeing and neighbourliness can become central to promoting equality at the ...
Promoting wellbeing in parenting support (August 09)
By Yvonne Roberts
Writing in August's Parenting UK News Bulletin, Yvonne Roberts, Senior Health Associate at the Young Foundation looks at the importance promoting ...Rare chance to revive local democracy (May 2006)
A pdf version of this article is available to download here. Written by Paul Hilder, May 2006.Social Impact Bonds Briefing (February 2011)
By Nicola Bacon
This article orginally appeared in the Local Government Chronicle on the 3 February 2011. Over the past two years, interest in Social Impact Bonds ...
Social Impact Bonds in Criminal Justice: from interesting idea to business as usual
Social Impact Bonds are an innovative financial tool which can be adopted to revolutionise the way preventative programmes are funded, allowing the ...
Soft Skills and starters for 10 (Feb 2009)
By Yvonne Roberts
Nobody, it seems, likes a swot, especially a "demure looking" female clever clogs, "a one-woman knowledge factory". Blatant misogyny and class ...Spotlight: Living with Dementia (May 2010)
By Yvonne Roberts
There are 700,000 people with dementia in the UK. This is expected to soar to 1.7 million by the middle of this century. Unsurprisingly, services are ...Teaching Resilience in Schools (June 2010)
For the past three years, the Young Foundation has worked with the IDeA and three local authorities - Hertfordshire County Council, Manchester City ...The Big Society - We're already doing it (August 2010)
By Geoff Mulgan
The Big Society - We're already doing it The Sunday Times - 30 August 2010 Some expected that the term "big society" wouldn't survive the ...The east goes west (March 2006)
Things ain’t what they used to be. Michael Moorcock on Too Many Mothers and The New East End Too Many Mothers: A Memoir of an East End Childhoodby ...
The Great Divide (November 2006)
By Kate Gavron
A pdf. version of this article is available for download. This article was published in Inside Housing magazine in November 2006.The Masters of the Universe are back. But for how long? (December 2006)
By Paul Barker
Paul Barker: The Masters of the Universe are back. But for how long? The City lads are toasting their bonuses, an Etonian is a whisker away from No ...The process of social innovation (June 2006)
By Geoff Mulgan
Printed in MIT in June 2006. Download a copy of the article here.The right ways to political renewal (May 2006)
By Geoff Mulgan
In the UK after nine years in office, the Labour Party is seeking a new source of energy to dispel the current mood of drift, and to provide a bounce ...The sting in the Mistry tale (February 2008)
By Sean Carey
The dogmatic free-market policies of economist Percy Mistry threaten universal healthcare in Mauritius.This is Brittle Britain, anxious and stressed (December 2009)
By Geoff Mulgan
Our report into the needs, both met and unmet, in Britain today launched on 7 December 2009 and earned considerable (and ongoing) coverage, including ...This is no banker's bet (April 2008)
By Geoff Mulgan
UK financial institutions have to acknowledge that responsibilities come with state fundsUnhappy days are here again (June 2010)
By Paul Barker
An out-of-work miner walks along a railway line. He is gathering scraps of wood, fallen from the wagons. The ground is covered with a light dusting ...Update from the Young Foundation director (May 2010)
By Geoff Mulgan
As the dust settles on an extraordinary election (which saw one former and one current member of staff elected as MPs, Tory and Labour respectively), ...Vera's fag end (January 2008)
By Yvonne Roberts
Nearly 13 million of us watched Vera Duckworth (actress Liz Dawn) pop her clogs on ITV1's Coronation Street last Friday, after 33 years service on ...We can harness people's power to drive change (March 2010)
By Geoff Mulgan
Our report on Public Services and Civil Society, commissioned by the Cabinet Office, was launched with this article in Society Guardian by the then ...
Who'd be a Councillor? (November 2007)
By Saffron Woodcraft
Undervalued, underprepared and often undermined... A radical rethink is needed over the role of elected members. Published in New Start in ...Why Labour is losing the working class (April 2006)
Today a Daily Telegraph YouGov poll reports that as many as 24 per cent of the population would consider voting for the British National Party if ...Working with communities to tackle low level disorder and anti-social behaviour (July 2006)
By Nicola Bacon, Saffron Woodcraft
A pdf version of this article is available for download here.
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