Rob Macmillan

Stronger than anyone thought: Communities responding to COVID-19

Repository entry 1 September 2020

In the context of COVID-19 and public health-related lockdown measures, Local Trust commissioned a study examining how communities react to, cope with and recover from major crises. The study started in April 2020 and the first two phases are due to conclude in June 2021. It presents a unique opportunity to gain grounded insight into commu…

Rapid Research COVID-19 Briefing #4: Blending formal and informal community responses

Repository entry 1 August 2020

In Briefing 3: Grassroots Action, Rob Macmillan explored the literature on the value of informal community activity in conditions of crisis. This included a classification of responses (Whittaker et al, 2015) from established crisis response organisations to expanding organisations meeting the demands of the moment as well as extending organisa…

Rapid Research COVID-19 Briefing #3: Grassroots action – the role of informal community activity in responding to crises

Repository entry 1 July 2020

The establishment of COVID-19 mutual aid groups at community level has been a remarkable and praised feature of the first few months of the coronavirus crisis. Yet little is so far known about how they formed, how they work, and what role they play. This briefing examines some of the literature on the value of informal community activity- espec…

Rapid Research COVID-19 Briefing #2: Community resilience or resourcefulness?

Repository entry 1 June 2020

This research briefing builds on an initial review of the literature around community responses to disasters (Briefing 1: April 2020). Whilst being informed by some of the academic literature, it focuses directly on community responses to the COVID-19 pandemic on the ground. It aims to develop understanding of ideas about ‘resourcefulness’ …

Rapid research COVID-19 Briefing #1: How will communities respond to and recover from this crisis?

Repository entry 1 April 2020

This research briefing connects communities currently responding to COVID-19 to others who have faced major crises such as epidemics, floods, fires, earthquakes, wars and terrorist incidents. It provides a language to describe how communities forge new bonds and find common purpose, and identifies factors that may shape how well they fare durin…

Food for thought: Understanding market development in the community business sector

Repository entry 1 February 2020

This paper highlights key questions on the nature of market development in relation to community business: what it is, what it entails, and how success might be measured. It is drawn from interviews conducted with members of the Power to Change market development team and other stakeholders during September and early October 2019. The paper pri…