Notes from NESTA's Neighbourhood Challenge launch today #nchall

Brief and incomplete notes from NESTA’s Neighbourhood Challenge launch today

Philip Colligan, Executive Director – The Public Service Lab

On the Neighbourhood Challenge...

·         Will identify areas of low social capital

·         Need to have capacity and capability to deliver

·         Work with 10 projects – 1) looking for impact and 2) must be up for learning and sharing

·         Method: lower barriers to entry, let lots of people in – work ideas up – communities assess ideas and select

Nick Hurd MP

On Big Society...

1.       Decentralised

2.       Reform public services

3.       Social action – support and strengthen

·         Community organisers - Government will identify and support 5000 community organisers

·         Community grant programme - will attract matched funding from local philanthropists

·         Big Society Bank – get ideas up and running

Lynne Berry, WRVS

·         Importance of intergenerational services - when older people feel safe in communities, the whole community feels safe. 

Alan Rosenblatt

·         Importance of online and offline connections (online = free, social media, scale; offline = human interaction and experience)

·         Link different worlds – fluidity between online and offline

·         What are you asking your audience to do?

My perspective...

·         Developing confidence and leadership skills will be important for the Neighbourhood Challenge, especially when working with people from areas of low social capital

·         Meaningful cross sector collaboration also key to success if projects are going to last – develop networks: citizens, business and government – local, regional and national

·         Scale – not all community groups plan or want to go to scale...rather deepen their impact where they are located.  Distinguish between dissemination of ideas, “franchise models” and centralised scaling up – 3 very different approaches