This book deals with the question of what should happen for communities to become more collaborative and resilient in devising solutions to the problems they face. It examines diverse ideas associated with attempts to strengthen community wellbeing, and points to how lessons that can be learnt from a range of community-based initiatives – community development, cooperative enterprise, community finance, co-production, community organising, deliberative democracy, etc. – should be applied strategically to support the necessary changes more widely. Tomorrow’s Communities brings together a team o ... More

This book deals with the question of what should happen for communities to become more collaborative and resilient in devising solutions to the problems they face. It examines diverse ideas associated with attempts to strengthen community wellbeing, and points to how lessons that can be learnt from a range of community-based initiatives – community development, cooperative enterprise, community finance, co-production, community organising, deliberative democracy, etc. – should be applied strategically to support the necessary changes more widely. Tomorrow’s Communities brings together a team of experts with in-depth knowledge of and practical experience in how to work with communities to achieve sustainable improvement in their cohesiveness and quality of life. They draw on findings from experiences in the UK, the US, and elsewhere to review what works and what does not, and set out approaches that merit adoption in relation to three key aspects of community-based transformation, namely, the transformation of socio-economic relations in communities, of collaborative behaviour with communities, and of policy outcomes by communities. The book provides a one-stop shop to consider what can be achieved in collaboration with communities, and how to overcome obstacles to better outcomes and greater public satisfaction. It concludes with a 9-point policy agenda for taking the recommendations forward.