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Project Peterborough…exciting times!

September 24, 2009 by Sam McLean
Filed under: Methods, Philosophy, Politics, Public Policy 

Its time to blog about a brilliant RSA project! Central to my work at the RSA and the Citizen Power programme is the ‘Citizens of the Future’ project – a hugely ambitious and exciting project. The project is based on a partnership between the RSA, Peterborough City Council (PCC), Opportunity Peterborough (OP) and Arts Council East (ACE). This will form the basis of a long term collaboration with the aim of fundamentally restructuring the social ecology of civic behaviour in the city and with it the relationship between local public services and citizens in Peterborough.

 To give the project focus, we are looking at the complex relationships of place, identity and collective action through a specific focus on ecological sustainability and what we are calling ‘sustainable citizenship’ that links sustainable, ecologically friendly behaviour to the wider project of increasing levels of pro-social, civic behaviour at a local level that harnesses the innovation of the arts.

 I am now on my way back from a ‘Citizens of the Future’ project meeting with Peterborough City Council, Opportunity Peterborough and Arts Council East, which I attended with our chief (Matthew Taylor) and Michaela Crimmin (RSA Head of Arts). It was an excellent meeting – how refreshing it is to collaborate with three organisations (PCC, OP and AC) genuinely committed to substantial social change, open to real innovation and who are willing to put their money where their mouth is! Yes – all at the same time…

As part of this project, we are currently undertaking a rigorous scoping phase at the RSA that consists of (a) a comprehensive literature review (b) deliberative discussion groups with local people and community groups and (c) in depth interviews with a diverse range of local public service leaders in Peterborough. Today we presented some interim feedback and findings on the project so far. Here are some of the key ideas and principles that are emerging:

1. We cannot and should not create a distinction between a place and the people who inhabit it. They form what we might call a ‘Hegelian totality’ in which each part is mutually dependent but quasi-autonomous. Places are the people who fill it with meaning. The collective identity of place whether that be a city, town or neighbourhood is defined by the behaviour and self-identity of its people. By definition, the identity of a place cannot be imposed upon or distinguished from the people.

2. The starting point is the cultivation of civically minded people with the necessary capabilities for living a civic life of co-operation. For this to happen, public services should be focusing less on branding and short-termist communications exercises and more on building the social ecology of conditions – institutional, cultural and socio-economic – most conducive to pro-social, civically minded behaviour.

3. To do this, public services need to shift their focus from “place shaping” to “person shaping”. The identity of place is dependent on active citizens – that is, people who not only identify with what a place represents and symbolises but who reflect that identity in their actual behaviour.

4. This innovative emphasis on what Matthew Taylor calls “Person shaping” demands a new approach to policymaking – listen to the excellent Radio 4 programme, Persuading Us to Be Good, presented by Daniel Finkelstein and featuring MT. Cultivating pro-social, civic behaviour is a complex process, thought one that is a realistic goal for all ambitious public services. But it requires strong and visionary leadership (as demonstrated by Peterborough City Council) and a ‘gestalt shift’ in public policy with long-term strategic policymaking the norm not the exception to the rule.

5. Local public services need to be making far better use of the powerful insights into human decision-making being generated in social psychology, behavioural economics and neuroscience. As part of the ‘Citizens of the Future’ collaboration is the plan to undertake a ground-breaking RSA-led longitudinal study of the impact of behaviour change on sustainable consumption, civic action and public solidarity.

6. If the ‘social-aspiration gap’ is going to be closed, we need an essentially different relationship between local public services and local people; one in which people are not  ‘service users’ but ‘active agents’ (citizens) shaping the direction and identity of their lived environment, and local public services ‘co-producers’ and partners and not ‘service providers’. Under such conditions the very concepts of ‘service provider’ and ‘service user’ become redundant, replaced by the concept of ‘citizen-led organisations’ aimed at the common good.

7. In order for this to work, the relationship between public service and citizen needs to be rebuilt a local level. To build a connection with citizens, local public services first need to establish a collective identity people want to buy into. This means directing action and policymaking at the local, neighbourhood level. This is the level most conducive for the development of ‘meaning’ and collective identity.

8. For a place to have an identity that is durable it needs to have an identity that is self-generated from the bottom up. People are far more likely to identify with something they helped develop. Indeed, attempts to impose an ‘identity of place’ will only lead to failure and an inefficient allocation of resources.

9. Urban regeneration can have a key role in developing a specific sense of place as has been seen recently in places such as Manchester and Castleford. But all such projects should have collective targets and goals. A collective aspiration to achieve goals at a neighbourhood or community level instils within people a sense of purpose that binds people together. We have found, for example, that pledges, community contracts and other forms of collective agreement in which people openly agree to a course of action can be extremely effective in terms of strengthening community cohesion and influencing civic behaviour.

This is just the start. The ‘Citizens of the Future’ collaboration offers the RSA a real opportunity to turn innovative ideas into social action, shaping the very substance of a city with great potential and a big future.

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Comments

7 Comments on Project Peterborough…exciting times!

  1. Tweets that mention Project Peterborough…exciting times! : Citizen Power -- Topsy.com on Thu, 24th Sep 2009 7:55 am

    2. [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by The RSA and The RSA. The RSA said: Citizen Power blog: Project Peterborough…exciting times! – Its time to blog about a brilliant RSA project! Central … http://ow.ly/15QKpj [...]

  2. David Wilcox on Wed, 7th Oct 2009 6:38 pm

    3. Hi Sam – thanks so much for such an informative session on AGM day about Peterborough. By the end of 50 minutes we were just getting started – so I think you have lots of scope for involvement of Fellows.
    My take: the challenges of helping evolve a new identity for Peterborough, and conception of citizenship ultimately depend for success on the citizens … however hard the council, Arts Council, local institutions and RSA work on it. I think you said today: if it doesn’t get traction with citizens, it isn’t worth doing. Right – because it won’t succeed. And it has to be a shared vision across communities and institutions.
    My one concern was that there were a stack of exciting ideas from RSA staff and collaboratators on “what could be done” …. but the engagement with citizens seems to be in focus groups and around specific projects. I suspect RSA Fellows who came to your session now know more about what’s happening than citizens in Peterborough. There’s a danger if that continues, because it only takes a couple of local articles or blog items on the lines of “who do they think they are to tell who we are … or what we should do” to undermine your engagement process.
    So my suggestion would be to start a project asap in which you and partners explain the overall process and how it is being governed/managed. Invite involvement. Be open, transparent and collaborative at all levels, not just around specific ideas. You may not get a big response …. but it gets things off on the right footing, gives something to point to. Set up a project blog, report progress as you go.
    On the other front, you said you wanted involvement from Fellows. There wasn’t time to explore that today, but my suggestion would be use the project to help start a community of interest on new-style engagement processes. Then there’s some benefit in involvement for Fellows as well as staff.
    Oh, and do please invite us back for another chat (but not in a theatre:-)
    Overall – it is really exciting to see such fresh thinking emerging in RSA

  3. Lee Martin on Thu, 15th Oct 2009 3:47 pm

    4. Hi Sam,

    As a born and bred and still resident, Peterborough businessman I’d have to agree with David when he states… “I suspect RSA Fellows who came to your session now know more about what’s happening than citizens in Peterborough. ”

    Sounds great though!!! Where can we find out more and get involved?

    We’re a Management Training and Development company who provide behavioural and leadership development to local and international businesses, teams, and individuals. http://www.toojays.co.uk

    Hope to find out more!

    Regards

    Lee

  4. The Magnitude of our Challenges « The 2020 Public Services Trust Blog on Fri, 16th Oct 2009 11:32 am

    5. [...] between the RSA and Peterborough City Council called ‘citizens of the future’.  Check out Sam McLean’s blog for the lowdown on an initiative that threatens to combine big ideas with real social [...]

  5. David Barrie on Sat, 21st Nov 2009 11:57 am

    6. Manchester, Castleford….”But all such projects should have collective targets and goals.” – In Castleford, we *had* “collective targets and goals” – so not quite sure where your info is coming from. These targets and goals were built from the ground up through massive, dispersed public engagement and involvement activity. Outcomes were indexed to public sector outputs/strategies, then all was translated in to an 80-page business plan for the ‘early improvement’ of the town. In advance of this and in parallel with delivery of this plan for revitalization of the 11 public places/spaces, local people were intrinsic to co-designing and developing the design briefs for each of the sites. You’ll find more on the process in a paper called “Regeneration as Social Innovation, Not a War Game”, at http://bit.ly/61esoq. Your work here is *brilliant* by the way. thank u!

  6. Stuart Payn on Mon, 21st Dec 2009 3:42 pm

    7. Hi Sam,

    I have just read your blog entry with much excitement. I agree with a lot of what you have said about active citizenship and how a places identity is shaped by the people. Are you aware of the wealth of grassroots arts and cultural groups and individuals that inhabit Peterborough? As a local artist and founding member of several local grassroots art groups, I am awaiting with great anticipation the next stage of this RSA led initiative.

    In the last few years, and more so recently, Peterborough is changing in the way it sees arts and culture as a way of improving the lives of its citizens. Not just the Government agencies but NGOs and citizens as well.

    There are self empowered, pro-active groups pushing for art and culture provision from ground level upwards. Local grassroots organisations like Blok Collective, View 5, Muddy Arts, Beat This and The Green Backyard, are all working to make better provision in Peterborough for themselves and its’ citizens.

    Are you aware that, through pure grassroots self-empowerment, Peterborough has had a fully running Arts Centre in the city? It was called the Glass Onion Community Music and Arts Centre. It sadly closed it’s doors earlier this year, due to lack of funding. The project was an opportunity that was grasped by local people who ran it for as long as they could, it was effectively a social experiment and was an overwhelming success. It was open every day for 3 years through voluntary effort and goodwill. The project impacted positively on hundreds of peoples lives, it has spawned several of the above mentioned groups, local arts festivals, as well as encouraging and inspiring individuals to better themselves professionally, academically and socially.

    From being involved in that project from its inception, I really understand at a fundamental level, the power that grassroots arts and culture have to dramatically change people’s lives. I also cannot agree with you more that a bottom up approach to regeneration, building a sense of identity and active citizenship is the way forward for us all.

    I, as well as many others, are passionate about making something more in Peterborough and we are actively engaging with local authority and other organisations to do this.

    I commend the RSA’s and PCC’s approach to this and look forward to hearing more and participating in further developments on cultural provision in Peterborough.

    Please do take the time to look at our group’s website (www.blokcollective.co.uk), and I hope you don’t mind, but we have linked to this blog from our home page.

    It would be great to have a chat with you soon to fill you in on the activities and projects that have been happening in Peterborough in the last few years, which have been organised by local artists, musicians and residents, much of which is happening under the radar. If you have a few minutes the next time you’re in Peterborough, please feel free to contact me through the details on our website.

    Have a great Christmas

    Kind regards,
    Stuart

  7. Public Sector Tenders on Sat, 30th Jan 2010 12:07 pm

    8. Public Sector Tenders…

    It’s easy to assume that it will always be the cheapest price that wins. It is not the case in the public sector…

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