Chaired by CURDS’ Andy Pike

Second, we are discussing @samfr.bsky.social’s hugely popular book with Sam and a great panel: Martin Brookes (VONNE), Adrian Dougherty (NECA), @sarahlonglands.bsky.social (CLES), Sajda NawazBhatti (Newcastle City Council), Jo Fox ( @newcastleuni.bsky.social) insightsnortheast.co.uk/event/fixing...

Some great events in partnership with @insightsnortheast.bsky.social coming up in October. First, taking a deep dive into how urban innovation districts can be designed to improve outcomes for people in neighbouring communities who are often overlooked insightsnortheast.co.uk/event/inclus...

Interesting big study looking at the geography of public R&D funding in 200 regions across 22 European countries. It supports the @tomforth.co.uk @richardaljones.bsky.social argument that R&D policy can often act as a form of anti-regional policy www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Some CURDS input to this important @britishacademy.bsky.social publication along with many other eminent contributors Research in arts, humanities and social sciences is vital to shaping current and future policy. And most STEM researchers will be the first to say so. History and context matter

Social infrastructure is often seen as inherently 'good.' In this blog we consider, amongst other things, how populist groups in the UK, as well as in countries like Spain and Hungary, have used social infrastructure - practically and rhetorically - to further their causes.

Growing hope for the North East: Insights North East Annual Conference 2025 Insights North East conference at Redhills spotlighted local hope, heritage, and inclusive paths to regional renewal northeastbylines.co.uk/business/eco...

Fantastic piece of analysis here. Spot on regarding the “sector wide” crisis and what needs to be done about it (and almost certainly won’t).

👇👇👇

This new @city-redi.bsky.social report is co-authored by CURDS’ Andy Pike

📢 Our call for the PhD in Regional Science & Economic Geography is out 🧑‍🎓👩‍🎓12 fully-funded PhD positions 🎓 4-year program 💰€16,243 annual scholarship 🏠 🍽️ accommodation at GSSI facilities (or substitute grant) + board ⏰ Deadline: May 23, 2025 🔗 Apply: www.gssi.it/phd/ ℹ️https://tinyurl.com/yhaahejz

Day 3 of the @newcastleuni.bsky.social geography Berlin fieldtrip started with a fascinating visit to @siemans.bsky.social to learn about Siemensstadt, it’s past, present and future

@newcastleuni.bsky.social geography field trip day 2 off to a great start with a lively presentation from Norbert Herrmann from @regberlin.bsky.social about the startup ecosystem in Berlin

Great start to our 2nd year Geography @newcastleuni.bsky.social field trip to Berlin with an urban transect tour delivered by Prof Stuart Dawley

Following the announcement of the #SpringStatement by Chancellor of the Exchequer, our Academic Co-Directors @profkepickett.bsky.social @profbambra.bsky.social @lukemunford.bsky.social & Prof David Taylor-Robinson have issued a joint statement in response www.healthequitynorth.co.uk/health-equit...

The ERSA Prize goes to Michael Storper—a scholar who has made #cities legible, #regions intelligible, and #theory usable. Few have married rigour and relevance with such grace. Fewer still are as admired in print as they are in person. A richly earned honour. ersa.org/2025/03/25/e...

If you are in Newcastle on April 3rd check out this free event launching Kevin Morgan’s latest book. If you haven’t had the pleasure of hearing Kevin speak you are in for a treat. Plus there’s a stellar panel of local experts. @northumbriauni.bsky.social www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/serving-th...

3 months to come up with a credible plan for the North, otherwise @teamlabouruk.bsky.social risk losing the next election warns @andyburnham.bsky.social in this piece in today’s @theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

The pressures facing #localgov are real and complex- different forms of leadership are required to not just survive, but thrive in this context. Our new report Radical Leadership: Power, Possibility and Public Service sets out the shifts we are seeing…

Today’s leader in @theguardian.com

This CURDS event with @insightsnortheast.bsky.social and the Japan Local Government Centre will explore what lessons the North East can learn from the Japanese experience of regional strategy development. In person Registration essential www.eventbrite.com/e/policy-les...

Fantastic opportunity for a fully funded PhD at @manchesterup.bsky.social to work on a really important topic eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com?url=https%3A...

There's a related blog published by @ucl.ac.uk blogs which summarises the key findings blogs.ucl.ac.uk/linking-our-...

Tony Champion from CURDS and Ian Shuttleworth discuss their research into internal migration using the ONS longitudinal study in this podcast linking-our-lives.transistor.fm/episodes/res...

There is an urgent need for government at all levels to adopt a place-based perspective on productivity growth. Read @bartvanark.bsky.social and @andywestwood.bsky.social's blog on the #RegionalProductivityAgenda, released as part of #NationalProductivityWeek www.productivity.ac.uk/news/the-pro...

📢#CitiesOutlook2025, our annual health check of UK cities economic performance, is out now. 🏙️🔎2025 needs to be a year of growth delivery by the Government. What must policy do to boost wages across the country? Read the report 👇 https://buff.ly/3DPaUp0

Can’t be repeated often enough ‘The UK’s creative industries are vital to the economy. Valued at £124bn, they are worth more than the life sciences, aerospace and automotive industries combined. Arts and culture alone contribute an impressive £34.6bn.’ on.ft.com/42hzVmL

Come work with me in Leeds! We're hiring 4 to 6 people. • £35k to £95k plus growth shares. • Front end, back end, data viz, data processing, high perf computing, maths/stats person, technical product manager. Lots of roles. • A world-leading AI company. Happy to chat. thedatacity.com/blog/role-op...

Steve Coogan was born to play Peter Cook. End of story. (sorry @mchshe.bsky.social)

Palgrave have published a book with me, @muldoonsmith.bsky.social and Andrew Walker as co-authors link.springer.com/book/10.1007... It examines local government finance systems in Germany, Italy and Japan and draws some lessons for England. Available in e-book format, hard copy to follow..

🚨 We’re Hiring! 🚨 The Regional Studies Association (RSA) is excited to announce an incredible opportunity to join our team as the Head of Partnerships and Engagement! 🔗 Learn more and apply here: bit.ly/4fMts6s @rsachiefexec.bsky.social @miagray00.bsky.social @drjwharrison.bsky.social

Some cracking reads on Bluesky this morning on devo/growth policy including this. This made us chuckle 🤭 “The idea of sending senior civil servants into new Strategic Authorities on secondment sounds more like a threat than an opportunity.”

Very good analysis of decades of failed industrial strategy and why, unless there is a major shift in govt thinking, its latest iteration will most likely have the same outcome.

Today I argue that the innovation part of the coming industrial strategy looks like turning into a continuation of the status quo, with long-lasting implications for the UK - and the politicians involved.

My initial thoughts on the devolution white paper: inlogov.com/2024/12/19/d...

As we look ahead to the English Devolution White Paper, @rosielockwood.bsky.social and I have a new essay out exploring the different ways in which the footprint of devolution deals can be determined. www.ippr.org/articles/the...

ICYMI - yesterday we published a report on views of mayors and devolution in devolved areas of England. TLDR - areas that have had the most devolution tend to be more supportive. Full report below. Also in: www.politicshome.com/news/article... labourlist.org/2024/12/metr...

Great (if depressing) read. Excellent analysis of the current state of British HE and how we got here

"Councils need stronger place-shaping powers to listen to community priorities and ensure development aligns with these." Our latest report calls for more powers & resources for local authorities to strengthen the planning system that's been stripped back by funding cuts.

It’s not just the lack of in house capability that leads to strategies looking very similar, it’s politics. The second table is from the time RDAs were asked to identify priority sectors.

Does anyone out there have a sensible explanation why @vicderbyshire.bsky.social is not the host of BBC Question Time?

Currently attending this event online....Local Democracy in Crisis?

Happy to be at @curdsnewcastle.bsky.social for the 'Local #Democracy in Crisis?' talk #localism #LocalGovernment

@ariannagiovannini.bsky.social sharing insights from the Italian context

@jesstud.bsky.social argues that we need public service reform before geographic change to local government

@antbreach.bsky.social from @centreforcities.bsky.social sets out 3 options to address current crisis in local govt finance - raise council tax ++, raise central gov grant ++ or reform local financing and devo (which needs mix of affluent and less affluent neighbourhoods)

Peter Hetherington opening this evening’s event Local Democracy in Crisis? with a startling statistic (from research by @carnegieuk.bsky.social - 3/4 of people feel they can’t influence decision making

Should a UK industrial strategy focus on sectors and most productive places (ie cities)? Yes says Centre for Cities. But can the economy get out of stagnation without addressing productivity issues in foundational sectors? Does this approach leave the ‘left behind’ further back?

Finally figured out how to do this (we hope 🤞🏻)