Had the induction today to be a ranger with London National Park City. Unreasonably excited. What a brilliant movement. You can read more here: nationalparkcity.london

Theory: one of the big things holding back modernisation of the public sector/civil society is that almost all innovation funding flows via institutions that are themselves antiquated. i.e. organisations with very low digital capability (universities, Combined and Local Authorities, etc). (1/n)

Well worth a read - this is the kind of thing so many of our communities need.

We'll be there! @jamestplunkett.bsky.social is on the panel alongside @rachelcoldicutt.bsky.social of Carefull Industries; @hetanshah.bsky.social of @britishacademy.bsky.social; and Emily Bolton from Our Future.

Join us in Westminster for the launch of our new essay collection, marking a decade of Power to Change and the community business movement and looking ahead to the next 10 years. In-person launch: 18 Nov, panel chaired by @anooshc.bsky.social. Quick register: lnkd.in/l1k8w

St Barnabas church in Homerton, where the grounds have been turned into a community garden. One of my ‘what if’s’ when it comes to revitalising community life is: ‘what if every church did this?’

Question for BlueSky mind: who are the great contemporary sociologists? People writing ethnographic studies of the character of daily life in a digital / social media age.

Oh dear, I'm writing a spicy blog that might get me cancelled by half of Whitehall. In fact the next one off the blocks isn't much better ('We need to talk about the Treasury' (!)). ...

What I hadn’t anticipated is how freshly relevant this feels. In Lynsey Hanley’s intro, she paraphrases Hoggart’s argument: “Men with great powers of persuasion are about to suppress what you know about yourself in order to profit from what you haven’t yet explored. Don’t let them do it.” 1/n

“Each decade we shiftily declare we have buried class and each decade the coffin stands empty.”

This is also now available via a nice new blog section on the @kinship.works works website. For anyone who hasn't read it yet, put the kettle on! www.kinship.works/blog

21st century city triumph. Rented a cargo bike using the new scheme by Our Bike and @hackneycouncil.bsky.social. Booked on the app, easy pick up, dropped off two loads of rubbish at the recycling centre. Good bike lanes the whole way. 💪

This latest post from @jamestplunkett.bsky.social on the Kinship Works project is excellent. Very reminiscent of @hilarycottam.bsky.social 's Radical Help as well work by Camden and also Barking and Dagenham Councils. Feels in the zeitgeist! medium.com/@jamestplunk...

We’d love people’s input to this! 👇 Where are the UK public sector reformers? Help map the movement so that we can work out together how best to support it. Grateful for RTs

Thoughts go out to the London trick or treaters! 💧💧💧🌧️

We’d love people’s input to this! 👇 Where are the UK public sector reformers? Help map the movement so that we can work out together how best to support it. Grateful for RTs

Where are the public sector reformers? Can you help us find them? At @kinship.works, we thought we'd try to map the different public sector reform 'tribes' & where to find them (orgs, events, networks/communities, online spaces, newsletters/publications/podcasts etc) - but we need your help!

Of all the posts I've written, the quotes from this one really stick in my mind. From Winner, Arendt, Ellul, and co. More relevant than ever? On generative AI and not being free: medium.com/@jamestplunk...

Excellent, inspiring stuff. We need to go both deep and wide if we want to change bureaucracies. And this piece speaks to both these ambitions. @innovationunit.bsky.social @kscopehealth.bsky.social @jessmcp.bsky.social

How do we turn bureaucratic services and systems into something more human? A new long read 👇

New today! Disassembling bureaucracy - and assembling something better. We know we need to make bureaucratic services more human. But how? A long-read, using a fascinating case study. With bonus caterpillars. medium.com/@jamestplunk...

New today! Disassembling bureaucracy - and assembling something better. We know we need to make bureaucratic services more human. But how? A long-read, using a fascinating case study. With bonus caterpillars. medium.com/@jamestplunk...

If you want to nerd out on relational practice, this from @antlerboy.com is brilliant in capturing the depth and breadth of the work. This is my new favourite rejoinder to people who say ‘isn’t that stuff all a bit fluffy?’ stream.syscoi.com/2025/10/24/n...

Early birthday present! I’m a bit 😍. The evocative clunk of the buttons and the squeak as you open the cassette boxes

One last Friday share of this 👇

Interested how much debate this has sparked. On the long effort to create shorter feedback cycles in government. How the Service Assessment helps and doesn’t, discoveryitis, and the role of HMT medium.com/@jamestplunk...

I always think that New York Times quote is the dream book review: “Read this strange book closely.”

A new post on the long march to shorter feedback cycles in government. How’s it going and what should we do next?

Iterate, if you can. A new post from me on the long struggle to create shorter feedback cycles in government: medium.com/@jamestplunk...

Iterate, if you can. A new post from me on the long struggle to create shorter feedback cycles in government: medium.com/@jamestplunk...

Are there any live proposals to get DSIT (and/or CLG?) to create a Civic Tech Fund? An initiative to support the UK’s civic tech movement (pro-social platforms like Library of Things, Olio, Park Run, etc) and shared infrastructure for community organising. 1/n

Are there any live proposals to get DSIT (and/or CLG?) to create a Civic Tech Fund? An initiative to support the UK’s civic tech movement (pro-social platforms like Library of Things, Olio, Park Run, etc) and shared infrastructure for community organising. 1/n

Is it an unusually warm autumn? Doesn’t feel that way, but cornflowers and cosmos in the community garden are still flowering. Also, these last two, which I never know the names of.

This is fascinating although I must admit is not a beach read. It makes me think that one of the big trends we’re seeing in government/public policy is the spread of third wave systems theory (into theories of statecraft, PSR, leadership training, etc). 1/2

One thing that's interesting interacting with big banks is that they essentially replicate 100% of the logic and qualities of public sector bureaucracy (the need to taxonomise, sharply demarcated silos/domains of competence, complete inability to tailor, diffusion of moral agency, etc.) 1//n

This is part of an amazing story if anyone fancies donating. (I’ll write it up sometime because it’s a very inspiring and timely example of the power of community organising at this time.)

The most dangerous drivers to cyclists on London’s roads for cyclists *by a distance* are TfL bus drivers. This is really a wild situation when you consider they are the ones employed by an arm of the state.

Interacting with HSBC is such a *chef’s kiss* case study in how impossible it is to escape legacy 🤦‍♂️ You can hear the mainframe creaking. Every time it’s (1) slick digital interface, (2) error message (3) very long phone call to customer service while they grapple with with their systems.

This good. But the point about lame ducks at the end of the thread is right too. We need to people who are at the start of terms of office/properly in power to see the extent of the emergency and do something about it.

My new health regime is carrying my gym bag around all day without actually going to the gym, and then bringing it home, which I have done three days in a row, and let me tell you I’ve never felt better.

Re-sharing two things we published this week @kinship.works First, some thoughts on the UK government’s Pride in Place programme. Six ways to make it a success. (1/n)

Re-sharing two things we published this week @kinship.works First, some thoughts on the UK government’s Pride in Place programme. Six ways to make it a success. (1/n)

📣 Today we're launching a new initiative: The Centre for the Edge 📣 with @jrf-uk.bsky.social How can leaders in our struggling public institutions support the emergence of alternatives? More from @mssophiaparker.bsky.social and @jamestplunkett.bsky.social 🔗 medium.com/@jamestplunk...

New thing alert! 📣 Today's we're launching a new initiative: The Centre for the Edge 📣 @kinship.works and @jrf-uk.bsky.social How can leaders in our struggling public institutions support the emergence of alternatives? More here from @mssophiaparker.bsky.social and me: medium.com/@jamestplunk...

New thing alert! 📣 Today's we're launching a new initiative: The Centre for the Edge 📣 @kinship.works and @jrf-uk.bsky.social How can leaders in our struggling public institutions support the emergence of alternatives? More here from @mssophiaparker.bsky.social and me: medium.com/@jamestplunk...

Sorry, I’m in one of my periodic ‘Liverpool is the best city in the country’ moods. Beautiful in the morning light, great coffee (Hardware Coffee on Renshaw Street 👍), much better bar/pub vibe than London (discuss!), and so on… Also this place does a Snickers Mocha

Some thoughts on Pride in Place, the UK government’s major new investment in neighbourhoods: medium.com/@jamestplunk... Drawing on a range projects we have underway at @kinship.works And hello from Liverpool and Labour Conference 👋

This is my new theory of politics, which I promise is based only 80% on playing Civilization and Sim City. If you build the people Great Wonders they will be happy and rejoice.

One benefit of booking Labour conference late is that I’m staying in Edge Hill, which it turns out means I get to cycle past this beauty.

Some thoughts on Pride in Place, the UK government’s major new investment in neighbourhoods: medium.com/@jamestplunk... Drawing on a range projects we have underway at @kinship.works And hello from Liverpool and Labour Conference 👋