Case studies

Coming out of the pandemic many organisations were keen to harness the benefits of hybrid working, but were also acutely aware of the need to ensure workforce wellbeing. This roundtable reflects on the learnings from the past two years and shares insights into how councils are moving forward, adapting their strategies to build resilience in the future and create a place where people can live, work, and study. 

Babergh and Mid Suffolk used the National Tree Map to establish tree canopy cover across both predominantly rural districts, allowing them to understand tree cover to ward level and spatially, along with the value of benefits trees provide us with.

The need to keep residents informed and demonstrate value for money are key priorities for all councils, but how to do you balance the two? Alan Ferguson, web manager at Central Bedfordshire Council, explains how they swapped paper publications for online updates without diluting their messages or damaging engagement.

North Yorkshire County Council worked with the Behavioural Insights Team to apply behavioural science to their communications campaigns during the coronavirus crisis.

‘The Bridge’ is a tool for data visualisation, designed to display public sector data and provide effective economic forecasting and market insights. Follow-on funding was granted to share the project and its learning with other councils.

Local government has an important role to play when it comes to achieving both UK and global climate targets, but how can data be used to plan and implement climate initiatives more effectively? “Project 3D“ is an innovative, data led project that is supporting Birmingham to meet decarbonisation targets.

After a substantial review of grant processes, following two years of highly responsive and dynamic grant giving, due largely to the impact of the Covid-19, the refreshed vision of cultural investment now supports the sector, individuals, organisations, and community groups to develop high quality culture and creativity in Wakefield.

Cambridgeshire County Council: Helping local partners use ‘real' data to address challenges and using a design-led approach to find better solutions.

At Warrington Borough Council a joint environmental and public health team was quickly set up to help businesses to adopt COVID-19 secure working practices and to deal with any outbreaks.   

In response to the COVID-19 lockdown restrictions, the Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) board in Warwickshire sought to review and understand the emerging needs of victims and survivors to prioritise resources and determine their strategic focus.