Author: Elizabeth Cox, Associate Director, NEF Consulting
There has never been a greater and more urgent need for a new economy. In response to challenges around housing and rising land prices, many local authorities are moving people in social and council homes out of their communities. YourMK is refreshingly different in their approach to regeneration.
Communities decide what success looks like
YourMK is responsible for the maintenance and repairs of all council properties, planning and procuring new council homes, and leading the regeneration programme on seven priority estates.
YourMK aims to put in place mechanisms to establish a community-defined social KPI. This will allow people living in the community to set the terms used to judge the success of the 15-year programme of regeneration of seven estates in Milton Keynes.
NEF Consulting is very excited to be working on this project because we believe that change is driven by individuals in communities. When we agree to work on a project, we look for opportunities where:
- People who are most affected by the intervention have control of how this happens.
- The intervention creates real value for those people affected.
- There is transparency about how decisions are made and the potential trade-offs these decisions will include.
How we are supporting YourMK
Our approach to supporting YourMK on their journey has three key elements:
- NEF Consulting will develop a Theory of Change with YourMK’s engagement team for the project to set out the direction of change, the underpinning drivers and how it will be done.
- With the support of community communicators, data will be collected from people living on the estates using multiple engagement methods. The aim is to get as diverse and inclusive a range of views as possible.
- This data will determine the social indicators that best reflect the community’s vision of what success of the regeneration programme looks like on their estate.
YourMK will use the learning produced by this project to refine how to best support a community-led approach to regeneration, a core element of their delivery approach.