Quarterly Round-up

Over the last quarter, we've continued to provide a local perspective on headline topics, highlighting best practice case studies and fresh thinking and research. We’ve also explored some often-overlooked topics, showcasing innovation and inspiration.

Looking ahead for the year, we also have a number of topics we’d especially love to hear from you on. If you’d like the chance to share your organisation’s story on a global platform, check out our blog here for a guide to upcoming edition themes and how to get involved.

Thank you for reading Global Local. Please feel free to get in touch with your ideas for this service or to share your story. You can follow us on Twitter or share this newsletter to help us reach more global local government innovators.

We also took a deeper dive into how local government can help communities deal with extreme heat; an increasing concern for areas around the world affected by climate change. This edition featured a piece by Daniella Levine Cava, Mayor of Miami-Dade County, discussing the work she is leading to understand and adapt to this challenge in a coordinated and equitable manner.

To celebrate Pride this year we put a spotlight on how municipalities can visibly welcome, support and celebrate their LGBTQIA+ communities, alongside a new bundle on showing our civic pride. This edition from June included a fantastic interview with Carl Austin-Behan, Manchester’s first openly gay Mayor and LGBTQ+ Adviser for the current Mayor, who gave advice on organising effective community-led Pride events and how to make LGBTQ+ issues visible in local government all year round:

We also took a look at policies to end rough sleeping, including housing first policies around the world and whether the ever-popular tiny houses or shipping container builds can be a helpful tool against homelessness.

Planning for coastal protection against erosion and other threats can be a big headache for coastal communities, so we highlighted different methods for envisioning and reducing risk, with emphasis on best practices with environmental co-benefits. Our featured piece questioned the consensus on protection at all costs, pointing to hard conversations on priorities being had in the US over managed retreat approaches.

Our most recent edition of Global local focused on deliberative democracy and citizen’s assemblies, drawing on case studies from Belgium and Ireland. We loved an inspiring twist on the idea from Japan, where these meetings combined with a futuristic role-play to help older generations empathise with younger people’s needs.

Combining our work with case studies from around the world, this edition on anchor institutions explored how local governments can intentionally use anchor approaches to collaborate, grow local productivity, and effectively achieve social outcomes and place-based wellbeing.

As part of our May edition on skills for councillors, we asked you to choose the top three skills you believe are most essential for councillors to thrive in their roles.

These top three most essential skills show the perceived value of supporting and learning from others in the council and community, expressing thoughts and policy clearly, and prioritising long-term thinking.

Collaboration and scrutiny were voted as the fourth and fifth most essential skills for councillors, followed by time management skills.

If you would like to share a story on our blog or a strategy from your council, fill in this simple form or drop me a line at ingrid.koehler@lgiu.org.

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