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IPPR North
Latest News
ippr north works to deepen democratic engagement across the north, producing far-reaching policy ideas and stimulating solutions that work nationally as well as locally. We are building and strengthening networks and engaging stakeholders across northern England and ensuring there is a recognition of the importance of local and sub-regional policymaking. Our current research projects include public service reform, northern economies, food policy and Anglo-Scottish relations. Read more about ippr north here.
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Forthcoming events
Café Politique
This season’s Café Politique series has come to an end, although we are planning for the next round of events to start in the Autumn of 2008. The Café Culture series still has a number of upcoming events, starting with the Book Group Summit on 19 May where Clare Allen will discuss her hugely successful novel Poppy Shakespeare. For more info on Café Culture click here.
Themes around e-democracy and change were explored at our last Café Politique with Professor Stephen Coleman and we thought attendees may also be interested in Codeworks Connect's Thinking Digital Conference - technology, ideas & our future which explores similar themes. Speakers include Declan Curry (BBC Breakfast), Dan Lyons (aka the Fake Steve Jobs and senior editor of Forbes Magazine, Dan Pink (former chief speechwriter to AL Gore and author of A Whole New Mind) and Greg Dyke (former DG of the BBC) plus 20 other speakers on technology, media and mobile. For more information and to book a place visit www.thinkingdigital.co.uk. This event runs from 21-23 May at the Sage, Gateshead.
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Your call: Youth Café Politique
Our new series of events, Youth Café Politique, which engage with the young people of the region, have been a great success. We have worked with school pupils on issues around politics and power and are very much looking forward to continuing this series of events later in the year in Teesside and Sunderland.
If you know any youth groups or school students aged 14-18 from these areas who may be interested please email north@ippr.org.
Your call: Youth Café Politique is supported by the Association of North East Councils and the Improvement Partnership for North East Local Government
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Research
Social Capital in the North East: How do we measure up?Social capital refers to people's social networks and relationships, and is often referred to as the 'social glue' that makes society work. This research report analyses National Statistics data to compare social capital in the North East to other parts of Great Britain and tests some commonly held hypotheses about the region, such as the North East is a region of 'strong communities'. Click here to down load a copy of the report.
For further information contact Katie Schmuecker k.schmuecker@ippr.org
This research was initiated by the North East Social Capital Forum and commissioned by the Northern Rock Foundation
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Commission on Public Service Reform in the North East
After carrying out expert consultations and developing key methodological documents for the Commission, we are now in the process of discussing them with front line professionals across the North East. We believe it is crucial to hear about the dynamics of relations between services providers and users from those who are directly engaged in service delivery and often feel overlooked in the process of developing or improving services. We will use these consultations to help us refine a set of pilot studies which will be launched in the next couple of months.
For further information contact s.stirling@ippr.org
This research is supported by Humana, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Northern Rock Foundation, Northumbrian Water, One NorthEast and UK Land Estates
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Future of the Union
ippr north and ippr's Future of the Union project is exploring the state of the Union between England and Scotland, the challenges it faces and its future. The next papers, to be published shortly, will explore the cultural Union. Douglas Fraser, Political Editor of the Herald will look at the impact of the media on Anglo-Scottish relations, while the historian Professor Michael Fry, considers cultural autonomy. Please see our publications page to see previous papers from this project.
If you would like to receive notification upon publication please send ‘UNION' to north@ippr.org
This research is supported by the English Regions Network and The Northern Way
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A Northern Economic Agenda
The research stage of this project was completed with the publication of the last paper, Moving On: A Progressive Transport Policy for Northern England, which is available to download from our website. During the Sub-national Review consultation process, we are taking forward our recommendations and engaging with key stakeholders to see them put into practice. One such occasion to exchange ideas and influence policy makers was our joint event ‘Up North: can policies deliver?’ that we organised with IPEG and PSA in Sheffield on 25 April, with the Leader of Liberal Democrats Nick Clegg, Labour MP Clive Betts and Andrew Lewis from the Northern Way as key speakers.
For further information on our activities in this area email o.mrinska@ippr.org
This research was supported by CELS, Deloitte, North West Development Agency, The Northern Way, One NorthEast and Yorkshire Forward
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Food For ThoughtThe UK does not have a national food policy while policies relating to food in terms of production (agricultural and environmental) or consumption (health concerns such as obesity) often operate in silos. In December, ippr north held a high level seminar to explore whether a more coherent and progressive policy is desirable. Click here for a summary of the debate. This spring, we will be publishing a paper on the future of food policy in the UK. In summer we will also be holding a seminar and publishing a paper on food and devolution.
For more details contact j.midgley@ippr.org or click here.
This research is supported by the Agricultural Biotechnology Council, Commission for Rural Communities, One NorthEast and the Scottish Government
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Science Cities: A New Future for Northern Cities and Regions
Effective partnership relations between business, science and local authorities were recognised internationally as a crucial success factor for local economies. ‘Science cities’ are one such form of partnership, which the British Government is keen to empower to increase the productivity of the national economy. ippr north has engaged a number of external contributors to reflect on the effectiveness of the ‘science city’ concept in the British policy context and beyond. This summer we will be publishing a final report outlining practical recommendations on how to maximise the impact of science cities on the performance of the national and regional economies.
For further information email m.johnson@ippr.org or click here.
This research is supported by CELS
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The Future of Partnerships
The Government's Sub-National Review of Regeneration and Economic Development has emphasised the importance of decision-making at the regional and sub-regional levels in England. It is here that the strategic priorities for an area are often decided by partnerships between local authorities, other public sector agencies, business and voluntary sector representatives. This project will place partnership working, regionally and sub-regionally, under the spotlight and consider the prospects for strategic partnerships to deliver coherent, effective and accountable governance.
For more details or if you are interested in supporting this project contact k.schmuecker@ippr.org or click here for further detail.
This research is supported by CELS
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Migration in the North East
Through its engagement in the recently established regional Migration Task Group, ippr north is contributing to the dialogue and analysing the consequences of the last wave of migration on the development of the North East of England. To assist the North East Strategic Migration Partnership in bringing together different pieces of evidence on migration we are doing a commissioned piece of work which will summarise regional migration trends and the regulatory framework. This will inform the Group’s further decisions on what specific policy actions at regional level are necessary to harness the positive impacts, and mitigate the negative effects of migration.
For further information email m.johnson@ippr.org
This research was commissioned by North East Strategic Migration Partnership
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Articles and media
Click here to see the latest articles from ippr north, or read Sue Stirling's latest thoughts and updates on our research here.
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If you wish to receive ippr north's quarterly e-bulletin and other updates please mail SUBSCRIBE to north@ippr.org.
