thought experiment. instead of pairing off two by two, what if we change the courtship norms so 20% of the most attractive & immature men sleep with 80% of the women. also the birthrate is collapsing.

Phenomenal that in partnership with @UKRI_News @the_young_fdn will be supporting 10 community research networks across the country with grants of up to £1m each; working over next 5 years to grow the national infrastructure for a more expansive research & innovation system. 👏👏

LIVE 🎤 PM prioritises growth saying “Those with skin in the game know what’s best for their community. That requires us to be bold about pushing power out of Whitehall.” “There is no monopoly on good ideas”. And so say all of us! @HelenGou @right_hereUK 👇🏻 https://t.co/S5BUeFP39v

As UK Gov launches the "Prepare" campaign, let's be abundantly clear: We need more than bottled water to navigate any crisis. A 'whole society' approach requires connected neighbourhoods, equipped to know how to act (together). My piece for @NatPrepCom:

Celebrating achievements of 2,000 young Gold @DofE award winners! Congrats one and all. Last year @the_young_fdn was able to support the summer-time extension of the DofE experience through the @NCS funded #civicjourney - Amazing to see the impact of the #socialaction projects!

We need to get serious about a focus on 'preparedness' across the whole of society. That includes building skills, inside and outside our education system & definitely within our neighbourhoods... A short piece from me for @NatPrepCom https://t.co/QNpfE0X0Hd

Government plans for meeting net zero are at risk of making the poorest in society even poorer unless policies are made more inclusive, report by @icstudiesuk finds

If I was a politician I’d be crying out for calmer, deliberate spaces for people to argue, debate and explore multiple perspectives on a crunchy social challenge. And who knows, it might ultimately lessen the abuse and mistrust that plague their political lives….

Do we think that piece-meal and cherry-picked news bait on social media is an effective route to great thinking and democratic engagement in his country? Or do we think that there are ways of sustaining different kinds of spaces for debate and deliberation?

More people, engaged in more dialogue and reasoned debate about polarising and difficult issues is a *good thing*. This should not usurp or destroy representative democracy; it should serve to inform and enrich it.

As stand-alone interventions to bring wider debate & public visibility of difficult challenges facing the UK, they are not a panacea. But they (and other forms of community & citizen involvement in democracy) are part of what a richer culture of participation could look like

Some #citizensassemblies *have* supported serious democratic engagement and debate which has materially supported representative, democratic decision making.

The very thing that #citizensassemblies seek to engender - reasoned, patient & respectful debate & interrogation of evidence and experiences to inform judgements - has today been flattened into an outrage-inducing message about displacing representative democracy.

A short thread on #citizensassemblies... FWIW: I have been circumspect about stand-alone assemblies being the answer to our democratic woes, but....

Existing net zero transition policies are likely to make the poor poorer and push struggling communities further into deprivation and exclusion, our new report from @icstudiesuk @the_young_fdn warns... It doesn't have to be that way.

Communities across the UK thrive when local people are empowered to drive positive change where it matters most. We're pleased to be supporting @camden_giving on our #CommunityKnowledgeFund project with @UKRI_News. Find our more here 👇 https://t.co/HA9OwGXGaW

WATCH 📽️ | @PurplePatchArts is home to the Purple Research Group, a team of learning-disabled and non-disabled researchers, aiming to make research more inclusive and accessible. Find out more about their work and our #CommunityKnowledgeFund here 👇 https://t.co/HA9OwGXGaW

Thank you @john_tomaney @sarahchaytor_ & @UCLPolicyLab for a very rich evening of discussion… so much more we can do to support renewal of our #socialinfrastructure

Our CEO @HelenGou welcomes @kier_starmer's comments at today's #PBEvents summit, as he says civil society is the glue that binds government, business and society together👏. Read our vision for a new social contract and a culture of #participation at

Forgot to tag! @LilianGreenwood 🙏