Themes

Best practice

Showcase - best practice
Our website of case studies to inform and inspire. Showcase highlights projects that contribute to creating better communities. These examples give practical insight into developing sustainable communities. Visit Showcase at showcase.homesandcommunities.co.uk Before creating Showcase we researched which sources of best practice knowledge are already used by sustainable communities practitioners and how we can make this better. We're grateful to our stakeholders for their help with this research.
Cohesive communities debate findings published
Our second online debate, In the midst of a recession how can we develop cohesive communities , took place in spring 2009 The main findings were
How to Meet the Code for Sustainable Homes
Lessons from current practice This half-day seminar will provide practical and timely information on how to meet the Code which you can take away and apply to your own projects. All new homes will have to meet the CO 2 reduction target of Level 3 of the Code for Sustainable Homes (25% lower than current Building Regulations) from next year onwards with a timetable of tougher targets over coming years. An increasing number of local planning authorities require new homes to achieve certain Code levels.
Sustainable Communities in Practice
An opportunity to explore sustainable communities principles and policies combined with a hands on practical session, where you can apply these to Thetford, a historic market town facing significant growth challenges. More information and booking form
Sustainable Communities: What next for the skills agenda?
Five years on from the Egan Review, this free conference will explore what’s expected of practitioners and employers within the sustainable communities sector and consider the types of skills required to address current challenges. Strong skills and the transfer of knowledge between professionals are central to meeting the needs of local communities and we're leading the way by developing the Delivering Better Skills for Better Places action plan to co-ordinate the sectors efforts to tackle skills shortages. This interactive conference will focus on the ways higher education can provide practitioners and employers with skills and workplace competencies. If you are a housing, regeneration, planning, landscape or urban design professional this conference will provide you with the chance to discuss the opportunities and challenges of employer engagement in professional learning and development.
Homes & Communities Academy Awards 2009
Celebrate the sector's most innovative developments and community-based projects at the Homes & Communities Academy Awards 2009. Join 500 key figures from the Homes & Communities Agency, central government and the public and private sectors at this very special black tie event. The evening comprises of:
Future Communities website
futurecommunities.net is all about community participation and place management, it's been created to help people who build communities. The site shows well presented, clear examples of projects that have created sustainable communities. Additionally the site provides background guidance for people to implement on their own development projects.
Leadership of Place in the Knowledge Based Economy
This research and development project looks at what leadership of place will entail in the future, and how future leaders can be prepared for this role. It aims to understand and explain the strategic leadership challenges in a new context - economic development, planning and regeneration activity in the knowledge-based economy (KBE). The project has involved consultation events and workshops with leaders across the public and private sector in the UK and Europe, and the development of six case studies were chosen to examine the role of strategic leadership in place-shaping initiatives. You can download the research summary, full report and case studies as PDF files - they are listed on the right
Projects invited to enter Government's awards for sustainable communities
The Government’s awards for sustainable communities were today opened for entries – by Iain Wright MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at Communities and Local Government, during a visit to the Northmoor community in Manchester, one of last year’s winners. The awards are managed on behalf of Government by the HCA Academy. To reflect the Academy’s move into the new Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), the scheme will now be known as the Homes and Communities Academy Awards. The awards scheme has been running since 2003, formerly as the Deputy Prime Minister's Award for Sustainable Communities and latterly the Creating the Future Awards. The Homes and Communities Academy Awards celebrate successful developments and community-based projects in the public, private and third sectors. They promote organisations, partnerships and individuals helping to transform our cities, towns, villages and neighbourhoods.
Skills for the Future European Symposium Report
An event held in November 2006 produced key best practice case studies. The Skills for the Future event was held on 9-10 November 2006. The report and case studies, which formed the background to the event, examine the skills gaps that exist in sustainable place making and explore solutions. The nine case studies in this report are featured in detail on Showcase - best practice website .
Mind the Skills Gap research
Key report highlighing the skills we need for sustainable communities. This major piece of research was undertaken by Arup on our behalf. Building on the work of others - including Ernst & Young, DTZ, York Consulting, Asset Skills, CIS and CABE - the study provides the first cross-sector assessment of supply and demand of skills required to deliver sustainable communities. It provides detailed information on current and forecasted labour shortages and skills gaps, by profession and by region. Building sustainable communities depends on the efforts of a wide range of occupations, including architecture, planning, civil engineering, surveying, housing, community development, neighbourhood management, economic development and increasingly environmental management. This study provides the sector with an opportunity to assess what we’re doing to tackle these issues and ensure that we accelerate our programmes to meet market demand.
National Action Projects
Our live action projects which were piloted locally and the findings made available nationally. The programmes of work were designed to explore, develop and demonstrate good practice in the area of sustainable communities skills development. Our projects aim to tackle a major issue and identify practical solutions which could work anywhere in the country. We have run three National Action Projects: Blackburn with Darwen : embedding sustainable communities principles in curriculum development and community cohesion in regeneration. Milton Keynes : best practice in a range of issues concerned with community, sustainability and sense of place in schools. Waverley : we are designing and testing a new community governance management model to deliver part of the infrastructure of the Waverley masterplan such as green spaces, community facilities and leisure and recreation services.
Learning Laboratories
We've been working with regional partners on live projects to pilot innovations and test out new ways of working. This will enable us to: Understand the skills deficits in each region, both generic and professional Identify how to increase skills levels and build capacity Develop an understanding of what changes behaviour  Learn lessons from past programmes, present new approaches and allow sharing and transfer elsewhere Demonstrate how knowledge, skills and experience can influence change Build an understanding of each region's position and through this the overall national picture Our regional projects are listed to the right, as well as the evaluation reports to accompany them.

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