HOW THE THRIVING PLACES INDEX IS BECOMING A DRIVER FOR CHANGE

This time last week, Centre for Thriving Places (CTP) released the 2024 data for its world leading Thriving Places Index (TPI), which analyses how local areas perform against key drivers of wellbeing for people and planet. Mike Zeidler, one of CTP’s co-founders and Board member, shares his reflections on the launch day webinar.

I didn’t expect to be so uplifted by a webinar. Especially one about indices for wellbeing economics. I felt like I’d witnessed a breakthrough moment – that point where thousands of hours of painstaking work produces the eureka moment that gives proof to a theory.

For nearly 15 years I’ve believed radical change towards a different economy is possible. Listening to the Centre for Thriving Places team and the invited panel last Thursday, it felt like the changes we so desperately need may have finally found their inflection point.

You can watch the webinar here for yourself, but if you don’t have 90 minutes to spare, here are some of the highlights – with paraphrased comments – that gave me such hope.

Adrian Coggins, Head of Wellbeing and Place Based Public Health, Essex County Council (c.1.5m people) described how ‘we can use evidence like this to set the agenda and provide the services people really need, rather than being pushed around by the politics of the moment’.

Robin Fry, Inclusive Economies Advisor to the North East Combined Authority (c. 2m people) shared that ‘the TPI framework helps us think beyond GDP with its heavy emphasis on jobs and skills. By seeing work in the wider context of the place, we can invest more wisely to raise standards of living for the whole population.’ 

The webinar marked the release of the 2024 data for the Thriving Places Index (TPI). I believe it’s the most comprehensive evidence base about conditions of wellbeing for all local authorities in England ever produced. That’s why it’s proving such a fantastically useful tool for people who make decisions in the public realm. The only challenge is that with  79 different indicators, collected for over 300 local authority areas, the information is as rich and dense as a rainforest. Cue, another bit of excitement.

‘The shift from annual report to a live dashboard means the measures themselves are a driving force for improvement’

Lisa Groves, CTP’s Head of Research and Insight, showed off a new dashboard, which makes it easy to explore the information in graphs and maps with scores that can be compared across regions, between core cities, urban and rural areas and every English authority down to district level. That was pretty exciting, but what really raised my pulse was to hear how the team has updated, changed or added over half of the indicators.

If the focus of an Index is historical comparison, then statisticians resist change because it weakens the validity of the readouts. But if change itself is the focus, then you want to keep upgrading the indicators to fill gaps and improve the quality of the information wherever you can. The old saying ‘you can’t steer a ship by the wake’ is true, which is why the TPI is often described as a compass. So the shift from annual report to a ‘live’ dashboard was inspiring to me, because it means the measures themselves are a driving force for improvement.

‘The partnership process starts to feel more naturally like teamwork than a series of negotiations and compromises’

One of the other major things that struck me was Adrian’s comment about partnership working. He said the quality and breadth of the data transforms partnership working by getting people to think beyond their own KPIs. The evidence helps people see the mutual benefits of crossing the borderlines of work so the partnership process starts to feel more naturally like teamwork than a series of negotiations and compromises.

I could go on, but then this wouldn’t be much of a summary, so I’ll finish as the webinar did with answers to the question ‘What would you say if you were in front of the nation’s regional and political leaders?’ Here’s my take on the panel’s replies:

• Public money is finite and must be spent wisely – don’t throw it down the drain! Use this!
• Everyone deserves an opportunity to contribute to a region’s success. This really helps.
• This framework really shows what a good life means to people, so we know what to deliver.
• With a focus on growing the conditions for thriving, we can make this a country a much fairer place.

If that doesn’t fire you up, then I don’t know what will. In a darkening world, I feel this work throws a powerful beam to light up what truly matters – and give us the hope we all so badly need. But don’t take my word for it – watch the webinar or go ahead and explore the dashboard.

My final request is this. CTP can report on the things we know are happening – check out this excellent new report with case studies of the Wellbeing Economy In Action – but there’s a lot we never hear about. If you use it or know of anyone who does, please let the team know. Not so we can crow, or charge (it’s free), but to help us show leaders there’s a better way ahead. We are collectively determined not to go the way of the Titanic – a much better compass will help us all not just to stay afloat but even to flourish.

Mike Zeidler, Co-founder, Centre for Thriving Places

• Visit the Thriving Places Index pages on our website here

• You can also find all the TPI resources and reports, including the webinar, here

Would you like practical support to help shift your organisation, community or region to a Wellbeing Economy approach? CTP is here to help. Get in touch at hello@centreforthrivingplaces.org

 Photo by Iain Wells on Pexels