The Big Society - What does this mean?

On Tuesday 19th October 2010 @ 19.30pm, at Martineau Solicitors, Geoff Mulgan, CBE, Director of the Young Foundation explored the Conservative Party’s concept ‘The Big Society’. Previously Geoff worked in the UK Prime Minister’s office and Cabinet Office as Director of Policy, Head of Government Strategy Unit during 1997-2004 and before that founded the influential think tank Demos. He is a Visiting Professor at LSE, UCL, Melbourne University and the China Executive Leadership Academy. He also works as a part-time adviser to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in Australia. His latest book is The Art of Public Strategy: mobilising power and knowledge for the common good.

Geoff spoke about the Big Society as an idea that has been much criticised both for vagueness and for diverting attention from spending cuts. He referred to a recent Young Foundation report that sets out how it could be made more tangible and useful. The ten-point plan draws on dozens of practical examples that the Young Foundation and others have developed in fields ranging from community organising to jobs, social enterprise to data management. The report warns of the gap between the ambition of the Big Society and the modest proposals currently associated with it, and of the risk that cuts will fall most heavily on innovative social enterprises and small grassroots organisations rather than big public or private ones. Please click here to read more

Kindly sponsored by Martineau Solicitors.