Best Practice in Politics
We curate exemplary political work that successfully tackles today’s most pressing issues. This platform is a hub of tried and tested best practices in politics.
4 Day Week Campaign
The 4 Day Week campaign advocates for a shorter working week with no loss of pay, helping workers achieve better working conditions and overall work-life balance.
A Council that Cares: Including Care Experienced Young People in Local Democracy
This initiative by Cumberland Council champions care-experienced children and young people, tackling inequalities and empowering their voices across employment, education, and community opportunities.
Aspire Dundee
The programme is using a range of cultural activities – including dance, drama, and music –as an innovative way of tackling deprivation and building the self-confidence of children in Scotland.
Basic Income for Care Leavers in Wales Pilot
The Welsh Government’s basic income pilot tests how a limited period of basic income payments helps support care leavers in Wales to transition from care into adulthood.
Be-More
Be-More is an online platform which simplifies the search for a suitable apprenticeship in Liverpool.
Big Bocs Bwyd
Big Bocs Bwyd empowers future generations to care about the food they eat, understand how it is produced, and learn about how they can live healthy lives.
Binit Better: streamlining waste services
A flexible and responsive waste-collection service is designed to help businesses take control of their waste.
Bristol’s First Citizens’ Assembly
A representative group of citizens discuss three challenging topics and make recommendations which will inform the city’s plans for the future.
Can Do Bristol – Give, Live, Love Bristol
Bristol’s unique “One City” governance structure allows the city to face the corona crisis with resilience, as volunteers, politicians, communities, and the public and private sector work together holistically.
Community Power
Community Power brings low-income communities together with Cumberland Council to co-create new ways to work together.
Connected Communities
Migrants are welcomed and supported through this community programme which helps them integrate into life in the UK.
Crowdfund Angus
The local authority in a remote location backs a crowdfunding platform to appeal to faraway investors.
Economies for Healthier Lives
Salford bridges health and economy to empower communities and tackle inequality through innovative social enterprise.
EVERY ONE EVERY DAY – BARKING AND DAGENHAM
A collaboration engages locals in community business, joint cooking, and creative and social activities in one of London’s poorest boroughs, focusing on the community’s ideas and energies.
Frome Community Fridge
One community fridge saves 90,000 food items per year from being wasted whilst providing a unique opportunity for social connections to form.
Haringey Together
Covid-19 brings people together in a London district experiencing deprivation, through phone volunteering, food parcel delivery, donations, Mutual Aid Groups, and more.
Helix (Newcastle)
Newcastle runs a project for innovative ideas in the form of a science and innovation centre that focuses on sustainable solutions for the city.
Home-Made Bristol
This project focuses on practical, ecological, community-based housing solutions by creating a range of housing types, including self-build and self-finish homes, to meet local housing needs.
Improving Outcomes for Young Black Men in Hackney
The integrative approach creates better opportunities for disadvantaged young black men, harnessing successful potential, building on existing success, increasing visibility, and tackling stereotypes in the media.
Jo Cox Commission on Loneliness
The Commission wants to get conversations started, to fight the widespread problem of loneliness, amongst the community and between private and public organisations.
Kindred LCR
A progressive investment fund supports community-led businesses and socially trading organisations to create wealth and collective social impact in places not reached by the wider economy.
Liverpool Budget Simulator
A budget simulator enables citizens to better understand budgetary constraints in Liverpool after the city shifts from industrialisation to digitalisation.
London Ealing Council – Trees for Cities Partnership
The urban Borough of Ealing sets up a comprehensive tree strategy, including free fruit for all residents from orchards, planted on public land.
MiFriendly Cities
A unique, multi-sectoral project brings together migrants, employers, citizens, and other services, to establish strong communities, build businesses, improve people’s lives, and foster integration.
Modular Housing Sites for Homeless Families in Ealing
Modified shipping containers provide long-term and high-quality housing for homeless families.
No Wrong Door
Structural changes within council care break the negative cycle for young people, with the introduction of comprehensive, multidisciplinary teams.
Oldham Social Prescribing Innovation Partnership
An innovative partnership between public services, healthcare, and the voluntary sector, brings a more holistic, long-term approach to health and well-being – social prescribing – to reduce social isolation, strengthen community ties, and help people access support.
People-Owned Wind Turbine Against Fuel Poverty
Fractional co-ownership of a large-scale wind turbine means hundreds of households can generate their own renewable and affordable energy, demonstrating that cooperative consumer ownership and generation works.
Phosphoros Theatre
Phosphoros Theatre builds bravery, creativity, and belonging for young refugees and asylum seekers, co-delivered by practitioners who have experienced forced migration.
Plymouth 1000 Club
This collaborative platform fosters efficient connections between employers and the young in Plymouth, delivering thousands of job opportunities at a low cost.
Plymouth’s Social Enterprise Investment Fund
This initiative results from imaginative political leadership linked to key officer support, enhancing the already extensive network of organisations and individuals who work together to promote and grow social enterprise through coordinated investments.
Project HELIX
Project HELIX supports food and drink businesses of all sizes in Wales, ensuring they have access to world-leading thinking and support.
ProxyAddress
People without a fixed address can use a ProxyAddress through a period of instability to receive assistance and access to needed services and get their lives back on track.
Re-Use Network
A programme aims to reduce the amount of waste in landfills by upcycling furniture and making it available for people in need.
Robin Hood Energy – Nottingham
A council-owned utility firm combats disproportionate energy pricing in the private sector with renewable sources at an affordable price.
Salford Credit Union
Financial exclusion is countered by a supportive credit union in Salford, offering an alternative to banks and loan sharks.
South London Special Educational Needs Commissioning
A collaboration of London boroughs beyond political boundaries establishes better, lower-cost special educational needs services.
Sugar Smart Bristol
Sugar Smart Bristol helps citizens become aware of their own sugar consumption, hidden sugars in foods, and how to make healthier choices.
The Bristol Pound
A local and complementary currency keeps local money circulating in Bristol and the former County of Avon.
The CANN Project – Collaborative Action for the Natura Network
A cross-border environmental project improves the condition of special areas of conservation, resulting in cleaner water, reduced flood risk and increased biodiversity and carbon capture.
The Imagine! Belfast Festival of Ideas & Politics
The Imagine! Belfast Festival of Ideas and Politics invites you to imagine new ideas on politics and culture and discuss contemporary political and societal issues.
The Loop – East London’s Circular Economy Hub
The Loop is a circular economy hub in Hackney Wick, East London, that repurposes an underutilised warehouse into space for circular and creative businesses, fostering local economic growth while promoting waste reduction and sustainable practices.
The Skill Mill Newcastle
Structured training and the resulting employment opportunities methodically provide new perspectives to young ex-offenders.
Uist and Barra Public Bus Redesign Project – Outer Hebrides
Participatory procurement for local bus lines generates higher satisfaction rates and lower costs, leading to community councils reviewing timetables and contracts twice per year.
4 Day Week Campaign
The 4 Day Week campaign advocates for a shorter working week with no loss of pay, helping workers achieve better working conditions and overall work-life balance.
A Council that Cares: Including Care Experienced Young People in Local Democracy
This initiative by Cumberland Council champions care-experienced children and young people, tackling inequalities and empowering their voices across employment, education, and community opportunities.
Aspire Dundee
The programme is using a range of cultural activities – including dance, drama, and music –as an innovative way of tackling deprivation and building the self-confidence of children in Scotland.
Basic Income for Care Leavers in Wales Pilot
The Welsh Government’s basic income pilot tests how a limited period of basic income payments helps support care leavers in Wales to transition from care into adulthood.
Be-More
Be-More is an online platform which simplifies the search for a suitable apprenticeship in Liverpool.
Big Bocs Bwyd
Big Bocs Bwyd empowers future generations to care about the food they eat, understand how it is produced, and learn about how they can live healthy lives.
Binit Better: streamlining waste services
A flexible and responsive waste-collection service is designed to help businesses take control of their waste.
Bristol’s First Citizens’ Assembly
A representative group of citizens discuss three challenging topics and make recommendations which will inform the city’s plans for the future.
Can Do Bristol – Give, Live, Love Bristol
Bristol’s unique “One City” governance structure allows the city to face the corona crisis with resilience, as volunteers, politicians, communities, and the public and private sector work together holistically.
Community Power
Community Power brings low-income communities together with Cumberland Council to co-create new ways to work together.
Connected Communities
Migrants are welcomed and supported through this community programme which helps them integrate into life in the UK.
Crowdfund Angus
The local authority in a remote location backs a crowdfunding platform to appeal to faraway investors.
The Winners
of the Innovation in Politics Awards 2024
DEC112 – Digital Emergency Communication 112
In 2019, DEC112 was launched to provide an alternative to speech-based emergency communication by implementing a text-based service.
Condominium E-Voting – Successful E-Democracy
Condominium E-Voting allows residents to communicate their housing issues in a quick, easy, and safe manner, enhancing their engagement in the decision-making process and improving the efficiency of services.
SeaProtectorOne, Aarhus
The SeaProtectorOne robot is installed at the river mouth in Aarhus, where the river flows into the harbour, removing rubbish before it enters the sea.
