Where we live shapes our opportunities, experiences and sense of belonging. Our neighbourhoods are where much of everyday life happens: where children learn and grow, people access services, local businesses operate and social connections are made. Every neighbourhood has its own character, identity and strengths, shaped by the people who live, work, operate their businesses, and spend time there.
Across OECD countries, many governments are taking targeted approaches to support neighbourhoods, recognising that employment, education, health, housing, the physical environment and community life are interconnected, and that some challenges cannot be addressed effectively through mainstream policies alone. Accordingly, they combine interventions across employment and economic development, community cohesion and well-being, and physical regeneration and liveability, creating opportunities to also seize the synergies between these interventions (e.g. housing regeneration that also offers opportunities for local youth to serve as apprentices). With its new international mapping of over 40 area-based initiatives (ABIs) across OECD countries, the OECD identified dozens of past and present large-scale, multidimensional area-based initiatives across countries. In addition to these larger, multi-site programmes, there are hundreds if not thousands of examples of investments in specific neighbourhoods led by local governments, philanthropy, and/or community groups.
This event builds on the Investing in Neighbourhoods: Place-Based Approaches to Social Inclusion and Community Resilience – Ireland EU Presidency Showcase, taking place on Monday 30 November in Cork, Ireland.
The following day, an international and local delegation is invited to explore community life in Blackpool, Cork, and consider how neighbourhoods can be strengthened through local leadership, community-led change and effective partnerships. The day will include opportunities to meet local community members, hear about their experiences and learn more about the initiatives and assets that make Blackpool what it is. The site visit is complemented by peer learning roundtables, where participants can share experiences and reflect on how policy, practice and partnerships can be developed to shape the future of neighbourhoods.
This event is convened by the OECD and its Global Forum on Local Development, and delivered in collaboration with Cork City Council, Pobal, Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht of Ireland.
