Connected Communities' report on Blackburn

The RSA's Connected Communities team launches its latest report on 11 September, exploring how an understanding of local social networks can stimulate new responses to addressing health problems, and new ways of growing local enterprises. 

Working with Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council and residents of the Little Harwood ward within the Borough, the project mapped local connections between citizens, places, information channels, and organisations; and the health profiles and skillsets of local residents. The analysis shows how local social structures can help or hinder the adoption of healthy behaviours, and illustrates how local social assets might be better mobilised to address health problems. 

The report recommends a new way of developing local enterprises by tapping into hidden skills in a community and organising them around specific local social challenges. 

For more information see the RSA's Connected Communities Project or contact Gaia Marcus.