CPD, training and skills in Local and Regional Economic Development
- 15 hours of on-demand courses covering the 8 disciplines of local and regional economic development
- Practical workbooks (e.g. FDI from scratch; develop a great project idea)
- Community, chatrooms, discussion
- Mentoring support
- Continuing Professional Development (CPD)
- Training and skills for economic development practitioners
- For less than the price of a conference, you get a year’s membership
Start here:
Develop Your Skills in Local and Regional Economic Development With Online Tutorials, Briefings and Workbooks
15 hours of courses; 17 workbooks
Initial Focus on Professional Training for Executives With 0-5 Years of Experience
Resources for more experienced executives will be launched May 2026
Founder Membership Available Offering Mentoring and Coaching
Click on the button below to access
Testimonials and Team
Glenn (BA, MA, PhD) has 31 years of experience in local, city and regional economic development and regeneration.
This includes executive leadership, project development and leadership, area visioning programmes, leading partnerships, and economic analysis and insight.
Glenn has held senior roles at Futureskills Scotland, London Development Agency, Centre for Cities, The East of England Development Agency, and Greater Cambridge Greater Peterborough LEP.
Glenn also heads up a consultancy practice at Mylocaleconomy; and contributes to the Local Skills Improvement Partnership.
"A Fabulous Resource For Our Industry"
“A big shout out to Glenn Athey who has taken his many years in economic development consultancy and created Economic Development World (www.economicdevelopment.world), the UK’s first online community for local and regional economic development that provides CPD, on-demand lean learning, a community of peers and workbooks. Built on three pillars of accelerated learning, shared knowledge and community support, it is a fabulous resource for our industry. Have a look at Glenn’s video tour at: https://economicdevelopment.world/take-a-video-tour-of-economic-development-world/
“From what I have seen already, this has the potential to create a stepchange in how the UK delivers economic development, putting the skills and development of practitioners, whether newbies or old hands, front and centre.
“Get yourselves signed up, get involved and support this great initiative.”
CPD for local and regional economic develoment
A real live community with interaction, live events, expert Q&A and live cohorts of courses.
Flexible lean learning: learning and skills when you need them
You can access any course at any time, when you need it. Need to learn about FDI for your meeting next week? we’ve got it covered.
A free foundation course in Economic Development
A free 2-hour foundation course for those new to local and regional economic development.
Regular articles, tips, guides and industry news
Short form news and tips, and long-form expert reviews and guides.
A paid membership that includes all courses, resources and access to live content and webinars
Membership gets you access to 15+ hours of courses, that are being refined and expanded all the time – in response to your needs.
Mentoring and coaching
Structured mentoring programmes with specialist expert advisors and mentors.
𝗜’𝘃𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝗰𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲, 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗴𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀
Not because they weren't smart. Not because they didn't work hard. But because nobody had ever explained to them what economic development actually is. What is the mission? What is the function? What are the dilemmas you'll face when public purpose and private...
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗺𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁? 𝗟𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴
I sat in meetings early in my career where decisions were being made and I didn't know the local backstory. Who had tried what before? Why certain approaches had been abandoned? What are the political sensitivities? What the community actually needed versus what...
𝗘𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝗟𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗻: 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗗𝗲𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆
𝘔𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘫𝘰𝘣 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘤 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘚𝘤𝘰𝘵𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝟣𝟫𝟫𝟢𝘴 I thought I was reasonably well prepared. I had read the research, understood the theories, sat in plenty of meetings with practitioners. What I wasn't prepared for was the reality of...
On Sale Today! The Local and Regional Economic Development Handbook
Today's the day. The Local and Regional Economic Development Handbook is now available in hardback via amazon. After two years of writing — and thirty-two years of practice behind it — the book is out! I've also recorded a ten-minute video walkthrough that takes you...
The Arithmetic of Business Survival
What Every Economic Development Practitioner Needs to Know About Business Finance Enterprise support is one of the most well-intentioned areas of economic development work — and one of the most frequently misdirected. We celebrate entrepreneurship, fund business...
𝗠𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸: 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝘁
I've put out some drafts of The Local and Regional Economic Development Handbook to a few colleagues and collaborators for their response, insights and hopefully some words of recommendation... WHAT PROFESSIONALS AND EXPERTS ARE SAYING ABOUT THIS BOOK: “The breadth...