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.
Delivering the UK Industrial Strategy: Lessons From The Rest of the World
𝘿𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙐𝙆'𝙨 𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙄𝙣𝙙𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙎𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙜𝙮 (𝙄𝙣𝙫𝙚𝙨𝙩 2035): 𝙇𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙖𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙 The UK's new Industrial Strategy, with its welcome focus on city regions and clusters, sets an ambitious course. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥, 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘺...
𝙇𝙤𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙄𝙣𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙋𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙥𝙨 𝙁𝙪𝙣𝙙 – 𝘿𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙍𝙚𝙜𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙂𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙩𝙝 𝘼𝙘𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙐𝙆!
Got an email from UKRI yesterday - with the pre-announcement of the upcoming £500m Local Innovation Partnerships Fund.This is a major opportunity to boost local and regional innovation, growth and competitiveness!𝘿𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙎𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙩𝙝 𝙞𝙣 𝙋𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙁𝙪𝙣𝙙 (𝙎𝙄𝙋𝙁)I worked...
Create high-performing organisations with a high impact: lessons for the new Combined Authorities in England
𝙇𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙗𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝘼𝙪𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙐𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙮 𝘾𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙘𝙞𝙡𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙀𝙣𝙜𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝟭. 𝗦𝗲𝘁 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗼𝗯𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝘂𝘀 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀. CAs were completely new, untested in their local areas, given new funds, powers & responsibilities. 𝗖𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗸𝗲𝘆. Many CAs...
Is your business and stakeholder engagement too low? tips and advice to address this
𝙃𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 To maximise participation in workshops, interviews, and surveys, pitch relevant questions and repeat online events. Consider purchasing business samples from marketing databases to expand reach. 𝗖𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵'𝘀 𝗽𝘂𝗿𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱...
Lessons in Industrial Cluster Policy from Eight Countries
I’ve been taking a deep dive on industry cluster development policies and delivery! Here are the highlights of best practice for industrial cluster development, drawing from eight countries and regions… Ireland: Clear, Consistent, and Long-Term Strategic Vision:...
Six lessons for industry cluster development in regions
What are the main lessons and best practices for industry cluster and industrial development? Synthesizing the approaches of Ireland, USA, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, South Korea, Japan, Singapore and the UK reveals a powerful set of common lessons and best...













