Essential Economic Development

A Foundation Course for Local and Regional Economic Development

17 lessons, 2.5 hours. Learn the fundamentals of local and regional economic development for free.

Access the course via our community learning site. Or subscribe via email to get a daily lesson emailed directly to you.

Access via our community learning site:

Access the course via our community learning site here. The 17 lessons are structured as follows:

1. Rationale for Local and Regional Economic Development
2. Overview of themes and functions
3. Understanding economics and economic trends
4. Megatrends
5. Theory of Economic Development
6. Policy
7. Strategy
8. Intelligence & insight
9. Industrial development & clusters
10. Enterprise & entrepreneurship
11. Inward investment / FDI
12. Labour markets
13. Education & skills
14. Economic Participation, Employability and Unemployment
15. Poverty & inequality
16. Place & infrastructure
17. Low carbon, climate change & sustainability

Register here to get free access to the Foundation course’s 17 lessons

 

Email course: Register below for your 17-Daily lessons by email

Download the Course Prospectus

Create high-performing organisations with a high impact: lessons for the new Combined Authorities in England

Jul 21, 2025 | , , , ,

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 struggled to establish this on the rapid timescales involved. A challenge, I know, but the […]

Is your business and stakeholder engagement too low? tips and advice to address this

Jul 21, 2025 | , ,

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 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗽: 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗶𝗽𝘀: ** Tailor questions to different groups.** Piggyback on existing meetings and events… […]

Delivering the UK Industrial Strategy: Lessons From The Rest of the World

Delivering the UK Industrial Strategy: Lessons From The Rest of the World

Jul 21, 2025 | , , ,

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...