CPD, training and skills in Local and Regional Economic Development

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Expert knowledge, proven frameworks, and practical tools for local authority officers, consultants, and practitioners delivering regional growth strategies, innovation programmes, and place-based policy – built from 31 years of working in the field

Download the Course Prospectus
  • 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 and coaching support
  • Continuing Professional Development (CPD)
  • Skills and training in local and regional economic development

Endorsements

“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.

“From what I have seen already, this has the potential to create a step change 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.”

Adam Breeze, Breeze Strategy

“2026 has to be the year that economic development professionals take the important steps, from policy comment, strategic views, to decisive practictioner application and delivery. Critical is to have an accessible platform for CPD, training, and a focused community to ask questions and discuss best practice and aspects of local and regional economic development. I am delighted that an established and respected colleague Glenn Athey has founded and created this resource on www.economicdevelopment.world .”

Mark Pearson, Head of Economic Development, Reading's Economy & Destination Agency (REDA)

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Glenn Standing at Podium Speaking at a Conference

Founded by Glenn Athey, an Economic Development Professional and Advisor With 31 Years of Supporting UK Economic Development

LPIP Fellow, University of Birmingham

Author of "The Local and Regional Economic Development Handbook"

Latest News and Advice

Build your own SMART objectives with our toolkit

Build your own SMART objectives with our toolkit

Dec 11, 2025 | , , ,

"𝗪𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝘆." "𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵." "𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽." 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗿? In 31 years of economic development work, I've learned one hard truth: 𝘷𝘢𝘨𝘶𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘨𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘦. Sharpen up your objectives 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸...

𝗪𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝗿𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗯𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗻𝗲𝘁-𝘇𝗲𝗿𝗼 𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲, 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗽𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 £𝟭 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗴𝗹𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗹 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆

𝗪𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝗿𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗯𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗻𝗲𝘁-𝘇𝗲𝗿𝗼 𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲, 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗽𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 £𝟭 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗴𝗹𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗹 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆

Dec 8, 2025 | , , , , , ,

This article on green economy opportunities is based on the CPD, training and skills development materials and courses for Local and Regional Economic Development at http://www.economicdevelopment.world/about

𝗘𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗲𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵

𝗘𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗲𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵

Dec 5, 2025 | , ,

Stop focusing on only one kind of Innovation – Novel Innovation, as your local economy needs service sector innovation, adoption and adaptation. This article on green economy opportunities is based on the CPD, training and skills development materials and courses for Local and Regional Economic Development at http://www.economicdevelopment.world/about

The Growth Sectors Skills Trap You Need to Avoid

The Growth Sectors Skills Trap You Need to Avoid

Nov 18, 2025 | ,

𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗼𝗻 "𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀," 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗷𝗼𝗯 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀: 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗗𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗱. We're funneling all our attention into fashionable trends while critical job vacancies go unfilled in stable, vital industries like...

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝟯 𝗕𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗠𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝗘𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲 (𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗙𝗶𝘅 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗺)

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝟯 𝗕𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗠𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝗘𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲 (𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗙𝗶𝘅 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗺)

Nov 11, 2025 | , ,

Welcome to the first ED Unpacked Youtube video. This video series will provide deep dives, thought leadership, and challenge conventional wisdom in local and regional economic development.I've reviewed hundreds of economic development strategies over 30 years and been...

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