CPD, training and skills in Local and Regional Economic Development

EDW Logo in White with Transparent Background

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 32 years of working in the field

  • 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
Download the Course Prospectus
Cover image of the Local and Regional Economic Development Handbook

The Local and Regional Economic Development Handbook

The Practitioner’s Guide for Everyone Whose Work Shapes Places and Economies

Whether you work in planning, property, higher education, skills, government, or community development — the economic forces reshaping UK places are directly reshaping your work. And if you work in economic development itself, you’ve never had a handbook like this one.

The Local & Regional Economic Development Handbook is the comprehensive, honest, practitioner-authored guide to how local economies work, why economic development so often fails to deliver what it promises, and what those working in and around the field can do differently.

CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT MORE

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)

plus icon

Want Local and Regional Economic Development Strategies that Actually Get Implemented?

plus icon

Want to Persuade Political Leaders to Invest in Economic Development?

plus icon

Struggling to Make the Case for Innovation Funding?

Glenn Standing at Podium Speaking at a Conference

Founded by Glenn Athey, an Economic Development Professional and Advisor With 32 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

Dec 13, 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 – download the workbook by registering here. The single feature that separates successful initiatives […]

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗟𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝗙𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 (𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗗𝗼 𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗜𝘁)

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗟𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝗙𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 (𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗗𝗼 𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗜𝘁)

Dec 11, 2025 | , , , ,

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗟𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝗙𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 (𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗗𝗼 𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗜𝘁) Does your local economy have plenty of labour demand and desperate employers who can't get the workforce and skills they need? As well as unemployed residents who "can't find work?" The problem...

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

External news