CPD, training and skills in Local and Regional Economic Development
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
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.
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)
Want Local and Regional Economic Development Strategies that Actually Get Implemented?
Want to Persuade Political Leaders to Invest in Economic Development?
Struggling to Make the Case for Innovation Funding?
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
The Growth Sectors Skills Trap You Need to Avoid
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)
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...
𝗧𝗵𝗲 **𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗬𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀** 𝗼𝗳 𝗘𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁
Let's cut the fanfare. Economic Development is not a press release, its not a claim of a golden future in a manifesto or strategy. It's a job, on the ground, in a neighbourhood. In the UK, we've perfected the art of the launch event—the glossy, aspirational strategy,...
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗮𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲: 𝗚𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 ‘𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗜𝗱𝗲𝗮’ 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗣𝗮𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝗣𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁
You have a brilliant economic development plan. You present it to the City Council, the Board, or the Regiona/State Committee, and it dies a slow, bureaucratic death. Why? Because getting the green light to proceed in economic development is a game of two halves: 1)...
𝗘𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿’𝘀 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸: 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙚𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙥𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙘𝙖𝙥𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙡 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙟𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙨
At Economic Development World, we like to think "what if" and how we'd respond professionally to a challenge. Here's our thoughts on this one - what would you do? 𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘷𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 £𝟤𝟢𝟢 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵—𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘰𝘳’𝘴 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦...
Beyond the Brochure: Elevating your Investment Attraction Game
I'm writing and recording the video lessons for the new Economic Development Community of Practice I'm launching later this year over at economicdevelopment.world One of the issues that causes me endless frustration is that many localities in the UK fail to get beyond...
External news
Bloomberg CityLab: Six Takeaways From CityLab 2026’s Final Day in Madrid
Source: Bloomberg CityLab Author: Linda Poon Date published: 2026-04-29 [original article can be accessed via hyperlink at the end] Speakers discussed topics from playgrounds to the night economy. View original article at:
Local Economies (UK): Fixing the foundations
Source: Local Economies (UK) Author: Vicky Maggiani Date published: 2026-04-29 [original article can be accessed via hyperlink at the end] The Department for Transport has officially opened the Structures Fund, a significant new source of capital for addressing...
Bloomberg CityLab: Cities Need to Boost Green Investment for Safety, EIB Chief Says
Source: Bloomberg CityLab Author: Daniel Basteiro, Francine Lacqua Date published: 2026-04-29 [original article can be accessed via hyperlink at the end] Cities are increasing investment in the green transition to protect against the potentially catastrophic effects...
Bloomberg CityLab: Highlights from Bloomberg CityLab 2026 in Madrid
Source: Bloomberg CityLab Author: Linda Poon Date published: 2026-04-28 [original article can be accessed via hyperlink at the end] The conference kicked off with remarks from the mayors of Madrid, London and more. View original article at:
Centre for Cities: City Talks: What these elections could mean for local power
Source: Centre for Cities Author: unknown Date published: 2026-04-28 [original article can be accessed via hyperlink at the end] Chief Executive Andrew Carter is joined by Caitlin Rollison, External Affairs and Policy Manager, and Jess Tulasiewicz, Head of Public...
SmartCitiesWorld News: Cities call for accelerated transition away from fossil fuels
Source: SmartCitiesWorld News Author: SmartCitiesWorld news team Date published: 2026-04-27 [original article can be accessed via hyperlink at the end] At a glance Who: Colombia and the Netherlands governments; C40 Cities; ICLEI. What: Cities around the world are...