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?

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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"
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External news
SmartCitiesWorld News: Woven City officially launches as a testbed for future of mobility
Source: SmartCitiesWorld News Author: SmartCitiesWorld news team Date published: 2025-09-29 [original article can be accessed via hyperlink at the end] Woven City is taking its first steps as a real-world test course for mobility and is a key driver of Toyota’s...
Cities & Communities | Brookings: Lessons from Germany’s family leave policies for the US care economy
Source: Cities & Communities | Brookings Author: unknown Date published: 2025-09-29 [original article can be accessed via hyperlink at the end] The United States has an aging population that is expected to grow around 14% in the next five years, reaching about 71.6...
Combined Authorities (England): Combined Authority backs global trade push
Source: Combined Authorities (England) Author: Bdaily Business News Date published: 2025-09-29 [original article can be accessed via hyperlink at the end] Combined Authority backs global trade push The York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority has approved a £1...
The Strategist: Resilience should be Australia’s answer to economic coercion
Source: The Strategist Author: John Coyne Date published: 2025-09-28 [original article can be accessed via hyperlink at the end] Economic coercion is rarely as dramatic as missiles or armies, but its consequences can be just as destabilising. The weaponisation of...
Combined Authorities (England): New mayoral development zone to ‘transform North East for generations to come’
Source: Combined Authorities (England) Author: unknown Date published: 2025-09-24 [original article can be accessed via hyperlink at the end] The Newcastle-Gateshead Mayoral Development Zone (MDZ) aims to deliver long-term economic growth, housing, and new communities...
News | ESRI: Economic policy decisions crucial to preserve robust economic growth
Source: News | ESRI Author: unknown Date published: 2025-09-24 [original article can be accessed via hyperlink at the end] The economy continues to perform robustly with continued growth in consumption, employment, and tax receipts. Our forecast for Modified Domestic...

