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
How to Get Your Public Funding Approved for Local Economic development
Getting Your Local Economic Development Funding Approved can be a Challenge if You have no or Little Experience in This! Based on our 𝘌𝘹𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘛𝘰𝘰𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘌𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘤 𝘋𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴, here are key tips for success: 1️⃣ 𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀: Know your organization's...
Master The 7 Executive Tasks in Local Economic Development
𝙈𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙚 𝟳 𝙀𝙭𝙚𝙘𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙏𝙖𝙨𝙠𝙨 𝙞𝙣 Local 𝙀𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙘 𝘿𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙡𝙤𝙥𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩: 1 - Set clear objectives for your local economy, programme, service or agency 2 - Develop winning ideas for your local economy 3 - Write a successful board or committee paper for your local economy service...
Asked to Write a Board or Committee Paper About Your Local Economy at Short Notice? Essential Guidance
We've all been there - "Glenn, we (you) need to write a board paper about this local economic development initiative, its due in tomorrow by 5pm. I'm assuming you can get on with this no problem?!" But writing a board paper from zero experience isn't easy. So here's a...
𝘽𝙚𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙙 𝙖 𝙈𝙤𝙧𝙖𝙡 𝙄𝙢𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚: 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙀𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙘 𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝘼𝙙𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙋𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙮 𝙞𝙣 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝘾𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙇𝙤𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙀𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙚𝙨
While the social justice argument for tackling poverty is undeniable, there are equally powerful economic justifications for why it must be a central pillar of local and regional development strategies. Here's why addressing poverty is smart economics: 𝟭. **𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗿...
Ready to Elevate Your Economic Development Game?
𝙏𝙝𝙧𝙚𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙮 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙀𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙘 𝘿𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙡𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙧'𝙨 𝙀𝙭𝙚𝙘𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙏𝙤𝙤𝙡𝙠𝙞𝙩 👇 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗢𝗯𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀: Stop wasting time on vague priorities. The Toolkit provides a proven methodology to transform fuzzy ideas into crystal-clear, measurable, and impactful...
Create high-performing organisations with a high impact: lessons for the new Combined Authorities in England
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 […]
External news
Supercool Ltd: Henry Parkes discussing child poverty at Parliamentary Work and Pensions Committee
Source: Supercool Ltd Author: Liam Evans Date published: 2026-04-17 [original article can be accessed via hyperlink at the end] The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) is an independent charity working towards a fairer, greener, and more prosperous society....
Upjohn Research: Are the Self-Employed Really Their Own Boss?: Evidence on the Degree of Autonomy and Control the Self-Employed Have Over Their Work
Source: Upjohn Research Author: Katharine G. Abraham et al. Date published: 2026-04-17 [original article can be accessed via hyperlink at the end] Self-employment is commonly equated with being one’s own boss. This implies that, compared to employees, the...
Regional Economies: World Bank and IMF See Economic Slowdown Across Central Asia and the Caucasus
Source: Regional Economies Author: OilPrice.com Date published: 2026-04-17 [original article can be accessed via hyperlink at the end] The World Bank and International Monetary Fund are predicting growth rates to slow in the coming years across Central Asia and the...
SmartCitiesWorld News: Los Angeles releases latest Climate Action Plan
Source: SmartCitiesWorld News Author: SmartCitiesWorld news team Date published: 2026-04-17 [original article can be accessed via hyperlink at the end] Los Angeles releases latest Climate Action PlanBass made the announcement at the Donald C Tillman Water Reclamation...
Local Growth and the United Kingdom: Towards an industrial skills strategy
Source: Local Growth and the United Kingdom Author: Charlie Jeffery Date published: 2026-04-17 [original article can be accessed via hyperlink at the end] If there is a persistent theme in the ambitions of the Labour government elected in 2024, it is growth: growth to...
Combined Authorities (England): Rochdale Development Agency delivers £14.30 return for every £1 invested, report finds
Source: Combined Authorities (England) Author: Manchester's Finest Date published: 2026-04-17 [original article can be accessed via hyperlink at the end] An independent economic impact assessment has found that Rochdale Development Agency is generating £14.30 in local...