● The Living Places Network
A peer network for people leading change in place
The Living Places Network is a UK-wide peer learning and support network for practitioners working to lead social, economic and environmental change in their communities.
Place-based work can be powerful, but it can also be isolating. Many practitioners are working deeply in their communities without regular opportunities to connect with others doing similar work.
The network exists to bring these people together, to share learning, build relationships and strengthen the connective tissue between places.
Why the network exists
Across the UK, people are working to reshape their towns, neighbourhoods and landscapes. But too often this work happens in isolation.
The Living Places Network exists to create a space where practitioners can:
share learning from their places
support each other through challenges
build relationships and collaborations
strengthen the wider movement for place-based change
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The Living Places Network is a peer learning and support network for practitioners across the UK who are working in place with their communities.
Members include people leading CICs, community organisations, grassroots initiatives and place-based programmes.
Most are:
• rooted in the communities where they live
• working alongside neighbours rather than at a distance
• experimenting with participatory and community-led approaches
• exploring systems change through practical work in place
The network is currently a small and growing group of more than 20 practitioners across the UK.
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Being part of the network includes:
• regular peer gatherings and conversations
• monthly knowledge sharing sessions
• opportunities to explore each other’s work and places
• informal support and collaboration
• shared reflection on what we are learning across different places
We meet online once a month and are beginning to explore in-person gatherings, study visits and shared events.
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Our knowledge sharing sessions explore practical questions emerging from place-based work.
Recent conversations have included:
• river guardianship and community stewardship
• place-based action as systems change
• community organising approaches
• alternative metrics and indicators for change
Insights from these sessions are captured and shared through articles and reflections on our Substack.
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The network is for people who:
• are actively working in or alongside communities
• care deeply about place and long-term change
• are curious and reflective about their practice
• want to learn with others doing similar work
• value generosity, care and shared responsibility