Kinship Works

We'll be there!

@jamestplunkett.bsky.social is on the panel alongside @rachelcoldicutt.bsky.social of Carefull Industries; @hetanshah.bsky.social of @britishacademy.bsky.social; and Emily Bolton from Our Future.

Chichester Community Development Trust — Platform Places Making inspiration-filled spaces that bring the neighbourhood to life – for connection, opportunity and cohesion

In your own neighbourhood, are you working towards...

💚 Safeguarding vital buildings & land for community use in perpetuity?
🏡 Unlocking the opportunity of new builds to deliver community projects?

Read CCDT's story & learn some of the tactics, from council relationships to Section 106s ⬇️

4/ 🧵

St Barnabas church in Homerton, where the grounds have been turned into a community garden. One of my ‘what if’s’ when it comes to revitalising community life is: ‘what if every church did this?’

We’d love people’s input to this! 👇 Where are the UK public sector reformers?

Help map the movement so that we can work out together how best to support it.

Grateful for RTs

It is a free event for anyone wanting to explore:
▪️ why systems that prioritise relationships, act early and work locally, create better outcomes and are better placed to meet people's needs;
▪️ what helps and hinders progress;
▪️ how change is already being put into practice in places across the UK.

It will draw on real-world examples from teams & partnerships already working in this way, as well as James’ insights into the policy context.

For anyone working to turn national ambitions into local action, this is a chance to pause & reflect, connect & explore what makes lasting change possible.

On 26th November 2025 @jamestplunkett.bsky.social will be contributing to an @innovationunit.bsky.social webinar called 'From bureaucratic to human'.

Find out more 👇 (thread) and sign up 🔗 www.innovationunit.org/latest-updat...

This is also now available via a nice new blog section on the @kinship.works works website. For anyone who hasn't read it yet, put the kettle on!

www.kinship.works/blog

Where are the public sector reformers? Can you help us find them?

At @kinship.works, we thought we'd try to map the different public sector reform 'tribes' & where to find them (orgs, events, networks/communities, online spaces, newsletters/publications/podcasts etc) - but we need your help!

Nick Kimber on LinkedIn: “Hello. Can anybody point me to a decent accessible history of relational practice/thinking/ leadership (ideally short form)?” [On LinkedIn, Nick Kimber asked: Hello. Can anybody point me to a decent accessible history of relational practice/thinking/ leadership (ideally short form)? I’m writing something on test and learn…

If you want to nerd out on relational practice, this from @antlerboy.com is brilliant in capturing the depth and breadth of the work.

This is my new favourite rejoinder to people who say ‘isn’t that stuff all a bit fluffy?’

stream.syscoi.com/2025/10/24/n...

Disassembling bureaucracy And reassembling something better

New today! Disassembling bureaucracy - and assembling something better.

We know we need to make bureaucratic services more human. But how? A long-read, using a fascinating case study. With bonus caterpillars.

medium.com/@jamestplunk...

What would the future look like if communities had more say and power, and how would we make this happen?

@jamestplunkett.bsky.social mused this question in an essay for Power to Change.

Spoiler...There's no silver bullet.

How To Spot A Zomble: Tackling Leadership Ideas That Just Won't Die | The King's Fund Join us at this free online event to find out more about ‘zombie’ ideas from a bygone world - ideas that infect today's workplace cultures and spoil all attempts at a better tomorrow.

🧟 In the shadows of the health and care system lurk leadership ideas that refuse to die.

Join our ShiftWorks team for a free online event in November where we'll explore ‘zombie’ ideas that just refuse to go away.

Find out more and sign up for free!

https://bit.ly/4otnAnt

Iterate, if you can The long struggle to create shorter feedback cycles in government

Interested how much debate this has sparked. On the long effort to create shorter feedback cycles in government. How the Service Assessment helps and doesn’t, discoveryitis, and the role of HMT

medium.com/@jamestplunk...

Putting humanity at the heart of welfare Demos is Britain’s leading cross-party think-tank. We produce original research, publish innovative thinkers and host thought-provoking events.

📰 We've been reading this article from Demos about how people are experiencing the welfare system and how in contrast that is to how they (and we) think public services should be run (spoiler: we both believe in relational approaches).

🔗 demos.co.uk/blogs/puttin...

Putting humanity at the heart of welfare Demos is Britain’s leading cross-party think-tank. We produce original research, publish innovative thinkers and host thought-provoking events.

📰 We've been reading this article from Demos about how people are experiencing the welfare system and how in contrast that is to how they (and we) think public services should be run (spoiler: we both believe in relational approaches).

🔗 demos.co.uk/blogs/puttin...

Second, this new partnership between @jrf-uk.bsky.social and @kinship.works - The Centre for the Edge. Helping leaders in our struggling public institutions to support the emergence of alternatives.

bsky.app/profile/jame...

Re-sharing two things we published this week @kinship.works

First, some thoughts on the UK government’s Pride in Place programme. Six ways to make it a success. (1/n)

The Centre for the Edge A new initiative to help public sector leaders support emerging alternatives

How can leaders in our struggling public institutions support the emergence of alternatives? 🤝

Find out about our new initiative with @kinship.works in this blog from @mssophiaparker.bsky.social and @jamestplunkett.bsky.social: medium.com/@jamestplunk...

The Centre for the Edge A new initiative to help public sector leaders support emerging alternatives

📣 Today we're launching a new initiative: The Centre for the Edge 📣 with @jrf-uk.bsky.social

How can leaders in our struggling public institutions support the emergence of alternatives?

More from
@mssophiaparker.bsky.social and @jamestplunkett.bsky.social

🔗 medium.com/@jamestplunk...

Returning power to the people: What community empowerment can do for the public and for politics - Power to Change At a time when the government faces enormous pressure to mount a response to the sense of discontent and decline that the public is feeling, giving communit ...

Welcome news! The government is investing “Pride in Place” funding in 330+ deprived communities. Our research published today shows why this matters.

Read the full report on why community power is essential to tackling discontent, restoring trust, and driving national renewal buff.ly/MIQNu9O

Announcing Kinship Works An alliance for a human alternative

At Kinship Works we'll have a big focus on the granular detail of building relational capacity in reality.

Reach out if you'd like to support work on these topics.

There's more context here on who we are and on the work we have planned for autumn!

medium.com/kinship-work...

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Relational state capacity is the capacity to foster positive relationships, either between a public service and citizens or between citizens themselves.

You can read more about this idea at relationalstatecapacity.com - a multi-year funded academic project led by @danhonig.bsky.social

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We're big fans of the Relationships Project - they are doing great work to build out the field of relational practice. relationshipsproject.org

Traditionally, our goal was to build capacity of public institutions to do things *for* people, or *to* people. We need "relational state capacity".

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Good council: Ealing’s story | Tony Clements I often highlight here quick examples of our Connected Communities work. The RSA (The royal society for arts, manufactures and commerce) have given me 3 pages in their journal to say what's behind it...

This post from Tony Clements is a great example of the movement we're supporting at Kinship Works. Making social connection and relationships a core part of the work of local government.

🔗 www.linkedin.com/posts/tony-c...

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Announcing Kinship Works An alliance for a human alternative

📣 I'm excited to announce a new venture: Kinship Works!
Supporting the energy at the edges - and building a human alternative to our struggling bureaucratic settlement.
More details here, along with teasers on some wonderful work we'll be doing this Autumn:
medium.com/@jamestplunk...

To stay in touch, you can sign up to our newsletter on our lovely (if minimalist) new website: www.kinship.works

You can also follow us here on Bluesky or over on LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com/company/kins...)

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There are already many wonderful people in this movement and Kinship Works will do what it can to help.

We can't wait to dive deeper into the work and build new partnerships. More on all of this soon!

www.kinship.works/projects

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Announcing Kinship Works An alliance for a human alternative

9 months ago @jamestplunkett.bsky.social went full-time supporting the energy at the edges. Our old bureaucratic institutions struggle more each day. This is a movement to build a more human alternative.

👀 medium.com/@jamestplunk...

Our thanks to the many people who have shaped the thinking.
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