Julia Thrift

A very good read:

Significant detail in the government's #child #poverty strategy: section 1 of the #Equality Act (2010), the socio-economic duty, will be commenced and public authorities will have to consider the impact of their #policies on poverty and #inequality.

Could be transformational?

We're hiring! New Nature Recovery Ranger roles for healthcare sites in Manchester, Stockport, Bradford and London. Closing date - 12 January. Apply now: https://sustainablehealthcare.org.uk/career/nature-recovery-ranger/ #hiring #naturerecovery

BBC Radio 4 - Three Ages of Child, Episode 2: The Middle Years A journey through the landscape that shapes the health of our children.

Highly recommend 'Three Ages of a Child' #BBCRadio4!

@drguddisingh.bsky.social looks into why UK children face some of the worst health outcomes in Europe. Addressing housing, education, diet, the importance of play & community carers – + great projects on all these.

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

Last week I gave evidence to the House of Lords' Built Environment committee 🔻 saying that it's vital that every new #home is of a basic good quality such that its occupants can live healthy lives...

English Housing Survey 2024 to 2025: headline findings on demographics and household resilience Initial findings from the English Housing Survey 2024 to 2025 on the profile of household and dwellings, household demographics, housing costs and affordability, household moves, and wellbeing.

New English Housing Survey out today, and it is still saying that average household sizes are far lower than pre-pandemic even though (a) the population didn't fall and (b) neither did the number or rate of empty homes. Which is a puzzle. www.gov.uk/government/c...

Do listen to this, it's lovely 🔻

And if you can, please donate, to help plant #trees where they are needed most 🍂 🌳🪾

One Public Estate graphic

🏘️ Up to £19.8 million is available to councils in England to support the release of brownfield land for #housing development, delivered by One Public Estate.

Find out more and apply on our website:

www.local.gov.uk/our-support/...

This is really very good 🔻. The thing it misses is that air pollution is a *huge* public health problem: the cleaner air caused by the bridge being closed to traffic will be measurably improving the health of a large population and saving the #NHS a massive amount...

Oh no - not another one!
#planning #nature #environment

A bar graph showing that the life expectancy for females in the UK was lower than all other comparable countries. There is a gap of more than 4 years between Japan at the top and the UK at the bottom.

In 2023, life expectancy for females in the UK was 82.9 years, lower than all other comparable countries.

Veena Raleigh reviews the latest international data to assess how the UK’s health compares to other countries: https://bit.ly/47PQNSQ

UK weather: after warmest ever Bonfire Night when with UK temperatures drop? After the UK's warmest ever Bonfire Night, Helen Willetts looks at how long the mild November weather will last.

I remember the bonfire nights of my youth - absolutely freezing

As the warmest bonfire night on record hit the UK, the BBC managed to report it without mentioning climate change!
www.bbc.com/weather/arti...

The value of public R&D

Government has published one of those quiet but important documents that might get overlooked as it is not 'newsy'. The headline finding is that £1 of public R&D investment generates £8 in net economic benefits for the UK over the long term
www.gov.uk/government/p...

Ambitious £20m plans to transform North East town unveiled The Jarrow Forward neighbourhood board has produced a ten-year regeneration plan for the South Tyneside town after listening to the views of more than 1,000 residents

With some fabulous playwork, youth work, and school-based colleagues - and with local children - we’ve been working in Jarrow to shout about the value of play, so very very pleased to see “further investment focused on a new play strategy for children” in the developing plans of Jarrow Forward.

In 2012 I saw a similar ad, for a finance writer at The Economist. A few months later I got the job. It is not a pain-free application (you have to submit an original article) but I could only encourage you to have a punt.

In Paris, here in October, in the urban park on the banks of the Seine. It used to be a motorway, and now it is a public space for the enjoyment of inhabitants of all ages.

Breaking news: Councillors voted to approve redeveloping Lewisham Shopping Centre tonight amid angry scenes. We’ll have coverage of this on the website tomorrow.

Everyone should read this 🔻

Always a pleasure to visit #Manchester - but even more so now the #Bee integrated public #transport network is up-and-running.

Easy-peasy to get around, even for tourists like me...

Wot no #UniversityChallenge tonight? 😳

Make Space for Girls launch major donation drive for International Day of the Girl All donations will be matched until 15 October by the Big Give in honour of the International Day of the Girl. Make Space for Girls is fighting for the inclusion of girls in the creation of places

A huge thank you to The Developer for this article on Make Space for Girls and helping raise awareness of the fact all donations to our charity are doubled this week:

www.thedeveloper.live/opinion/make...

#wgmf @biggive.bsky.social

UK’s arm’s length public bodies are highly vulnerable to politicisation Seven in ten Britons say it is important for top scientific institutions to be independent in exclusive new polling.

🧵🚨

The UK’s independent scientific bodies are highly vulnerable to politicisation - over the past 5 months I've been working with @martinmckee.bsky.social to map out their vulnerabilities and it's not good news.

Today our report is published!
www.ucl.ac.uk/policy-lab/n...

1/11

No 10 blocks report on impact of rainforest collapse on food prices Downing Street has vetoed release of an assessment that says the loss of the Amazon ecosystem could drive up food inflation as well as lead to mass migration

Well, that's one way of handling global ecosystem collapse

Block publication of research that might raise awkward questions about whether UK govt is doing enough about it

Can't see any flaws in that approach....

www.thetimes.com/uk/environme...

Up for helping with #SlowWays this weekend? This map shows 900 routes across Britain that need just one more good review to be verified🐌✅⭐️❤️

Could you check one... or even a trail of routes? And inspire others to follow in your footsteps?

Take look:
beta.slowways.org/user/waylist...

Why designers abandoned their dreams of changing the world Design was once seen as a tool to improve lives — but as modernism has become marketing, that sense of social purpose has drifted away

#Design is facing an existential crisis, as @edwinheathcote.bsky.social explains so eloquently. 🔻🔻

Design thinking could transform lives for the better (eg in #NHS systems; or wayfinding; or products for older people), but many designers' work just fuels excessive consumption...

on.ft.com/46M9mXI

The same in #Edinburgh. It invested in its public realm to increase walking and cycling and Mastercard reported a 20% increase in local spend.

Many other benefits were also evidenced in the multi year study - despite predictions of disaster, the scheme was anything but.

@theasrstein.bsky.social warns that other countries haven't made a shift from hospital to community without investment, and we don't have the infrastructure that is ready for that shift at the moment.

It's a very difficult equation to make it work with current resources.

At this year's TCPA Annual Conference, we'll hear inspiring examples of community planning & nature recovery, learn what the Planning & Infrastructure Bill proposals mean in practice, & consider how local planning authorities should approach the next year.
Tickets: www.tcpa.org.uk/event/tcpa-a...

Safer Parks: Design only goes so far – we need to tackle harassment We must create a community of active bystanders to make our parks safer and more inclusive, writes Dr Anna Barker on the launch of a new campaign. Professionals in the built environment have a vital r...

Parks should be accessible & welcoming to all. Yet in Britain, women are 3x more likely than men to feel unsafe in a park during the day. We must create a community of active bystanders to make our parks safer & more inclusive, writes Dr Anna Barker on the launch of a new campaign.
shorturl.at/kti7o

#theBeeAt3

Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.

# 179

Bumblebees are aware of the size of their bodies relative to the environment around them.
They know how big they are and can judge where they’ll fit!
Knowing one’s body dimensions is a core aspect of self-awareness.
#bees
#nature
#environment