Bristol City decision-making is currently driven by the ‘One City Approach,’ which sets out a longer-term vision for change across the city until 2050. MNOC is about working with the One City Approach to bring about a rebalancing of decision-making processes in the city.

Working in collaboration with Locality and Community Anchors from across the city, the project looks to reimagine city governance structure to integrate local and community understanding, knowledge and voice.

The project explores how to draw on the expertise and knowledge of Community Anchor organisations in Bristol to build a picture of what is happening in the city, and to investigate how communities can join together and work on commonalities and shared interests to establish a collective voice in city decision-making.

Discussion document of phase one

This document is intended for discussion - it does not come to a definitive conclusion. The hope is that it will provoke reaction, reflection and extend discussion already in progress.

The researchers developed an innovative ‘sense-making methodology’ that took an explorative, collaborative, reflexive and action-oriented approach, focusing on two aims:

1. To identify alternative forms of economic development generated at neighbourhood level by CAOs, and;
2. Investigate the relationship between CAOs and their local communities

Data analysis has led to two overarching questions:

1. How might we understand the re-shaping of community and city-wide networks and the new relations that have emerged between communities and City Hall in response to changing needs and assets of communities?
2. How can a re-vitalised local community decision- making, reshape the spatial and relational governance of the city?

The document concludes that greater recognition of the essential social value of the work that CAOs are doing would help catalyse their role in transforming the city into a place of opportunity that is more inclusive, kinder and is better able to face future challenges.

Next steps

A workshop with the participating Community Anchors is to be held later in the spring to collectively agree on actions to transform the findings into practice.

Student Research Assistants

MNOC has been supported by student Research Assistants through the Professional Liaison Network. Bringing students into co-produced social sciences research with partners across Bristol City and region, through programmes like the Bristol Model and Civic Research Internship scheme gives students the unique opportunity to gain experience of academic research and apply learning to real social and economic challenges.

Thanks to: