Information, intelligence and insights from the genecon team
Read more about what we’ve been up to and get the latest thinking about place-making and place economics from our team of technical experts and innovators.

Meeting in the Middle on Net Zero
November 2023 | Kathryn WhitakerThe push to net zero is well and truly underway. Several hundred councils have declared a climate emergency. More than half of these have produced at least a sketch of a climate action plan for reaching the net zero ambition by some target date between 2030 and 2050. Now comes the much harder work of […]

EnviroNav: Illuminating Local Authorities Path to Net Zero
September 2023 | Stephen WaltersOver two decades Genecon has earned national regard as a trusted advisor to Local authorities, securing hundreds of millions of pounds for the delivery of transformational capital projects. In this time we have gained a deep insight into the real needs of our clients, and we have witnessed these needs shift and evolve. In 2023 […]

Making the case for a new Eden: Interview with Graeme Collinge
March 2023 | Hannah MayoIn January 2023, as part of the Governments latest round of Levelling Up Funding, Eden Project North was announced as the flagship project. With an award of £50 million Eden Project North is destined to be a nationally important project that will transform both the landscape and economic fabric of Morecambe and indeed the wider […]

Maximising the wider benefits of place-based housing retrofit projects
February 2023 | Rufus MitchellResidential buildings are estimated to consume almost a third of the UK’s energy supply and be responsible for 16% of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions (source). Since the 1990s the UK government has delivered a variety of large-scale housing retrofit programmes (and the decarbonisation of the UK’s energy supply) as a mechanism for achieving a […]

Understanding people to make places safe
January 2023 | Claire ChapmanUnderstanding crime, including where it comes from and how people engage with it is important. It helps us understand places and address issues that may arise from crime and how to prioritise safety. Whether inside or outside, at home, or in the public domain, when people feel safe and not at risk of harm, they […]

Psychogeography, the missing link in ESG?
January 2023 | Dr Jason FrostEnvironmental, social and governance (ESG) represents a tripartite prism through which to take decisions, to capture value or to define a new corporate (or other) strategy. At its root it is about tackling the various externalities; structures or conditions, which serve to promote or reinforce an unequal or dominant form of control (however this […]

Why are there two Es in ESG?
December 2022 | Prof Douglas Crawford-BrownThe ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) movement began in the late 20th century as a rejoinder to a narrow focus of business on bottom-line profit (Economy). It is a movement that places equal value on the environmental impacts of a business, the effects it has on the social fabric of its employees and the communities […]

Manufacturing, A Potential use in Town and City Centres?
October 2022 | Rufus MitchellA recent policy focus from Central Government has been to reverse the persistent decline of the town and city centres. To achieve this, funding streams such as the Future High Streets Fund (FHSF), Towns Fund and Levelling-up Fund (LUF) allowed Local Authorities to bid for funding to deliver capital projects that increase footfall and dwell […]

How local government finance works
October 2022 | Dr John LiveseyHow local government finance works – what is the outlook and implications for future capital schemes? Since the austerity agenda that began with the Conservative – Lib Dem coalition government in 2010, local councils have become used to annual reductions in central government funding. Steadily reducing grants have placed increasing financial pressure on councils, along […]

What lessons can we learn from international development for levelling up in the UK?
October 2022 | Dr Jonathan MitchellWestern donors spent US$179bn on international aid in 2021 and have transferred between 0.25% and 0.5% of their Gross National Income (GNI) into aid for decades[1]. The UK Government cut its aid budget to £11.4bn in 2021 – over double the £4.8bn allocated to the second round of the Levelling Up Fund (LUF2). We highlight […]