Recent News and Blogs

Sunday 1 August 2010 10:00 by Mark Butler

Storing up trouble

Frenetic action, driven by a quest for momentum and to remove connection with vestiges of the last Government, will cause trouble down the line, and display a lack of respect for the principles of Involvement, whatever is said under the banner of 'Big Society' says Mark

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Wednesday 28 July 2010 15:00 by Graham English

David Cameron, Catwoman and Big Society

Is Big Society a siren call - the Catwoman of political and social change in this country - attractive, ephemeral, and potentially VERY dangerous, in an exciting sort of way?

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Wednesday 23 June 2010 09:00 by Mark Butler

Anarchy in the UK? Or Opportunity Knocks?

We're in an exceptionally confusing, threatening, even anarchic, period for public services. In the face of an unprecedented need to think differently Mark proposes a strategy for leaders who are able to see and create the opportunity that lies within.

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Sunday 13 June 2010 20:00 by Graham English

A Choice Between Scepticism and Hope?

George Osborne's 'Spending Review Framework' sets some mighty objectives for an engagement process without parallel. Are these objectives real and is the process robust, is this 'bravery' as Sir Humphrey would say, or the start of something different?

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Friday 4 June 2010 17:00 by Mark Butler

Hangman accountability and populist performance assessment wont do in a truly Big Society

Will Big Society reinforce a negative, arms-length model of democratic engagement? Will we generate a false sense of ownership to the public and nurture a short-termist focus for the elected individual and by the media? Mark discusses some of the potential pitfalls in our collective and individual responses.

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Tuesday 1 June 2010 18:05 by Graham English

Lambeth Council

Lambeth Council says it has initiated an open commission to progress ideas about a new form of Co-Operative Council, affecting council decision-making and involvement. Others disagree.

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Tuesday 1 June 2010 18:01 by Graham English

Big Society

The Conservative Manifesto was the first major public outing for the 'Big Society' set of concepts. We've done some reading and thinking about the concept in recent months...

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Welcome to Fontis
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We aim to transform the quality of public services, public life and well-being in the UK by improving the practice of involvement, engagement and participation.

We will do this by
  • leadership and advocacy for involvement at all levels across the public domain
  • a membership network connecting people who share our aims Click here
  • an innovative resource centre providing an authoritative and comprehensive guide to practice
  • investment, with others, in effective ways of enabling more people to be involved in decisions that affect them
  • capacity development for individuals and organisations
  • support and challenge to thinking on policy and delivery
Making a Difference

We believe these different components, brought together with passion and expertise, will make a difference that isn’t otherwise possible.

Our aim is to be flexible and diverse, adopting different structures and ways of working appropriate to what needs to be done –- a new model of operating which grows, challenges, supports, campaigns, and creates new bridges which support involvement and active participation.

We’d like you to join us - to show your support for our objectives to find out more about how we work to help us get there!

To register click here

To find out more about each of the work areas, simply click on the topic above