Local 2.0

Local 2.0 is a Young Foundation project funded by the Department for Communities and Local Government’s Empowerment Fund. We are working with three local authorities, to test how hyper-local media and web 2.0 can give communities a voice. Our three local authorities are Kirklees, King’s Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council, and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.

Kirklees Council, where we are working in two areas of Huddersfield. In Newsome, we are supporting the Newsome Ward Community Forum to put on a series of social media surgeries, which will help local people setup and maintain their own blogs and social media profiles. We then hope to develop a website which aggregates local peoples blogs and other hyper-local information together in one place, that can then be used as a source of conversation and connection for local people and public agencies. In Rawthorpe and Dalton, we are working with the local Neighbourhood Management team to encourage the public sector to engage with the local people using social media.

In King’s Lynn and West Norfolk, we are working with the community – through a Neighbourhood Management Partnership – on the Fairstead estate to develop their own community website. Also, we are working with the West Norfolk Partnership to see how web 2.0 can be used by young people to improve their own quality of life.

In Kensington and Chelsea, our work will be concentrated in the Notting Barns ward, where we will work with local councillors to try and develop an active, online community that supports offline community activism.

Alongside our practical work, we are going to write a series of think-pieces on relevant topics.

For more information about us please visit the Young Foundation website.