We believe in the potential of governments to support everyone to thrive
But government models built on the New Public Management paradigm - of “markets, managers and metrics” - are broken and in urgent need of reform. This way of working makes it much harder for governments to help people create good outcomes in their lives.
Our team in Europe supports those working in and around government by acting as a learning partner. In this role, we support changemakers to bring about a transformation in public management practice. We believe this transformation is necessary for our vision for government to be realised, and ultimately, for governments to work better for everyone.
What we do in Europe
As a charity, we work with people in government, the public sector and civil society, to build the mindsets, knowledge, skills and tools needed to bring about a transformation in public services.
Our support is focused on achieving three objectives:
Reimagining relationships between government, people and planet
We research, develop and test inclusive approaches to community engagement to help strengthen relationships between government, people and the environment.
We work with partners from across systems to help them work better together and with their communities.
For instance, we collaborated with the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation to develop our understanding of the most effective methods to engage the public around climate change.
Redesigning public services
We work with partners to redesign public services, so that relationships are prioritised and people’s needs are put first. We are building significant expertise in children’s and adult social care, physical and mental health, multi-agency working and many other areas. Our partners include the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, Warrington and Wandsworth local authorities, Healthcare Improvement Scotland and Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear (CNTW) NHS Trust.
CPI has also contributed significantly to the development of the Human Learning Systems approach. This is a radically different way of doing public management that is being pioneered by 50+ organisations and was created by our visiting Professor Toby Lowe. We are supporting public sector organisations to apply the Human Learning Systems approach, and learn more about what this could mean for those they serve.
Building learning environments
We create tools, frameworks and resources for partners, to enable them to test and experiment with new ways of working and make learning central to their work.
Experimentation and learning are both the method and strategy for change. We have described this approach in terms of “learning as management strategy”. We are supporting partners to centre learning and experimentation in their work, such as the United Nations Development Programme, Collaborative Newcastle, and The Centre for Ageing Better.
Some of our recent work
Who we work with
We’ve worked with public sector organisations, government, academic institutions, charities and foundations across Europe to explore how we can make government more effective and trusted to work for everyone.
Partner testimonials
"CPI worked with the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (UK Branch) to understand effective ways to engage the public on meaningful behaviour change that can aid in achieving net-zero emissions goals. CPI was able to activate its network and deep knowledge to interpret our brief and deliver a sophisticated output that resonated with policy-makers and practitioners."
"CPI has been invaluable to Frontline and has filled our skill gaps patiently and expertly through a partnership of equality where Frontline can bring its subject matter expertise and its networks, with CPI contributing expert project management, government relations abilities and policy excellence. Without CPI we would not have advanced our “Blueprint for Children's Social Care” to a live test and learn site."
"Working with CPI was a great experience. They brought rigour, creativity and challenge to our work together, taking our initial brief and developing it flexibly with us, in response to what we were learning as we went along. Their work was instrumental in helping us develop and refine our programmatic theory of change, which identified our core purpose, and the means by which we could achieve that purpose – in our case, to build trusting relationships, through effective and structured collaboration."
We are an experienced international team of former civil servants, researchers, and communicators who are passionate about reimagining government.
Get in touch
Are you ready to reimagine government with us? Get in touch and let’s have a conversation about how we can work together.
Centre for Public Impact Europe is a charitable company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales, company number 12436197, charity number 1193597. Our registered office is 30 Stamford Street, 4th Floor Alto Building, SE1 9LQ, United Kingdom. More information on CPI's overall governance structure can be found here.
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