Cormac Russell
@cormacrussell.bsky.social
I animate communities & support professionals/orgs working in citizen space. Books include: The Connected Community, and Rekindlling Democracy. More here: https://www.nurturedevelopment.org/who-we-are/cormac-russell/
Reposted by Cormac Russell
This is great chat folks... weirdly uplifting.
I like the work on the Liberated Method www.changingfuturesnorthumbria.co.uk/rethinking-p... & Cormac Russell always speaks a ton of sense I think.
And let's also notice the (maybe rare) micro examples where we do manage to join things up with people.
I like the work on the Liberated Method www.changingfuturesnorthumbria.co.uk/rethinking-p... & Cormac Russell always speaks a ton of sense I think.
And let's also notice the (maybe rare) micro examples where we do manage to join things up with people.
www.changingfuturesnorthumbria.co.uk
July 14, 2025 at 10:14 PM
This is great chat folks... weirdly uplifting.
I like the work on the Liberated Method www.changingfuturesnorthumbria.co.uk/rethinking-p... & Cormac Russell always speaks a ton of sense I think.
And let's also notice the (maybe rare) micro examples where we do manage to join things up with people.
I like the work on the Liberated Method www.changingfuturesnorthumbria.co.uk/rethinking-p... & Cormac Russell always speaks a ton of sense I think.
And let's also notice the (maybe rare) micro examples where we do manage to join things up with people.
Reposted by Cormac Russell
"Often our definition of community says more about us than it does about actual communities." - Cormac Russell / Image by #BornFabulousPodcast
August 1, 2025 at 4:11 PM
"Often our definition of community says more about us than it does about actual communities." - Cormac Russell / Image by #BornFabulousPodcast
Reposted by Cormac Russell
Exploring the Potential of Community-Centred Public Services. Cormac Russell for New Local.
www.newlocal.org.uk/publications...
www.newlocal.org.uk/publications...
Exploring the Potential of Community-Centred Public Services - New Local
This thinkpiece by the leading social explorer Cormac Russell focuses on how to realign the relationship between institutions and communities. He sets out how better understanding and working…
www.newlocal.org.uk
August 2, 2025 at 7:05 PM
Exploring the Potential of Community-Centred Public Services. Cormac Russell for New Local.
www.newlocal.org.uk/publications...
www.newlocal.org.uk/publications...
Reposted by Cormac Russell
- The Connected Community, Cormac Russell and John McKnight 2/2
August 26, 2025 at 12:49 PM
- The Connected Community, Cormac Russell and John McKnight 2/2
Reposted by Cormac Russell
It's not too late: Pick up a copy of The Connected Community by Cormac Russell and John McKnight today, and join us virtually on October 21 for a discussion of the book's ideas. localreturn.org/events/?even...
October 2, 2025 at 11:53 AM
It's not too late: Pick up a copy of The Connected Community by Cormac Russell and John McKnight today, and join us virtually on October 21 for a discussion of the book's ideas. localreturn.org/events/?even...
Reposted by Cormac Russell
Don't just tell communities help will eventually arrive.
But work with them, listen, empower them to develop real improvements with public support.
12 'Putting Communities First' recommendations: citizen-network.org/library/putt...
@cormacrussell.bsky.social
But work with them, listen, empower them to develop real improvements with public support.
12 'Putting Communities First' recommendations: citizen-network.org/library/putt...
@cormacrussell.bsky.social
Citizen Network: Putting Communities First: 12 Recommendations
Cormac Russell provides a clear strategy for the state to rebuild trust with communities.
citizen-network.org
September 26, 2025 at 8:11 AM
Don't just tell communities help will eventually arrive.
But work with them, listen, empower them to develop real improvements with public support.
12 'Putting Communities First' recommendations: citizen-network.org/library/putt...
@cormacrussell.bsky.social
But work with them, listen, empower them to develop real improvements with public support.
12 'Putting Communities First' recommendations: citizen-network.org/library/putt...
@cormacrussell.bsky.social
Reposted by Cormac Russell
Our next book discussion will focus on The Connected Community: Discovering the Health, Wealth, and Power of Neighborhoods by @cormacrussell.bsky.social and John McKnight. Get reading, and join us on October 21 for conversation!
Events – Local Return
localreturn.org
August 29, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Our next book discussion will focus on The Connected Community: Discovering the Health, Wealth, and Power of Neighborhoods by @cormacrussell.bsky.social and John McKnight. Get reading, and join us on October 21 for conversation!
Reposted by Cormac Russell
"It is a famine we could have prevented.. food stacks up at borders because of systematic obstruction by Israel. It is a famine within a few hundred metres of food.. a preventable famine sustained by complicity"
Tom Fletcher from the UN on famine being declared in Gaza City
Tom Fletcher from the UN on famine being declared in Gaza City
August 22, 2025 at 9:13 AM
"It is a famine we could have prevented.. food stacks up at borders because of systematic obstruction by Israel. It is a famine within a few hundred metres of food.. a preventable famine sustained by complicity"
Tom Fletcher from the UN on famine being declared in Gaza City
Tom Fletcher from the UN on famine being declared in Gaza City
Reposted by Cormac Russell
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
@profdevisridhar.bsky.social:-
life expectancy “is much less about your own choices and is instead tightly linked to where you live and the political choices made by your government”.
@profdevisridhar.bsky.social:-
life expectancy “is much less about your own choices and is instead tightly linked to where you live and the political choices made by your government”.
Life expectancy: public health and politics
Devi Sridhar's new book How Not to Die (Too Soon): The Lies We've Been Sold and the
Policies That Can Save Us sets out her hope of living to the age of 100 years in good
health “as a collective endeav...
www.thelancet.com
August 15, 2025 at 5:31 PM
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
@profdevisridhar.bsky.social:-
life expectancy “is much less about your own choices and is instead tightly linked to where you live and the political choices made by your government”.
@profdevisridhar.bsky.social:-
life expectancy “is much less about your own choices and is instead tightly linked to where you live and the political choices made by your government”.
Reposted by Cormac Russell
Greater Manchester’s Live Well programme is doing what more combined and local authorities should: backing trusted local leaders like Leah Chikamba-Mulando to deliver health and wellbeing services in a way that works for their particular community.
www.right-here.org/communities-...
#CommunityPower
www.right-here.org/communities-...
#CommunityPower
Communities lead the way in Greater Manchester’s Live Well transformation - We're Right Here
Forward-thinking councils and mayors are shifting to making decisions with communities rather than for them.
www.right-here.org
August 14, 2025 at 4:14 PM
Greater Manchester’s Live Well programme is doing what more combined and local authorities should: backing trusted local leaders like Leah Chikamba-Mulando to deliver health and wellbeing services in a way that works for their particular community.
www.right-here.org/communities-...
#CommunityPower
www.right-here.org/communities-...
#CommunityPower
Reposted by Cormac Russell
At #StrongerThings, @cormacrussell.bsky.social urged us to make “good trouble.”
His latest think piece for New Local sets out how might we do that in practice & argues that certain things are best done with citizens in the lead.
Read the full piece here 🔗 buff.ly/ffiAs3D
His latest think piece for New Local sets out how might we do that in practice & argues that certain things are best done with citizens in the lead.
Read the full piece here 🔗 buff.ly/ffiAs3D
July 31, 2025 at 10:00 AM
At #StrongerThings, @cormacrussell.bsky.social urged us to make “good trouble.”
His latest think piece for New Local sets out how might we do that in practice & argues that certain things are best done with citizens in the lead.
Read the full piece here 🔗 buff.ly/ffiAs3D
His latest think piece for New Local sets out how might we do that in practice & argues that certain things are best done with citizens in the lead.
Read the full piece here 🔗 buff.ly/ffiAs3D
It is not enough to discover assets; we must connect those assets with one another in new ways that multiply their contribution, power, equity and influence. #abcd
July 26, 2025 at 9:20 PM
It is not enough to discover assets; we must connect those assets with one another in new ways that multiply their contribution, power, equity and influence. #abcd
Reposted by Cormac Russell
"Community is a verb, not a noun." - Cormac Russell / Image by #BornFabulousPodcast
June 25, 2025 at 3:33 PM
"Community is a verb, not a noun." - Cormac Russell / Image by #BornFabulousPodcast
Reposted by Cormac Russell
Reposted by Cormac Russell
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
June 8, 2025 at 9:23 AM
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Reposted by Cormac Russell
Over half due to cold homes, plus damp and unsafe conditions.
When will social housing finally be treated as health policy?
Billions are spent patching up the NHS while ignoring the root causes — damp homes, cold flats, unsafe housing.
2/2
bregroup.com/news/bre-rep...
When will social housing finally be treated as health policy?
Billions are spent patching up the NHS while ignoring the root causes — damp homes, cold flats, unsafe housing.
2/2
bregroup.com/news/bre-rep...
BRE report finds poor housing is costing NHS £1.4bn a year
More than half (£857 million) of this annual NHS treatment bill can be attributed to defects in poor homes which expose residents to excess cold
bregroup.com
June 7, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Over half due to cold homes, plus damp and unsafe conditions.
When will social housing finally be treated as health policy?
Billions are spent patching up the NHS while ignoring the root causes — damp homes, cold flats, unsafe housing.
2/2
bregroup.com/news/bre-rep...
When will social housing finally be treated as health policy?
Billions are spent patching up the NHS while ignoring the root causes — damp homes, cold flats, unsafe housing.
2/2
bregroup.com/news/bre-rep...
Reposted by Cormac Russell
In a new thinkpiece, @cormacrussell.bsky.social proposes 3️⃣ shifts for greater alignment between institutions & communities
Issue-based ➡️ place-based responses
Institution-first ➡️ community-first
Provision determined by public services ➡️ co-produced alongside communities
🔗
Issue-based ➡️ place-based responses
Institution-first ➡️ community-first
Provision determined by public services ➡️ co-produced alongside communities
🔗
Exploring the Potential of Community-Centred Public Services - New Local
This thinkpiece by the leading social explorer Cormac Russell focuses on how to realign the relationship between institutions and communities. He sets out how better understanding and working…
buff.ly
June 5, 2025 at 10:03 AM
In a new thinkpiece, @cormacrussell.bsky.social proposes 3️⃣ shifts for greater alignment between institutions & communities
Issue-based ➡️ place-based responses
Institution-first ➡️ community-first
Provision determined by public services ➡️ co-produced alongside communities
🔗
Issue-based ➡️ place-based responses
Institution-first ➡️ community-first
Provision determined by public services ➡️ co-produced alongside communities
🔗
Reposted by Cormac Russell
One more thing from #StrongerThings 2025:
I'm really keen for library services to be actively present in this space, so here's a list of the speakers' books.
Obviously @hilarycottam.bsky.social and @cormacrussell.bsky.social there but a few others!
[links support @librariesconnected.bsky.social]
I'm really keen for library services to be actively present in this space, so here's a list of the speakers' books.
Obviously @hilarycottam.bsky.social and @cormacrussell.bsky.social there but a few others!
[links support @librariesconnected.bsky.social]
Stronger things - community power
List of the books written by speakers at New Local's Stronger Things 2025 conference
uk.bookshop.org
June 4, 2025 at 11:11 AM
One more thing from #StrongerThings 2025:
I'm really keen for library services to be actively present in this space, so here's a list of the speakers' books.
Obviously @hilarycottam.bsky.social and @cormacrussell.bsky.social there but a few others!
[links support @librariesconnected.bsky.social]
I'm really keen for library services to be actively present in this space, so here's a list of the speakers' books.
Obviously @hilarycottam.bsky.social and @cormacrussell.bsky.social there but a few others!
[links support @librariesconnected.bsky.social]
Reposted by Cormac Russell
Interesting discussion on silos but shifted to community driven national reform.
Sahil Khan at Peabody on how we can shift to bottom up reform
@njdavies.bsky.social - how gov can put in place conditions for this - non competitive funding, ministerial remit, longer LG funding
#StrongerThings
Sahil Khan at Peabody on how we can shift to bottom up reform
@njdavies.bsky.social - how gov can put in place conditions for this - non competitive funding, ministerial remit, longer LG funding
#StrongerThings
June 3, 2025 at 10:48 AM
Interesting discussion on silos but shifted to community driven national reform.
Sahil Khan at Peabody on how we can shift to bottom up reform
@njdavies.bsky.social - how gov can put in place conditions for this - non competitive funding, ministerial remit, longer LG funding
#StrongerThings
Sahil Khan at Peabody on how we can shift to bottom up reform
@njdavies.bsky.social - how gov can put in place conditions for this - non competitive funding, ministerial remit, longer LG funding
#StrongerThings
Reposted by Cormac Russell
Lots this morning about importance of what community facing organisations do in the face of increased inequality and volatility.
Big q for libraries is how do we recognise and maximise what we do through collaboration - & how we build the robust & resilient partnerships we need.
#StrongerThings
Big q for libraries is how do we recognise and maximise what we do through collaboration - & how we build the robust & resilient partnerships we need.
#StrongerThings
June 3, 2025 at 9:48 AM
Lots this morning about importance of what community facing organisations do in the face of increased inequality and volatility.
Big q for libraries is how do we recognise and maximise what we do through collaboration - & how we build the robust & resilient partnerships we need.
#StrongerThings
Big q for libraries is how do we recognise and maximise what we do through collaboration - & how we build the robust & resilient partnerships we need.
#StrongerThings
Reposted by Cormac Russell
Cont from @indyjohar.bsky.social
Biggest risk we hold is loss of the social contract and impact this has on local and national functioning and security.
We as community engaged orgs have the agency - and responsibility - to transform the country to maintain this social contract.
#StrongerThings
Biggest risk we hold is loss of the social contract and impact this has on local and national functioning and security.
We as community engaged orgs have the agency - and responsibility - to transform the country to maintain this social contract.
#StrongerThings
June 3, 2025 at 9:45 AM
Cont from @indyjohar.bsky.social
Biggest risk we hold is loss of the social contract and impact this has on local and national functioning and security.
We as community engaged orgs have the agency - and responsibility - to transform the country to maintain this social contract.
#StrongerThings
Biggest risk we hold is loss of the social contract and impact this has on local and national functioning and security.
We as community engaged orgs have the agency - and responsibility - to transform the country to maintain this social contract.
#StrongerThings
Reposted by Cormac Russell
Hearing from @indyjohar.bsky.social about increased volatility as we head to 3 deg warmer.
We exist at intersection of localism and planetary relationships.
Need to be able to think in terms of multiple beneficiaries of our actions - again back to measuring value across different stakeholders.
We exist at intersection of localism and planetary relationships.
Need to be able to think in terms of multiple beneficiaries of our actions - again back to measuring value across different stakeholders.
June 3, 2025 at 9:40 AM
Hearing from @indyjohar.bsky.social about increased volatility as we head to 3 deg warmer.
We exist at intersection of localism and planetary relationships.
Need to be able to think in terms of multiple beneficiaries of our actions - again back to measuring value across different stakeholders.
We exist at intersection of localism and planetary relationships.
Need to be able to think in terms of multiple beneficiaries of our actions - again back to measuring value across different stakeholders.
Reposted by Cormac Russell
He’s arguing a strengths based approach - you can centre people but still have institutions operating on their weaknesses.
But centre people and give them agency to build on their strengths and access to services it shifts.
Again, libraries are the perfect framework for this.
#StrongerThings
But centre people and give them agency to build on their strengths and access to services it shifts.
Again, libraries are the perfect framework for this.
#StrongerThings
June 3, 2025 at 9:23 AM
He’s arguing a strengths based approach - you can centre people but still have institutions operating on their weaknesses.
But centre people and give them agency to build on their strengths and access to services it shifts.
Again, libraries are the perfect framework for this.
#StrongerThings
But centre people and give them agency to build on their strengths and access to services it shifts.
Again, libraries are the perfect framework for this.
#StrongerThings
Reposted by Cormac Russell
Really good way to disrupt the usual “broadcast” model of keynotes - made us think about how we engage.
Useful tool to use in future - start with asking questions of *how* the audience will engage before even starting to discuss *what* they engage with.
#StrongerThings
Useful tool to use in future - start with asking questions of *how* the audience will engage before even starting to discuss *what* they engage with.
#StrongerThings
June 3, 2025 at 9:16 AM
Really good way to disrupt the usual “broadcast” model of keynotes - made us think about how we engage.
Useful tool to use in future - start with asking questions of *how* the audience will engage before even starting to discuss *what* they engage with.
#StrongerThings
Useful tool to use in future - start with asking questions of *how* the audience will engage before even starting to discuss *what* they engage with.
#StrongerThings
Reposted by Cormac Russell
Ooh - @cormacrussell.bsky.social up next - he’s been brilliant at our seminars.
He’s starting very on-brand - coproducing his keynote!
#StrongerThings
He’s starting very on-brand - coproducing his keynote!
#StrongerThings
June 3, 2025 at 9:07 AM
Ooh - @cormacrussell.bsky.social up next - he’s been brilliant at our seminars.
He’s starting very on-brand - coproducing his keynote!
#StrongerThings
He’s starting very on-brand - coproducing his keynote!
#StrongerThings