Regeneration |

Forum – University Partnership: »

Chamberlain Forum’s Regeneration Research Initiative brings together the Chamberlain Forum, the University of Birmingham and regeneration agencies in Birmingham and the Black Country to: Unlock research resources that the regeneration sector would not otherwise be able to afford. Raise awareness amongst talented students of regeneration as a topic and possible career path. Help the University [...]

January 17, 2012 | Posted in Featured,News | Read More »

Macnamara, Social Capital and The Missing Measure »

Charles Handy’s explanation of Macnamara’s Fallacy comes to mind in looking at the way the government’s Community First fund, details of which have been published this week, has been allocated between neighbourhoods in England…

October 6, 2011 | Posted in Policy | Read More »

Community First – Where and How? »

Community First is the new £80m government-funded programme that will run for four years, until March 2015. Despite some quirks relating to where the new fund will be available, it might actually ‘do what it says on the tin’ and start, in a small way, the practice of putting communities in the driving seat.

October 6, 2011 | Posted in Featured,News | Read More »

Not Like Everybody Else! »

Chamberlain Forum is a community forum that grew into a think-and-do tank. We help public services and communities work together for better places to live. The Forum is served by Chamberlain Forum Limited which is a non-profit company which: Provides practical support to community and voluntary groups – for example we help groups develop strategic [...]

August 6, 2011 | Posted in About Us,Forum News | Read More »

Community-Led Housing and the Coproduction Imperative »

What do you call a group of residents who manage a vital local public service with a turnover of hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of pounds? One answer might be a TMO. TMO stands for Tenant Management Organisation. There are more than 200 TMOs in England managing more than 84,000 homes – about 3% [...]

January 13, 2011 | Posted in Paul Slatter | Read More »

Thinking Local Makes Pathways to Employment »

Think Local Construction has been linking local people to employment in the construction industry in Sandwell, the Black Country and parts of Birmingham since 1997. The aim is to help Sandwell and surrounding areas to become economically prosperous by: encouraging inward investment supporting business development enabling individuals to achieve their full potential. Think Local Construction [...]

December 27, 2010 | Posted in Paul Slatter | Read More »

What We Do

Chamberlain Forum helps civil society and local authorities to coproduce better places to live. We are non-profit, politically independent and proudly based in Birmingham.

We organise Chamberlain Lectures featuring speakers including Prime Minister David Cameron. We also organise Resident University - a peer and shared learning programme for people who live and work in neighbourhoods.

We promote and develop community networks as social capital builders, including by supporting Community Network 4 Birmingham

We support action to strengthen local civil society including through: community asset transfers; neighbourhood websites; mediation and facilitation; training and business planning.

We organise action research into aspects of coproduction and are delivering an 18 month programme, Communities Managing Change, funded by Barrow Cadbury Trust.

Chamberlain Forum Limited acts as a consultancy delivering a wide range of 'thinking and doing' services for clients including local authorities, housing associations, development trusts, health and social care bodies, local strategic partnerships and voluntary and community groups.