As there is an increasing need for councils to tighten their belts, the case for international learning is perhaps stronger than ever.  While councils might not be able to afford site visits overseas, the LGA’s international learning service offers international insights on strong public service delivery without the additional costs.

Looking to good practice in other countries; learning from abroad – it all seems synonymous with costly travel and international trips. But when we strip away these preconceptions and consider that learning from our international counterparts can be achieved without actually leaving this country – and provide fresh inspiration to UK councils - then the value and importance of looking beyond our own borders is all too obvious.

As reported in a previous Alliance update, the LGA Group is running a project to identify international good practice so that councils in this country might learn more about different service delivery models in other countries, which could potentially help inform domestic approaches to policy.  

Throughout the summer, Jennifer Watson, LGA International Best Practice Co-ordinator, visited a wide range of councils to learn more about key local challenges which would help inform the international learning research. Watson liaised with international local government bodies, such as the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR), as well as individual councils and other agencies in different countries to produce bespoke learning responses corresponding to the issues each council raised.

Good practice in developing economies

And while much of the good practice case studies and contacts came from local authorities in European countries and other developed nations, Watson also provided UK councils with good practice from developing economies. Interesting approaches to the provision of social housing, for example, are emerging in Latin America. The two links below provide information on sustainable development approaches to housing in Latin America, with a strong focus on the Argentine experience. These links are available in Spanish only but online translation tools can be used to translate the data. http://www.mundourbano.unq.edu.ar and http://www.fsoc.uba.ar/catalogoiigg/

Social housing in South Africa is currently undergoing a 15 year review with a key focus to make better housing more affordable, as squatting is still a major issue. Ethekwini council in Durban is lauded in South Africa as a leading innovator in the provision of social housing.

http://www.durban.gov.za/durban/government/abms/sdb/partnerships/housing-sector/social-housing?searchterm=social%20housing%20planning

The Trust for Urban Housing Finance in South Africa provides funding for entrepreneurs to build housing solutions and re-develop buildings in inner cities for private rental housing. http://www.tuhf.org.za/index.htm

Feedback from various councils was overall very positive, indicating that there is a real appetite for international learning as a mechanism to inform future policy development.

International learning online

Watson has been working with the IDeA to develop an e-resource on international learning within the ‘Knowledge’ section of the IDeA website, which is due to be launched later this month. Further international learning and good practice will be added to the resource on a cumulative basis, so that it becomes a sustainable source of knowledge from across the world.  The information will go onto the site at the following address: http://www.idea.gov.uk/idk/core/page.do?pageId=71665

A recent event jointly hosted by the IDeA and the LGA’s European and International Unit provided an opportunity to learn from Beacon councils in the UK as well as innovative councils in other countries, all of which are delivering dynamic solutions for key frontline services.

The event provided an opportunity for participants to hear more about the work that Beacon councils are doing to tackle key themes, such as climate change and emergency planning, as well as listening to international approaches on the same issues. International speakers came from local government bodies in Japan and Canada, an individual local authority in Sweden and from central government internationally as well. 

Feedback from the event has shown that the audience found the mix of international speakers challenging and informative and that the focus on knowledge sharing was positive; further proof that today’s local authorities are very well aware of the benefits to be gained from looking abroad to see how we can improve services for our local communities.

Further updates on the project, please contact Jennifer Watson at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it