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- Blog
- 17th Nov 2017
The first Briton to give away £1bn
This week saw a quiet, private celebration for the 50th anniversary of the Gatsby Foundation. In case you haven’t heard of it, Gatsby is the charity through which David (Lord) Sainsbury has given away over £1bn. He was the first Briton ever to pass this threshold. Set up when he…
- Blog
- 26th Nov 2017
Behavioural Insights in Australia
In Everett Rogers's classic text, The Diffusion of Innovations, he argues that it helps that good ideas are effective. But it’s often not quite enough. For innovations to really take hold, they need to have the capacity to be trialled and reinvented in different contexts. People need to be able…
- Blog
- 15th Dec 2017
New Zealand, new Government...
For all the popular commentary about shortcomings of democracy, there is something quite remarkable, and admirable, about a nation smoothly changing its leadership at the behest of its people. Just back from Wellington, where it was a buzz of excitement and meetings, including around BIT’s newest office staffed by Lee…
- Blog
- 2nd Feb 2018
A busy week for evidence builders
Five years of What Works Monday saw the publication of a 5-year update on the UK’s What Works Network. The event was hosted at the Institute for Government and introduced by Oliver Dowden, Minister for Implementation at the Cabinet Office. There’s a lot to be proud of. We’ve gone from…
- Blog
- 2nd Mar 2018
Tackling inner-city childhood obesity
This week saw the launch of Guy’s and St Thomas’ Charity’s report; ‘Bite Size: Breaking down the challenge of inner-city childhood obesity.’ Rising childhood obesity is often seen as a classic wicked issue, rising inexorably around the world year after year. It also varies by geographical area and social class,…
- Blog
- 23rd Apr 2018
Robert Putnam: celebrating his incredible contribution to the study of social capital
There’s lots of hyperbole around, but it’s not difficult to argue that Robert Putnam is the most impactful political scientist alive. It was a strange blend of emotions, then, for those of us gathered at Harvard to mark his retirement last week. Most scholars hope to achieve a major breakthrough…
- Blog
- 18th May 2018
A changing lens: fixed-odds betting machines, civil society and UKRI
We often say that behavioural science can be used for good or bad, just like any form of knowledge. One of the troubling applications – though brilliant in its own way – can be to nudge people to gamble too much. This week saw the decision to dramatically curtain the…
- Blog
- 18th Sep 2018
Rich and poor: what’s in a number? New measure for poverty from the Social Metrics Commission
Today sees the publication of new proposals from the Social Metrics Commission. Its report sets out a new measurement framework for poverty in the UK. It’s surprisingly tricky to get a group of experts – or the general public – to agree who is rich and poor, let alone what…
- Blog
- 25th Oct 2018
Jeremy Heywood
It’s so far back that I can’t even be sure when I first met Jeremy Heywood. Perhaps when trying to sneak a note into the then Prime Minister Tony Blair’s red box that sat on his desk. Or sorting out arrangements for the newly founded (Forward) Strategy Unit. Probably even…
- Blog
- 29th Nov 2018
The Heywood Foundation
Jeremy Heywood – Cabinet Secretary until only few weeks ago; great champion of behavioural science, What Works, and innovation in government much more widely – was laid to rest on Friday. It was an incredibly moving and beautiful ceremony in the Henry VII chapel in Westminster Abbey. The Prime Minister…