POSTCARD FROM BOLOGNA, ITALY: learning from a modern renaissance June 2023July 2025 Returning to Northern Italy by rail in early April 2023 for a ten day stay in Bologna, my partner Esther and I were struck by how well everything now seemed to work. Whereas both our governments appear out of touch, Italian cities have had enough autonomy to create great places to live and work, while…
Postcard from Trieste, Italy November 2022July 2025 Visiting the peripheral Italian city of Trieste for the first time to assess it for the Academy of Urbanism’s Great City Award, I was glad to come across travel writer Jan Morris’s final book, which she titled memorably Trieste and the meaning of nowhere. Located on a spit which juts out into the Adriatic on…
Postcard from Kochi, Southern India March 2012July 2025 If you want a peaceful holiday in India, it is hard to beat the backwaters of Kerala, where you drift by ancient villages in a state that has the highest literacy and life expectancy rates. But it is also well worth spending time in nearby Kochi City, with its fine waterside heritage from the Dutch…
Planning in Social Services – Chapter 4 January 1978June 2025 This chapter walks through how to set priorities when planning social services, breaking the process into clear steps so you know what problems to focus on, how to tackle them, and what actions to take. It emphasises planning as an ongoing cycle that stays connected with resources and budgets while translating goals into real tasks for people.
