New project to help power the future of economic and social justice in the UK

With the cost of living crisis continuing to bite and no improvement for millions of people’s living standards on the horizon, community leaders, artists, frontline workers, policymakers, political strategists, businesses and charities came to UCL Here East to try to identify sources of hope for the future. 

UCL Honorary Professor, playwright James Graham, joined UCL Policy Lab researchers and the journalist Ros Wynne-Jones, political strategist Spencer Livermore, Institute for Fiscal Studies economist Xiaowei Xu, council leader Georgia Gould and campaigner Mariam Bafo, to set a new agenda. 

Marc Stears, Director of the UCL Policy Lab, set out his ambitions: 

“The UK has world-leading expertise on the causes and consequences of inequality, much of it based at UCL. But we have done too little as a country to act on what we know. The Ordinary Hope project brings the very best researchers together with people from all walks of life, to see how new ideas can be turned into new policies and new practices that could really turn around the fortunes of this country.”

“We want to create a space for us all to think beyond our immediate – a space for political imagination at a time of immense challenge.” 

Ordinary Hope, which is a partnership between UCL Policy Lab and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, aims to build deep and sustained relationships between researchers and the broader community. 

Graeme Cooke, Director of Evidence and Policy at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, spoke about the opportunities brought about by the collaboration and was glad to be joined by other staff from JRF.

As the UK heads towards an election in 2024 and the parliament beyond the Policy Lab will be working with researchers from across UCL and partners to explore the challenges and opportunities facing the UK. 

Creating space for debate, exploration and innovation, the Lab aims to UCL to play host to the kinds of conversations which can enable the UK to overcome some of the social, economic and political challenges.  

Marc Stears, Director of the Lab, said that the Ordinary Hope formed an essential part of the Lab’s ambition to be home to a new way of doing policy development within the University. 

“The Lab is all about recognising the power and responsibility we have as an institution to convene discussions on the challenges facing the UK and the world. We all know that the country is facing profound challenges, be they social, economic, or political. It’s Lab’s job to have those difficult conversations and to bring together the range of perspectives we need to overcome these challenges.”

The Lab uses unique methods that enable it to explore problems and get into the political challenges posed – working on a range of issues from inequality to housing, from migration to international development, they welcome collaboration from colleagues across UCL.

If you’re interested and would like to learn more about the Ordinary Hope project or would like to speak more about the Policy Labs work, you can contact James Baggaley (j.baggaley@ucl.ac.uk).