Congratulations on signing up for this course and welcome!

Governments around the world are facing a growing number of complex challenges: climate change, the cost-of-living crisis, debt, economic disruption, political polarisation, declining trust in governments and institutions. physical and mental health, and so on.

Government and bureaucratic structures and processes were largely created in the 19th and 20th centuries. The standardised rules, hierarchies and procedures were designed to be positive, or at least efficient and fair. They were once seen as benign and modern, if somewhat technocratic.

Yet as they evolved, weaknesses appeared. Problem solving seemed mechanical and planning ahead seemed achievable in a ‘predict and provide’ fashion.

A growing global movement is emerging to champion the crucial role that public institutions need to play in the 21st Century. It promotes a radical shift in institutional and societal thinking and culture. 

Charles Landry and Margie Caust lit the spark for this campaign through their book, ‘The Creative Bureaucracy and It’s Radical Commonsense’.

What we need now is a reimagined role for governments that is both strategically principled and tactically flexible. 

This course highlights how place-based approaches and working with local communities can:

• Provide a point of focus for otherwise separate and sometimes conflicting policy and service delivery aims
• Offer a framework that is targeted, but inherently flexible and suitable for a wide range of contexts and cultures
• Help governments to be more creative, strategic and responsive
• Enable better outcomes through a people-and-place focus

The course is relevant for higher levels of government around the world, including central, Federal, State, provincial or regional governments. Whilst they are usually quite different in their priorities and resources, from a placemaking perspective, they are similar as they sit at the strategic level, distanced from individual places, but having responsibilities for many places, cities and regions.

It aims to help you to:

1. Understand the broad overview of the way cities and urban areas work
2. Identify the potential roles for higher levels of government and the opportunities for place-based approaches
3. Reduce program risks and save money
4. Build the confidence and skills to use place-based thinking and processes in your work

The course is broken into three modules, with three lessons in each module. There are also tasks and templates you can use interspersed through the course.

Get your personal Certificate of Completion

People who complete this course will receive a personalised Certificate of Completion, endorsed by Town Team Movement and PlacemakingX, to recognise your knowledge.

Remember to press the “Complete and Continue” button in the top right-hand corner after you have finished each lesson and task, including the final "Download your Certificate of Completion" section.

Once you press the “Complete and Continue” button in the final section, you will be issued with a personalised Certificate of Completion.