Learning from the second year of the BD_Collective

Barking and Dagenham is one of 32 London local authorities, and subject to the challenges
faced by local government across England, the effects of austerity, major social change and
the after effects of the pandemic. The Borough’s residents have the lowest life expectancy in
the Capital. The need for radical change is broadly accepted. The BD_Collective is one of
several experiments underway in the Borough as it searches for a new settlement between
public systems, civil society and residents. This paper summarises the birth and early
development of the Collective.