In the context of what has been written so far, perhaps the failure to learn is hardly surprising. It is this insularity – the ‘not-invented-here’ syndrome – that is at the core of the corporate amnesia of much of local government in particular and service delivery agencies in general. Essentially, the new public service agenda requires systemic understanding and action from organisations whose dominant cultures and mental maps are from a different world. Certainly there are many examples where people have innovated against the grain but this is frequently difficult and sometimes contentious within the organisations themselves. This is all the more paradoxical when such innovation follows apparently stated policy. The rhetoric of change and partnership frequently outruns the reality of experience.

Changing the cultures and structures of public service organisations to meet the new agenda will be a formidable task. To approach this, it is necessary to understand some of the key processes involved in change that works. This will be done here from two linked perspectives. Firstly, from the more external focus of sustainable community change and development and secondly, from an internal focus of organisational transformation. From these understandings it is possible to start on the task of constructing a series of recommendations to establish other levers and frameworks capable of enabling public service delivery bodies to make the cultural leap that in so many cases will be necessary.

Sustainable community building

It is now widely recognised that the weakening of community and social bonds of cohesion is inextricably linked with the problems of poor health, unemployment, social disadvantage and poverty. Further, the rebuilding of this cohesion, or social capital, is the stated aim of many regeneration interventions.