The Norfolk Charitable Trust, as part of its annual fellowship programme, is sending three individuals on a six week tour around the world to investigate ‘community, economy and the environment in new places’.
One of the three fellows is Patsy Dell, Head of Planning and Economic Development at St Edmundsbury Council and another is Neil Stott CEO of the Keystone Development Trust which operates a range of social enterprise activity on the  Suffolk / Norfolk border. Fellows will witness, and learn from, exemplars of the public, private and not-for-profit sectors operating in carefully chosen locations throughout Europe, America and Asia in a bid to bring back some of the key lessons learnt and apply them to planning, regeneration and economic development in a UK context.
Laura Foster, Chief Executive of the Norfolk Charitable Trust commented, “The fellows have been given an opportunity to devise a bespoke research programme looking at how sustainable communities around the world have developed and what lessons the UK can learn. However, the fellowship is also about the challenge of getting three leading people from different fields and backgrounds working together and exploring the issues that will benefit local governance and their policies back in the UK.”
The team began their tour on the 26th April and will study for two week periods in their selected locations. Findings will be presented in December.