Economic Development – Measuring what matters
Supporting strategic change with Glasgow City Council’s Economic Development Team
In 2024 GALLANT undertook a mapping exercise to identify how well current economic and climate policy actions align with the Thriving Definitions. This included analysis of Glasgow’s Economic Strategy by University of Glasgow Economics student Erin Miria John. (See this blog post for Erin’s reflections on here experience.)
Throughout May and June 2025 GALLANT researchers facilitated a series of workshops with the GCC Economic Development division using soft systems methods to support participants to develop shared understanding of their goals and priorities in the run up to developing their next Economic Strategy. With a two-year lead in period, this represented a critical juncture in reflecting on the current system.
The workshops began by asking participants to create a rich picture and system problem statement to develop shared understanding and highlight priorities. Next, we encouraged holistic consideration of interconnected stakeholders’ positions through a perspective diagram, worked through enablers and inhibitors of achieving system goals, and drew from the spheres of influence model to consider implications for collaboration.
The workshops crystalised the team’s desire to shift away from capturing data exclusively for performance management towards more meaningful data-informed narratives around the impact that council actions have, not just on the economy, but on communities and people’s lives.
Insights captured at the workshops have informed thinking as the Economic Development team develop their next strategy, including a prototype of a Data Hub which is geared towards more meaningful, citizen-centred data practices.