Shifting narratives on public services – global conference in partnership with UCL in June 2022

The vital role that public services have played during the pandemic has contributed to a global swing in opinion, shifting the narrative from them being seen as inefficient and outdated to a more positive view, according to a University of Greenwich report. This Greenwich research has now led to a major new conference in June 2022 in partnership with University College London and others.

The new report by the University of Greenwich’s Public Services International Research Unit (PSIRU), “Narrative Change and Public Services Spending and Provision”, shows how, far from accepting the dominant narrative, people across the world have very different conceptions of how public services should be owned and run. The full report can be downloaded here.

The report has led to a major global conference, scheduled for June this year, led by PSIRU in partnership with University College London’s Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose. The conference “Shifting narratives – The political economy of public services, spending and production” is organised in partnership with the global trade union confederation PSI and the global association of social movements TNI, and with other universities in the global south. Details of the conference and the call for papers are available here and from the conference website .

The report and the conference have been funded by the Open Society Foundation (OSF).

· Lead contact: Dr. Vera Weghmann V.Weghmann@gre.ac.uk