Making relational practice common practice
Strong relationships are not a frilly accessory in a happy neighbourhood, a thriving school, an effective health service, a flourishing business, or a strong and cohesive society. They are the making of it all.
Help us to build a world of good relationships, through our:
NETWORK
Connecting those who believe in the power of relationships, creating spaces for learning, collaboration and belonging
OBSERVATORY
Exploring, gathering and sharing the ideas, stories and evidence that help make the case for putting relationships first
ACADEMY
Developing and spreading relational practice to help transform communities, organisations and systems
Stronger Things 2026
We were delighted to give a keynote address at New Local’s Stronger Things conference. Take a look at the preview blog or follow along with the full transcript.
Confederation of School Trusts' CEO Summit 2026
On 14th July 2026 we gave an address at the Confederation of School Trusts’ CEO Summit. Read a transcript of the speech.
The Relational Practice Academy
Unlocking the power of good relationships
The Relational Practice Academy offers tailored, practical and experiential learning programme to existing, emerging and next generation leaders to set course for a different future. Through our programmes, you’ll nurture the skills, design the policies and create the conditions that will bring about a world of good relationships.
Notes on a Journey
Relationship-centred practice isn’t new, it isn’t radical, and it has proved its value repeatedly. So why is it still so often at the margins of big organisations and complex systems rather than embedded in the middle, and what we are doing about it? David Robinson explains:
Community Bridgebuilders: Linking Lives, Connecting Communities
Across the UK, too many people feel unheard, cut off, or wary of reaching across divides. But when we invest in relationships, everything starts to change — for individuals, families, neighbourhoods and whole communities.
Community Bridgebuilders is a live, interactive programme that brings people together from all walks of life to do something simple yet powerful: build stronger, kinder connections within and between communities – one conversation at a time.
The People We Need: Why relationships matter and what this means for us today
Our relationships with one another are the foundations, the bedrock, on which all else is built. Every aspect of our lives, individually and collectively, depends on the quality and strength of our relationships. And yet UK society has consistently undervalued relationships, marginalising the evidence.
We can set a different course and build a different future – if we make the policies, create the conditions and nurture the skills that bring about thriving relationships. We need each other and we all have a part to play.
The Case Maker: Making the case for relationship-centred communities, organisations and systems
Few people argue that relationships don’t matter, but many feel they don’t have the time, capacity or permission to prioritise them.
The Case Maker assembles the evidence base for putting relationships first, describing why relationships matter, what great relationship-centred practice looks like, and how it could make an impact in your context.
How to have challenging conversations in relational ways
We’re developing a Pattern Library for relationship-centred practice, with the aim of creating a place where we can learn from one another’s hard-earned wisdom and navigate common questions and challenges that arise when working relationally.
Our first Pattern explores how to have challenging conversations in relational ways. We share steps you can take, and techniques you can try, before, during and after difficult conversations.
The Relationships Map
The Relationships Map is a space for anyone who believes in the importance of relationships to find one another, share ideas and resources, feel part of something bigger, and realise more than the sum of our parts.
Latest from the blog
Relational resilience: From noticing to collective capability
Kate Cochrane share insights on how relationships matter, emerged from a workshop hosted in partnership with the Relationships Project and the UK Resilience Academy (UKRA).
A season for change? Three hopes for the Burnham government
As political life resumes in earnest after the Summer break, we explore – in a three-part series – the possibility and pitfalls of relational reform under the new Burnham government.
A season for change? Part one: Devolution – a winding path toward relational reform
We explore the possibilities of devolution: a necessary but insufficient condition for relational reform. This is part one of a three-part series by Rich Bell, exploring the possibility and pitfalls of relational reform under the new Burnham government.
