We brought together academics, civil society organisations, independent activists, elected members , think tanks and faith groups to reflect on what a Good Society meant to them and to share what is being done by different sectors in terms of poverty alleviation and inequality and to focus on what more can be done. We have run several focus groups around the UK. All of the events have been by invitation only and in each locality we worked with local partners to invite participants to join us. We wanted to keep the numbers at these events small enough so that we could encourage dialogue and listening too. So far over ninety people have taken part.

The discussions have centered on reinforcing the need for collaborative action between local state, civil society and business. Focus groups were held in Belfast, Newcastle, Birmingham, Newport, and Bath. These groups complemented ‘Meeting of Minds: What might a Good Society Look like?’ conference in Manchester.

At these focus groups were gathered thoughts and opinion through using participatory research methods. These focus groups form part of an iterative research process that begin a conversation around what is a Good Society, how do we create a good society and who can contribute to the creation of a good society.