The 'Way Ahead’ was a joint initiative that took place in 2016 by communities, civil society, public sector bodies, and funders. The ultimate goal of the Way Ahead was to set out a vision for a thriving civil society that is resilient, collaborative, and sustainable and which will lead to improved outcomes for Londoners. As part of that initiative, a report published in 2016 identified 12 core recommendations for London’s civil society, funders, and partners. This included bringing civil society into decision making, improving data collection to identify the needs of the capital’s communities, and developing a shared understanding of need.Six years later, we asked Farah Elahi, Head of Community Engagement at the Greater London Authority (GLA) about what she learned from The Way Ahead process, civil society’s role in decision making, and where she thinks progress has been made.
