How ‘Meanwhile’ came to the High Street

Abstract

Just because something is temporary doesn’t mean it is not powerful — think lightning, blossom, a festival. This paper describes the genesis of the ‘meanwhile’ idea as policy, programme and philosophy, and updates readers on the development of the new Meanwhile Foundation. The foundation is a national charity promoting and enabling the wise use of land and buildings to achieve social and economic objectives for local communities. It works through a series of partnership agreements with local authorities and other strategic players, smoothing the way for neighbourhood-level meanwhile activities.