Inside Adur & Worthing: How we work together to build thriving communities

At Adur & Worthing Councils, we believe in working in an adaptive, participative, and resilient way to create positive change for our people and places. Every day, we put this into action across our mission areas:

🌍 Thriving Environment — protecting and enhancing our natural spaces
🏡 Thriving Place — shaping inclusive, connected neighbourhoods
👥 Thriving People — supporting wellbeing and opportunity for all
📈 Thriving Economy — enabling a fair and sustainable local economy
🏛 Thriving Organisation — building a strong and effective council

Here’s a glimpse into how we work, what we’re tackling, and how we’re learning as we go.

💡 Financial resilience — Thriving Organisation

We’ve just set our 2025/26 budgets — a huge collective effort, shaped by spending control measures, service redesigns, and government financial support. By working across teams, we’ve ensured our financial position is stronger, so we can continue to deliver for our communities in uncertain times.

Our approach to adaptive leadership means we are constantly reviewing and adjusting how we operate. Budgeting isn’t just about making ends meet — it’s about investing in the future of our places and people.

🌿 Supporting nature & communities — Thriving Environment & Thriving Place

With spring bringing more people to our coast and countryside, we’re ensuring that our public spaces remain safe, accessible, and welcoming. This includes:

✅ Work on Worthing Pier, ensuring it stays in great condition for visitors and businesses.
✅ Investing in green spaces, with initiatives like Highdown Gardens and The Grow Project, which connect people to nature and wellbeing.

We see public spaces as more than just infrastructure — they’re the heart of our communities. By working with local groups, volunteers, and businesses, we create places that people feel ownership over.

🏘 Supporting local groups & partnerships — Thriving People

We are:
💬 Holding Q&A sessions with councillors — making decision-making more open and transparent.
🤝 Encouraging networks and partnerships — helping organisations learn from and support each other.

By listening to communities and co-designing solutions, we can create stronger and more resilient support systems.

♻️ Smarter waste & sustainability — Thriving Economy & Thriving Environment

Our Digital Team has been working with the Commercial Waste Team to improve how we use food waste data, as part of the new Simpler Recycling legislation.

This is about:
✅ Using technology to reduce waste and make services more efficient.
✅ Helping businesses adapt to new sustainability regulations.
✅ Taking a data-driven approach to environmental challenges.

By embedding innovation into our services, we make them more effective and responsive to change.

🚶 Wellbeing & connection — Thriving People & Thriving Place

Building a thriving place isn’t just about infrastructure — it’s about how people experience and connect with where they live.

This month, we’re encouraging staff and residents to take part in Walk Our Way, a community-led wellbeing initiative on the South Downs. It’s a reminder that:
🌱 Wellbeing and nature go hand in hand.
🤝 Community action can be simple, local, and powerful.
💡 Small steps lead to big impact when we work together.

We’re also continuing to support our Meno Buddies, ensuring women in our organisation and beyond have access to advice, peer support, and workplace policies that recognise different life stages.

🗣 How we engage & learn — Thriving Organisation

A key part of being adaptive and participative is learning from people outside the council — whether that’s businesses, residents, or voluntary organisations.

We’re making sure that:
📢 We are open — through Q&A sessions with councillors and community groups.
💡 Consultations are accessible — so people can shape the future of their communities.
📖 We share what we’re reading & learning — from transformation insights to leadership development.

One of our guiding principles is that change isn’t something we do to people — it’s something we build with them.

📅 What’s coming up?

🔹 New approaches to place leadership — trialling more collaborative models for regeneration and community asset management.
🔹 Supporting businesses in a changing economy — ensuring local enterprises can adapt to net zero, digital transformation, and economic shifts.

Why share this?

At Adur & Worthing Councils, we know that no organisation can solve big challenges alone. We are learning, testing, and evolving our approach — and we want to share what works, what doesn’t, and how we can do better.

If you’re working on similar challenges, we’d love to hear from you. Get in touch, share your insights, and let’s learn together.