Keeping local public servants in the picture: The 21st century public servant

Local public servants are facing a range of challenges including recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, austerity, the cost of living crisis, and rising awareness of systemic inequalities. They have to work with partners in complex systems to support people holistically and inclusively. This article summarises research done in 2014 and again in 2024 to understand what it means to be an effective public servant. As well as sharing our key findings, the article highlights how the use of rich pictures to present the work to the sector gave the research a formative rather than summative quality. The work changed and insights deepened through ongoing dialogue with people working in local government, police, fire and health services. Across five projects (two with public servants, two with councillors and one on Covid-19), the common theme has been storytelling as a form of knowledge exchange.