One of the major policy challenges that nations around the world face is the disparities that exist in economic and social conditions within as well as between countries. No developed country illustrates this more starkly than the UK, which has one of the highest level of regional inequality of any developed country in the world. It is a problem that decades of regional economic policies have failed to solve and the UK Government has made “levelling-up” a centrepiece of its current policy agenda.

Addressing regional disparities, inequality and social inclusion requires new imaginative ways of restoring left behind places. In this series of talks, the Oxford Martin School brings together an outstanding group of academics, policymakers and practitioners to discuss the role of the private sector, the public sector, and educational and social institutions in making levelling-up a reality.