Sue Goss and Colin Carmichael report on how Canterbury City Council's 'toolkit for change' programme to generate new thinking and creative ideas is energising staff to bring these ambitions to life.

How can councils become more business-like without becoming businesses? It would be hard enough to meet the challenges of current and future funding cuts, even without the major demographic and social changes that accompany them. Add to this the recession and transformations in the wider public policy environment – and it is no exaggeration to say that a revolution in the role and thinking of local government is necessary.