I love it when my work and the rest of my life overlap. Not because work is ‘taking over’ but because I’m doing things that inform my professional life. This seems to be happening more and more, as behaviour change is taken increasingly seriously by local government. More than ever, councils need to be aware of their role creating new ‘social norms’ that are more sustainable, resilient and co-operative than has become usual in many places. We can do this: from behavioural psychology, experiments and pilots, we have evidence about what works; and we know that, as a species, we are intensely social, though much of our politics and discourse has tried to conceal this over recent decades.

And here’s a real example of establishing new social norms that one or two million people took part in yesterday: the Big Lunch. My street held it’s first street party for decades, under the Big Lunch banner yesterday. And now today, the Prime Minister is launching the Big Society project with four local authorities. I think that my Big Lunch experience confirmed Mr Cameron’s point about people needing to feel both “free and powerful enough to help themselves and their own communities”. In a very diverse street, a wide range of people came together to meet, share food, play games in a traffic-free street. It was co-operative, no-one was in charge, and people met neighbours of all ages they didn’t even recognise. It was, frankly, a revelation. And it’s a small example of what people can do with a very small amount of prompting and empowerment.

If Big Society is to work, its success will be establishing new social norms that help individuals, families and communities be happy, healthy and resilient. Coupled with appropriate behaviour change, this is consistent, for most, with being less dependent on the state.

I should add, though, that I think this is harder than proponents acknowledge: the level of social capital and volunteerism needed doesn’t just depend on goodwill and attitudinal change; it will depend on economic and cultural changes that enable people to consume less and work less, and this remains territory that mainstream politicians won’t address in public. Having said that, there are things we can do today and tomorrow that will make a difference.

If Big Society is meaningful, it’s about wellbeing, which we’ve been working on for quite some time. If Big Society turns out to be merely a way of making severe cuts and passing on responsibility for delivery without altering the relationship between service users and citizens on one hand, and the local and service deliverers on the other, then it’s not the project that Mr Cameron is describing today.

So let’s take it at face value. And let’s think about what local authorities should be doing about this. “We need a government that helps build a big society, ”

said the PM today. As a starter for ten, and as a marker that Big Society is not just about service delivery and cuts, it would be good to see councils making a blanket order for street closures in every street where it’s possible (not A-roads, etc) to have a street party for Big Lunch Sunday 2011. Do it now, and keep on telling people about it. It’s low/no cost, pro-social, and (let’s be honest) good PR. What’s not to like?