The relationship between lifelong learning, active citizenship, and neighborhood renewal was explored in the context of the British government's declared intention to address the consequences of poverty through neighborhood renewal, encourage public participation in renewal, and make lifelong learning a central strategy for ensuring future prosperity and economic competitiveness. The cases of four English cities--Derry, Hull, Oxford, and Portsmouth--and the stories of three individuals on the receiving end of neighborhood renewal and educational policies were examined to identify relevant issues and specific implications of British government policies for lifelong learning. The following were among the implications for lifelong learning that emerged: (1) policymakers should shift their focus away from short-term initiatives targeting the socially excluded and serving institutional interests and toward sustained alliances between education workers and local people; (2) lifelong learning must reclaim its social purpose and become a critical resource to local people in ways that help build their self-confidence and activism; (3) lifelong learning practitioners must establish a committed dialogue with residents of deprived neighborhoods to develop the kinds of educational resourcing that makes sense to them and that can begin to make a difference in their lives; and (4) people must be put before systems. Nine discussion questions are included. (MN)