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Convention
2010 will see more change to the regeneration landscape than at any point for a decade. Funding, governance, investment and politics are all up for renewal, whilst the challenges of building communities, economies and places have not been tougher. People in regeneration will exit 2010 in a very changed operating context.
2010: not just another year...
The West Midlands Regeneration Convention took place on 10 February 2010 at the International Convention Centre (ICC) in Birmingham. Organised by RegenWM, the regeneration centre of excellence for the West Midlands, the Convention looked at the future of regeneration, the challenges which lie ahead and how organisations can get geared up for the changes 2010 will bring.
This year's event, as usual, included a selection of interesting keynote speakers talking about achieving more for less in regeneration. Whether that's delivering projects with less budget, whether that's working towards sustainable communities with fewer resources or any of the many other efficiencies that are so necessary at this time.
This event enabled the sector to bring together its experience and expertise as top speakers challenged us all to be honest, tough and innovative.
The speakers
Speakers at yesterday's Convention included Paul Rogerson, Chief Executive of Leeds City Council on governance and leadership, Sir Roy McNulty, Chair of Advantage West Midlands and Neil McInroy, CLES and James Morris, Localis on localism in the West Midlands.
Adrian Passmore, RegenWM chief executive said
"This event comes at a crucial time for everyone working in regeneration. Today's Convention provided an opportunity to gauge 'what comes next' for the sector as top speakers challenged us all to be honest, tough and innovative."
He continued: "Evident at the Convention was the regeneration expertise within the West Midlands region. We have gained a lot of experience over the last decade, with many skilled practitioners. In times of tougher finances these skills will be more relevant and will more sharply inform what comes next for regeneration."
Sir Roy McNulty, Chair of Advantage West Midlands said: "Advantage West Midlands' role is to assess the region's economic performance and through the West Midlands Economic Strategy, set out agreed priorities for regional growth. We invest our own energy and resources in delivering our share of the WMES and encourage our partners to work with us to align our collective energy and resources behind the Strategy."
"Beyond the immediate tasks in front of each of us, we need to build a strong coalition to address the harshness of the current economic climate. This requires a level of collaboration and cross-sector working beyond what we have seen before. Only then will we make the transformational change needed to create a new economic future for the region."
Presentations from all the speakers are available to download from the Convention events page.
