Innovation forum - a workshop to explore the theme of place in Leeds

We held an extremely busy and successful innovation forum looking at the theme of place in Leeds (despite the forecasted heavy snow).  Hosted jointly by Mike Eakins from Leeds City Council (LCC) and The University of Leeds (Abi Rowson and Juliet Jopson from Horizons Institute), colleagues from both organisations looked at what they value about Leeds as a place. They considered what trends and changes Leeds faces and questions such as what initiatives/projects are already in place and what more could be done to enhance Leeds' sense of place?

Guest speaker Dr Pam Birtill from the School of Psychology discussed the project 'Integrating intercultural cities through belonging in green spaces',  A project that aims to examine questions about living within diverse communities and ways of reimagining green spaces to promote a sense of belonging in Leeds.  Then our speaker, Dr Jo Hawkins from the School of Law looked at Sustainable Development and participatory placemaking: understanding city spaces. By interviewing LCC and local arts organisations, conducting walking interviews with residents and producing an interactive mapping survey the project will contribute to cultural and spatial policy in Leeds.

Participants were asked to suggest their 'big ideas' and innovations that can have a positive impact in the City in the future - and made action plans to take some of these forward.  We look forward to hearing more about the outcomes in the future.

The Innovation Forum was supported by the ESRC IAA.