Future Consultations

In partnership with Local Trust

This consultation will focus on the future for communities and place, exploring the importance of community as a key issue for policy makers and practitioners. In doing so it will draw on current research conducted by the Institute for Voluntary Action Research (IVAR) and Local Trust on the necessary conditions for creating empowered communities in the 2020s which is due to report in the summer.

It will also consider the emerging findings of the Inquiry into the Future of Civil Society due to report in autumn 2018. The consultation takes place at a critical time in this policy space, as the Government considers the content of its own Civil Society Strategy (on which it launched its own consultation in March).

Key issues of focus for the event will be:

The importance of place: What does place mean, how does it contribute to individual and community identity and why does this matter?
Power and influence: Who holds power as we enter a new decade? How can power be meaningfully transferred to communities? What does this mean in the context of reduced resources and capacity amongst those who have traditionally held and brokered power at a local level?
Transience: What happens when many people no longer stay in communities for long enough to feel part of them? What does community mean for people living in insecure housing tenure and their neighbours?
Spaces: What does the disappearance of shared space means for civil society? What does it mean in particular for disadvantaged communities, where both public and private sector spaces are in retreat?  Where can communities find common interests or meet with people with different views or backgrounds?

#SGHCommunities #FutureCommunities
@StGeorgesHouse
@LocalTrust ‏
@IVAR_UK

Questions surrounding on-farm and local slaughter are a significant issue in UK agriculture. This Consultation will look in depth at the topic, embracing questions of economics, technology, public perception, practicalities and policy development at government level.

In particular, we will look at whether there is a need for more local abattoirs; whether new technologies offer the opportunity to revisit the concept of on-farm slaughter; and if opportunities do exist, what actions are required to turn those opportunities into practice?

Read the full background for the Consultation here.

#SGHFarming
@StGeorgesHouse

In partnership with the Forces in Mind Trust

We will look in depth at how the Armed Forces Covenant can be better delivered throughout the UK to help support Service leavers and their families in the transition to civilian life. We will focus on the place of the Covenant in society; where the roles and responsibilities for the delivery lie; barriers to effective Covenant delivery; and how best to overcome these barriers. 

The consultation will also provide participants with the opportunity to consider a piece of newly commissioned research by FiMT on how organizations are delivering pledges under the Armed Forces Covenant, currently being undertaken by Shared Intelligence and NatCen.

@StGeorgesHouse
@FiMTrust ‏

In partnership with NHS England South East and Excelsior Safeguarding

Gang violence and criminality is both a global and a national issue, much of it grounded in exploitation. In November we will host a twenty-four hour Consultation focused on finding solutions to this pervasive problem. Our primary focus will be on transforming health services and systems to better identify, support and safeguard our most vulnerable clients ‘at risk’ from gangs, drugs, violence and other forms of exploitation.

In partnership with the High Sheriff of The Royal County of Berkshire

This Consultation will look in depth at issues surrounding the rehabilitation of offenders. Our focus will be both local and national with an emphasis on examining ways in which ex-offenders gain employment or secure self-employment.

Other issues relevant to the transition from prison to civilian life such as mental health, alcohol and drug dependence, will feature in our discussions but the transition to employment will be our major concern.

We wish to highlight and learn from successful local and national initiatives in this field, identify gaps in provision, and explore ways in which knowledge, expertise and best practice might be more widely shared. From a local perspective, the consultation will seek to identify a range of initiatives aimed at the rehabilitation of offenders that might be usefully implemented in Berkshire.

#SGHRehabilitation
@StGeorgesHouse

In partnership with Future iQ

The future of urban living is an increasingly critical issue given population trends which show more and more people becoming urban dwellers. Cities and their inhabitants are becoming one of the most influential factors shaping the future of the planet.

On the current trajectory, by 2050 the urban population is estimated to be 6.3 billion (66% of the world’s projected population). Currently 54% of the global population already live in cities. With a further three million people per week moving to urban centres, the future of urban living is an issue we need to explore in depth and prepare for creatively and pragmatically.

#SGHUrbanLiving
@StGeorgesHouse
@futureiq

In partnership with the Jane Goodall Institute

This week-long Consultation will bring together young people from across the world who are involved in the Roots and Shoots Programme devised by the Jane Goodall Institute. The focus of the week is for the professional development of each participant.

There will be a series of high-level presentations on topics of relevance to the Institute as a way of engendering debate and discussion.

While training for faith leaders is wide-ranging and varied, nowhere in the UK are mid- to senior religious decision makers trained in leadership skills side by side. 

The Senior Faith Leadership Programme is intended  to deepen encounters between those who are serving the Abrahamic communities in Britain, whether in a lay or clerical capacity. Its focus is on developing leadership – which by its nature is an inter-disciplinary phenomenon. Leadership of communities affects people from all walks of life and concerns the diversity of human experience.