Yearly Archives: 2024

Towards Connected Places: Insights Into Actions

The Society for Innovation, Technology and Modernisation consultation looked at enabling and empowering place-based leadership and transformation in an era of turbulent times, devolution, climate change and emerging technologies. Participants shared insights as to what works, what needs to change, and the actions needed to bring about place-based social, environmental, economic and technological progress.

The aim being to help the Socitm Institute establish a policy into a practice framework that will help turn insights into practical actions, support the delivery of connected places as imagined in Socitm’s 2021 post covid-regeneration consultation report Resilient people, communities and places.

The intention being to use the framework to help to develop Place-based leadership capabilities built around the effective use of data insights to enable social progress, the responsible use of artificial intelligence, the championing of sustainability and net zero agendas, together with the wider enabling of citizen and community engagement.

Senior figures from Professional, Statutory and Regulatory Bodies (PSRBs) gathered to highlight the case for a reformed curriculum centred on the climate emergency and identify and showcase effective practice; encourage collaboration to accelerate better climate education; agree meaningful next steps. There is considerable demand from industry, educators and students for climate solutions to be woven into all subjects, from GCSE and above, and the Department for Education is also aiming for the UK to have a “world-leading education sector in sustainability and climate change by 2030.

Off-campus there is much talk about free speech on campus, and we now have a new 2023 Higher Education Act that emphasises the immense value of free speech in our liberal democracy.  Yet both on campus and off it, much public talk about free speech is marred by negative approaches and behaviours. We must therefore work out how to turn this free speech debate into positive and productive action. If universities are to avoid squandering their collective responsibilities to future generations, we must, first, relearn how to discuss openly and in trust the human bonds that hold us together; second, accept and manage disagreement better; and third, involve academic and student voices actively in democratic processes to build a more just world for ourselves, our communities, and our institutions. Working with Professor Alison Scott-Baumann of SOAS, this Consultation will review new initiatives for working towards these goals, including developing trust, managing complex topics productively, disagreeing well, and taking university expertise out into the real world, to Westminster and beyond.