Thurs 29 Oct: 'Manifesto for the Civic Revival'

Five Steps Forward for the Civic Revival is our Autumn/Winter online discussion series - five linked exploratory forums taking place monthly from October 2020 to February 2021, each looking at a key dimension in the civic, municipalist and local democratic empowerment landscape. They will contribute to the publication of a ‘Civic Revival manifesto’ or position paper in March 2021, ahead of the May 2021 local elections.

You are warmly invited to attend the first Zoom session:

'Manifesto for the Civic Revival' - Mapping the Territory

Thursday 29 October 2020, 6.00 – 7.00pm with further informal discussion over drinks (BYO!) until 7.30pm

Community planning pioneers Nick Wates and Jane Freund will introduce and facilitate a discussion on what might be covered in a manifesto to be developed during the series and presented to those standing in local elections next May.

This first session will examine the current dynamic for doing things differently at the local level, and the need for action now to foster civic revival and new local democratic empowerment.

What might ordinary people be looking for in a civic revival that is meaningful to them and a possible basis for non-party political consensus? What are the key ingredients of unlocking genuine local pride, motivation, energy, identity and community empowerment?

Among the ideas we will discuss:

More legitimacy for local tiers of democracy: independent parish and town councils, development trusts, community projects and other vehicles for self-determination and collaborative action.
Mechanisms for continuity in what places embody and can celebrate, rather than short termism and externally generated fixes. How does the planning system help/hinder this?
Fostering home-grown solutions, rather than ones parachuted in from outside or based on a standard template.
Local vernacular rather than ‘international’ or ‘anywhere’ style.
Nurturing local expertise and experience and supporting local enterprise.
Boosting ‘green’ initiatives and sustainable developments.
Genuine community engagement and not box ticking.
Enabling investment support to locally generated projects and to replace ‘big money’ pressures of asset ownership and financial engineering.

Register on Eventbrite for your free place here.