An all-day conference at Manchester Town Hall…

Via Groundwork

For the past three decades public, private and voluntary sector organisations – urged on by campaigners and academics – have been collaborating to ensure communities everywhere have access to good quality green space and the opportunity to learn from and look after the natural environment on their doorstep.
 
The benefits of connecting people with nature are now well understood: better health; stronger communities; and an increased ability to adapt to and mitigate the impacts of climate change.  Managing and developing our shared green infrastructure is central to our quality of life and we are beginning to understand how ecosystem services underpin our economy.
 
It was not always this way. This understanding is quite recent as, only a generation ago, many communities in our towns and cities were blighted by the physical scars of our industrial past.  There is a now a risk of that progress being eroded as progressive cuts in public spending bite.  Our challenge is to find new arguments to justify investment and new ways of getting things done.
 
This one-day conference will look back at what we can learn from 30 years of action and look forward to explore the models, networks and alliances that will be needed to keep the green spaces in all communities thriving, productive and accessible. It has been inspired by John Davidson, the charismatic founder of the Groundwork movement who passed away earlier this year, and we would be delighted if you could join a post-event reception to launch a book complied in recognition of his legacy.
 
The conference will include contributions from colleagues of John’s including Professor John Handley, Professor Chris Baines and Pam Warhurst,who continue to be leading lights on this agenda.  We will hear from the gardener Chris Beardshaw who has become a champion of the social value of green space and the event will be hosted by the BBC’s Home Editor Mark Easton, drawing on his analysis of the state of our nation captured in his recently published book Britain etc.
 
If you own, manage or develop land, if your business impacts on local communities, if you are concerned about public services, social inequalities, the environment and quality of life then you have a part to play in helping to shape this debate.

To attend, follow this link

October 31st, 2012 9:30 AM   to   5:00 PM