Report on the RSA East of England conference 2014 Preservaon and Innovaon in 21 Century Saturday 14 June 2014 Julian Study Centre, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ
Report on RSA East of England Conference 2014
Apr 05, 2016
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Transcript
Report on the
RSA East of England
conference 2014 Preservation and Innovation in 21 Century
Saturday 14 June 2014
Julian Study Centre, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ
2
Contents
Programme 3
Chairman’s Afterword 4
Keynote 1—Synopsis 5
Keynote 2—Synopsis 6
Parallel Sessions—reflections 7-9
Marketplace 11
Community Meeting 12
Finance 13
Appendices
(i) - Delegate list and contact emails (where permission given)
(ii) Consolidated quotes from interviews conducted at the conference
(iii)- Post-Conference Survey report
3
Programme
09.30 Registration and refreshments in the Marketplace – First floor
10.30 Welcome by Professor Brian Thorne, Conference Chair – Ground floor lecture theatre
Opening Address by Malcolm Noble, RSA East of England Chair
The Power to Create
Keynote by Matthew Taylor, Chief Executive, RSA
11.30 Refreshments and conversation in the Marketplace - First floor
12.00 Parallel sessions – Second floor
Session 1 – University and RSA research collaborations (room2.03)
Facilitator: Julie E Bounford, University of East Anglia
Contributors: Dr Clare Gartland & Dr Emma Bond, University Campus Suffolk
Session 2 - Empowering Invisible Norwich: some initiatives undertaken by the Norwich Area
Fellows Education Forum (room 2.02)
Facilitator: Professor John Elliott, University of East Anglia
Contributors: members of the Norwich Education Forum
13.00 Lunch in the foyer and conversation in the Marketplace – Ground & First floor
14.00 Listening to young voices for a fairer deal - Ground floor lecture theatre
Keynote by Professor Tim O’Riordan
14.45 Parallel sessions - Second floor
Session 3 – Crowdfunding for Entrepreneurs, Creativity and Social Good (room 2.03)
Facilitator: Bryan Zhang, University of Cambridge
Session 4 – What is a learning city? Changing Chelmsford Showcase (room 2.02)
Facilitator: Professor John Worthington, The Academy of Urbanism
15.45 Refreshments and conversation in the Marketplace - First floor
16.15 Community Meeting chaired by Professor Brian Thorne – Third floor lecture theatre
17.00 Close
4
Chairman’s Afterword
Immediately after the Conference, I felt mildly elated. It was my impression that most conference delegates had had a profitable and enjoyable day and that they went home with good memories of a well-organised occasion, a beautiful new UEA building (the Julian Study Centre) and of stimulating key-note addresses and workshops. I had also been deeply impressed by the various stalls and information desks provided by the sev-enteen exhibitor organisations taking part in the “marketplace” displays. My only disap-pointment was that not more people attended (we were in excess of 80 but seemed, at times, to rattle around in the fine new building) and that the lunch provided – while ad-equate – was not particularly exciting. The response to our subsequent request for feedback was confirming of my immediate first impressions. Over 80% of those responding rated the conference either excellent (31%) or good (50%) and in the individualised comments the words “inspiring”, “stimulating” and “friendly” frequently appeared. The comments from market-stall ex-hibitors were universally euphoric. The conference title promised reflection on Preservation and Innovation in the 21st cen-tury and I believe that this over-arching theme did indeed permeate the proceedings. Given the vastness of the brief, it is no mean achievement that a coherent thread was discernible throughout the day. Happily, we stayed comfortably on budget but there are a number of open questions for further conference organisers. Should delegates be expected to pay as much as £25 by way of donation? Should there be more free places for non FRSA Fellows – especially young people? Should delegates be left to make their own lunch arrangements? We made the decisions we felt most appropriate in our circumstances but we are conscious that further organisers with different venues and different perspectives may arrive at different conclusions. Finally, I am conscious of our exceptional good fortune in having had an administrative team of astonishing skill and commitment. Julie Bounford and Ruth Selwyn-Crome were much aided by the willing assistance of the UEA Conference Office and this combination of an RSA team together with the venue’s own unit proved highly effective in ensuring a consistent level of administrative efficiency. Organising and running conferences is no mean undertaking and future planning groups will be fortunate indeed if they can call upon the level of commitment shown by the Norwich Organising Committee and the administrative capability available to them. As Chairman, I take this opportunity of ex-pressing my profound thanks and my not inconsiderable admiration of them all. Brian Thorne
FE
“I really enjoyed the con-ference and actually feel re-energized by all the positive vibes that were shared!
“I found the day) Awe-inspiring.”
BZ
“I think it was a good melting-pot for learning and knowledge sharing and see how collabora-tively we can all work together.
“I’ve met a lot of people I didn’t know…. It’s a fan-tastic experience to learn and to interact with all the people. It’s been very rewarding.”
BR and LW
“The conference so far has been inspiring. I have been taking notes as I run a local communi-ty group. I enjoyed meeting people, net-working, business help and talking to people from other community groups. It has given me knowledge of what is going on eg., I didn’t know about Quick Start.”
JG
“I found it an innovative, challenging day, in which the medium truly was the message.
“the message that I took away from the inspiring talks and discussions, was that it’s now up to every one of us to be the change we want to see in our own communi-ties.”
5
Keynote 1 Synopsis
The Power to Create - Matthew Taylor, Chief Executive, RSA
The Conference was well served by its Keynote Speakers, Matthew Taylor and Professor
Tim O’Riordan. Both proved to be challenging and inspirational.
Matthew Taylor chose as his title “The Power to Create” and, in his role as Chief Execu-
tive of the R.S.A., he stressed his vision of the Association as a catalyst for releasing crea-
tivity in individuals and in society at large. He presented a vision of a future where indi-
viduals can seize the freedom to be agents of their own lives and can reach out for
better ways of living. He also presented a portrayal of communal living where new forms
of democratic inclusiveness make it possible to harness the full potential of corporate
and social creativity. What is more, he did not view this vision as a distant aspiration. He
believed that we are close to a tipping point where change well may be imminent. He
cited the increase in human capability with nearly 50% of young people now graduating
in the UK, the decline in deference to so-called authority and the diminishment of barri-
ers to creativity. The Internet, he claimed, had released a global appetite for creativity
and the social web is now an intrinsic part of life. The capacity for turning ideas into
products had also grown immensely and there was now a huge shift in human aspira-
tion. Having presented the vision, Matthew went on to outline the barriers to its fulfil-
ment. He acknowledged that the idea that everyone should live creatively is by no
means universally accepted and the ‘masses’ showed little enthusiasm for such creativi-
ty. He also painted a picture of institutional habits which impede creativity and the vari-
ous forms of inequality which persist in our society not least intergenerational inequality
which can result in the ‘past devouring the future’. He pleaded for a society where car-
ing is given a new status and where human development is seen as something which is
life-long. Finally, he explored the task of creating political momentum and how to
achieve new forms of leadership and new forms of collaboration and solidarity which he
saw as pre-requisites for the emergence of a society which truly prizes creativity.
Brian Thorne
AC
“The keynote talk by Matthew Taylor was re-ally rather inspiring, and very radical and very close to our ethos.”
CW
“It’s great to be here and to have been invited into an arena we haven’t know before.
“The inspirational lecture at the beginning was, as far as we are concerned, a resounding endorse-ment of so many of the values we stand for.”
SH
“I thought the keynote speech was very good.
“It was interesting getting a background to the RSA and to the initia-tives that it’s doing cur-rently, and the focus on their renewed vision of how to engage with community and drive community projects for-ward.”
SA and SH
“The conference has been fantastic to under-stand and learn about the work of the RSA in Norwich, and see what they are doing. It is real-ly interesting. The key-note enabled me to get an overview of the na-tional picture and how the RSA plays out locally in partnership with the people of Norwich.”
6
Keynote 2 Synopsis
Listening to young voices for a fairer deal—Professor Tim O’Riordan
Professor Tim O’Riordan’s chosen title was “Listening to young voices for a fairer
deal’”
He electrified the audience by speaking without notes and by using Matthew’s lecture as
his ‘point de départ’. Using the concept of tipping points he focused on the fact that we
do not know when they will come. This re-inforces the urgency of adopting attitudes and
policies which will hasten the time of their arrival rather than sitting back in a laisser
faire state of mind. He prefaced his opening comments by affirming the role of the facili-
tator at the current time and alluding to the work of the Conference Chairman in this
respect. For Tim, the issue of leadership becomes central as does the transformation of
‘brittle’ institutions into ‘malleable’ institutions. To this end he outlined the need to re-
design the way we think, interact and learn. With Matthew, he stressed the importance
of the Internet and the crucial significance of how best to organise it, how to create mal-
leable websites and how to capitalise on the limitless possibilities it offers. The second
part of the lecture was devoted to an exploration of current institutions and their ten-
dency to suppress rather than encourage creativity. He contrasted this state of affairs
with the determination of young disabled people who are continually exploring and dis-
covering new ways of being in the world. The failure of most institutions to engage with
young people (16-25 year olds) is grievous and there needs to be a commitment to men-
toring and a determination to re-define the nature of leadership and of communication
especially in those areas where there is great uncertainty. Drawing on the work of Lau-
rence Freeman O.S.B., he stressed the power of metaphor and ways of freeing the mind.
Freedom and not constraint should be the hallmark of institutions and of education. Tim
concluded with a passionate plea to exercise a duty of care to the next generation and
to planet earth. He also cited the power of what he termed “unfolding conversations’” in
the nurturing of the creative democracies which will both hasten the arrival of the
‘tipping points’ and ensure the emergence of a new world.
Both Matthew’s and Tim’s lectures incited enthusiastic comments and questions from
the audience and Tim’s presence throughout the day made for many fruitful exchanges
with individuals and small groups. We are greatly indebted to both speakers for the
stimulation they provided.
Brian Thorne
DS
“What we found really interesting was the di-versity of people who are here.
“It was really good to have a cross-discipline in terms of people who are interested in education.
“What’s really nice for us as artists, is to be given a platform where we are on an equal footing, as professionals.”
RB
“I thought it was a really interesting and inspira-tional day.”
KM
“It’s the serendipitous nature of who you bump into and the conversa-tions that happen, that have been the best bits.”
SA
“I’ve really enjoyed meeting people who are interested in community work and the different elements and ways it’s put together, all for the greater good.”
WH
“I thought it was abso-lutely fantastic and real-ly exciting, and it was lovely to be with people who felt the same way about things as I do!”
7
Parallel Sessions
Parallel session 1 – University and RSA research collabora-tions (room 2.03)
Facilitator: Julie E Bounford, University of East Anglia
Contributors: Dr Clare Gartland & Dr Emma Bond, University Campus Suffolk
Parallel session 1 – University and RSA research collaborations
Facilitator: Julie E Bounford, University of East Anglia
Contributors: Dr Clare Gartland & Dr Emma Bond, University Campus Suffolk
This session explored two case studies of significant research collaborations between higher education and the RSA.
Shout out Suffolk A case study introduced by Dr Emma Bond, University Campus Suffolk
This workshop considered an innovative research initiative undertaken in Suffolk in 2013 which enabled children and young people to contribute to an educational enquiry into falling educational achievement. Using professional networks, social networks (asking those involved in the project to share the information with their friends and acquaint-ances) and virtual networks (developed through a range of online and social media platforms), 568 young people aged between 5-18 years participated in the study over a six week period. The workshop examined the use of an inclusive multi-modal methodo-logical approach through activity based focus groups and both physical and digital con-tributions to discuss the potentially difficult relationship between encouraging young people's participation whilst also ensuring child protection.
More information can be found on the RSA website -
http://www.thersa.org/action-research-centre/learning,-cognition-and-creativity/education/policy-and-research/suffolk-education-inquiry
Matching Skills in the Renewable Energies Sector A case study introduced by Dr Clare Gartland, University Campus Suffolk
The RSA East of England Regional Team recently investigated the penetration of renewa-ble energies into the region and catalogued a wide range of renewable schemes and re-lated initiatives. Dr Gartland worked on the first stage report in response to the RSA’s wish to focus on the possibilities presented by this sector for local employment and re-generation.
JD and JR
“Firstly, at the confer-ence the presenters shouldn’t make assump-tions about the knowledge of people in the audience. Yet the overall atmosphere is friendly, people are not reticent about asking questions and speaking out. I have been very impressed by what I have seen and heard about changing not for change sake but for im-provement of communi-ties. I am very happy generally about all I have experienced so far.”
8
Parallel session 2 - Empowering Invisible Norwich: some initiatives undertak-en by the Norwich Area Fellows Education Forum(room 2.02)
Facilitator: Professor John Elliott, University of East Anglia
Contributors: members of the Norwich Education Forum
The workshop was led by Professor John Elliott, the Convenor of the Forum. It broadly followed the original design outlined as follows:
(15 mins) Brief introduction by Professor John Elliott FRSA to the concept of the Forum and its approach to link-ing evidence, discussion and action; followed by a conversation between local Fellows about their experi-ence of participating in the Forum.
(15 mins) A presentation of the Forum’s catalyst funded training of community-based reporters by Ben Higham FRSA. The training programme was run in partnership with local community radio (Future). The presenta-tion will include extracts from radio broadcasts on ‘Bullying’ designed and produced by the reporters.
(15 mins) A conversation between those engaged in the catalyst project and the workshop participants.
(15 mins) The workshop will conclude with an illustration of an ongoing conversation between Forum members and the ‘Friends of Train Wood’, about the use of an area of woodland adja
cent to some of Norwich’s marginalised communities as a resource for outdoor learning. This part of the work-shop will be led by Felicity Thomas FRSA.
The aim of the workshop was to model the conversational process that lies at the heart of the work of the Forum and to illustrate some of its action outcomes. With this in mind the furniture was reorganised in the lecture room space to facilitate face to face interaction. The leader of the workshop felt that this helped considerably to foster the active participation of those conference members who attended the workshop. It was well attended by approx-imately 40 people.
John Elliott introduced the Forum as both a conversational and action oriented self-sustaining network of local Fel-lows that had been meeting monthly for over 4 years to address issues relating to the inequality of educational out-comes across communities in the Norwich area. The vision of the Forum, he explained, is to empower Norwich’s ‘invisible communities’, and its mission to this end is to find ways of enabling their members to find a voice on the educational experiences that shape outcomes for the young people who are nurtured within them. John Elliott pointed out how the Forum has worked in close partnership with the UEA Community Engagement Section and Fu-ture Community Radio. Members of the Forum, he said, can choose their own levels of commitment and engage-ment, which may ebb and flow over time, but the network has sustained a stable core of 10-12 Fellows. Between meetings some Fellows engage in a variety of initiatives with a shared focus to shape a flexible and unfolding agen-da for the meetings. John Elliott summed up the work of Forum as embracing both thematic continuity and change. Following time for questions and discussion with participants in the Forum, the workshop proceeded to demon-strate the inquisitive nature of the Norwich Forum’s focus with presentations and discussions of two projects.
Ben Higham made a short presentation on the efforts of Community Reporters who emerged from an RSA Catalyst Fund supported collaboration, between the Forum and Future Radio, the local community radio station in Norwich. Previous Forum activity had focused upon seeking to capture the voices of ‘Invisible Norwich’, the voices of those in the city who might have considerably less influence and audience than others, and some of this initial investigative work by Forum members had been produced for broadcast on Future Radio. On consideration the Forum felt that it could be valuable to develop the capacity for people from local communities to explore issues significant in Invisible Norwich for themselves and seek the views of family, friends, neighbours and other actors in this process; and so become Community Reporters.
This initiative was christened RepresentRadio. It entailed the promotion of the training opportunity, the recruit-ment of enthusiastic participants, the implementation of the training programme and the collaborative working of the participant group sourcing interview material from a range of contributors around a significant educational theme they had identified.
The training programme took place in 6 2-hour sessions spread over January and February 2014. The programme had initially identified a fairly even balance between developing the need for technical knowhow and stimulating the individual and group capacity for critical thinking, problem solving and collaborative working. However, it soon
9
became clear that the technical elements were less of a challenge as most interviews could be carried out using mobile phones achieving a broadcast standard and often enhancing a sense of ownership through (relative) famili-arity with an everyday technology. However, the greater need was to encourage and develop confidence amongst the participants in order that they could become more comfortable with the intellectual challenges of planning pro-grammes, investigating issues, engaging with the ethical issues and editing material for broadcast.
As a result of the training and with the continued support of Future Radio and Forum members this initial cohort went onto develop an investigation into aspects of bullying and the resulting broadcasts can now be heard as a podcast at http://futureradio.co.uk/podcast/2014/may/represent-radio-investigates-bullying
After listening to extracts from the broadcasts participants at the conference workshop recognised the powerful nature of the content and engaged in a lively discussion around the challenges posed by the initial project and con-tributed significantly to the Forum’s reflections on how the initiative might be developed in the future. Unfortu-nately none of the community reporters who created the broadcasts were able to attend the workshop, but it was ably attended by those with a technical support role at Future Radio.
The aim of the second Project presentation by Felicity Thomas was to provoke discussion about the role of the RSA in Community development, when the development in question has many dilemmas, political nuances and incon-sistencies.
Some of those in attendance were ‘Friends of Train Wood’, an association that aspired to retain an area of wood-land adjacent to the city of Norwich but owned by the county council in public ownership.
The facilitator provoked the discussion by setting out four dilemmas with questions, which were:
How to assist a diverse and non-cohesive community who may have quite different interests and aspirations for the wood?
What should the role of the RSA Education Forum be and how is this understood by the Train Wood com-mittee?
Where does the education focus for Train Wood stem from?
How do we move the conversation on?
The dilemmas were summarised by a final question for discussion:
What if anything should we do next as representatives of the RSA Education Forum? Where may pro-activity en-croach on the Friends and their communities prerogative of free choice and to influence outcomes? How can we support the Committee to be a ‘Creative community with a cause'?
The debate that followed brought forward some useful suggestions and insights. David Thompson (LSI Architects) urged against focusing on the detail of an Educational programme. There were much wider and more pressing is-sues such as Land use and finding out what the community want through a local consultation process to be ad-dressed first. Doo Spalding from Meander/HavAGo suggested that the community had come together when they had a cause (the loss of Train Wood) but now this cause has gone it is important for the Friends and Committee to help the community retrace their emotional connection with the wood. Chris Kington FRSA – Environmental Educa-tion felt that this was not a unique problem and that many councils across the East of England were grappling with diminishing budgets and tranches of land they do not know what to do with. Alan Waters FRSA, Deputy Leader of the City Council conceded that he was surprised that the discussions with the County Council were not moving for-ward and offered his support if this would be helpful.Time brought the workshop to a close but it offered some new avenues for both the committee and the RSA representatives to pursue.
In general feedback from attendees appears to have been positive. The following two comments perhaps pinpoint the general feeling.
“The conference has been fantastic to understand and learn about the work of the RSA in Norwich, and see what they are doing. It is really interesting.”
“I would like to know more about the Norwich Forum and will pop along to visit it as soon as I can to catch up with what is happening there.”
John Elliott (Workshop Chair), Ben Higham and Felicity Thomas
10
Parallel session 3 – Crowdfunding for Entrepreneurs,
Creativity & Social Good (room 2.03)
Facilitator: Bryan Zhang, University of Cambridge
The session took place as follows:
Overview, Crowdfunding and Creativity - Bryan Zhang
Crowdfunding and Entrepreneurship - Professor Alan Barrell
Shallow Waters Project Case Study – Sarah Wilson/Luca Budello
Syndicate Room – Francesca O’Brien
RSA's crowdfunding programme and support for fellows – Jade Prentice/Joanna Massie
Q&A
Parallel session 4 – What is a learning city? :
Changing Chelmsford Showcase (room 2.02)
Facilitator: Professor John Worthington, The Academy of Urbanism
Changing Chelmsford CIC is working on a ‘new vision for England’s newest city’. The cen-tral idea is that Chelmsford should be perceived as a learning city. It was demonstrated how current projects reinforce the concept of a city where learning involves all ages and shapes the future. These are represented through:-
Core initiatives: the Changing Chelmsford and Anglia Ruskin University Ideas Festival; and the High Chelmer Ideas Hub;
Active initiatives: such as the preservation and re-use of heritage buildings; Chelmsford Young Explorers; and the ‘learning landscape’ base on the Academy of Urbanism ‘UniverCities’ model;
Supported initiatives: for 2014 focusing on revitalising the Civic Society and on the Herit-age Lottery funded World War 1 centenary project entitled Chelmsford Remembers.
Participants had the opportunity to explore leading concepts and to describe similar initi-atives from other places in the region.
WH
“It would have been nice to have been able to attend all of the work-shops.”
11
Marketplace
The objective of “The Marketplace” was to promote networking and discussions be-tween delegates and organisations who attended the RSA conference, encouraging them to meet new people, discover new initiatives, and explore ideas together. From this, we hoped that there would be some forging of new relationships through the ser-endipity of these meetings.
The word “marketplace” was perhaps not the best title, but in our case it was meant to give the feeling of energy, bustle and the excitement of sampling new things.
Each marketplace stall had its own table and chairs, and coffee/tea was served in the same space to encourage delegates to sit have discussions at the stalls. There was also plenty of space for people to stand and talk, but the stalls were arranged quite close together around the space, to create an atmosphere of community and energy. Stall-holders were encouraged to be as innovative as they wished, and our role as organisers was to enable their ideas, rather than limit them.
All RSA fellows were invited to recommend organisations (from the East of England) as marketplace stallholders. Out of 47 organisations we invited, 17 were able to attend. Stallholders were also conference delegates who paid the same contribution as the oth-er delegates and participated in the conference.
We provided a high level of pre-conference communication with the stallholders during the weeks leading up to the conference. The venue was opened to the stallholders the day before, and we were there to help them.
The stalls varied slightly in size, and were allocated on a first-come-first-pick basis. We also had a bursary scheme that allowed free entry in exceptional circumstances.
I would have preferred a larger single space so that we could have accommodated all the stalls in the same room, rather than the mix of hallway and room. However, we were particularly lucky in having such dynamic and friendly stallholders, who were very proactive in moving around and meeting people.
My impression of the end result was a busy marketplace, with plenty of lively discus-sions in a highly convivial and inspiring atmosphere.
Recommendations:
Efficient pre-conference communication with the stallholders is vital (including the option to meet-up in the venue before the conference date). This creates a more personal relationship between the organisers and the organisations, and allows momentum and ideas to develop. It is a lot of work, and adequate time should be put aside for it.
No organisation should be excluded due to lack of finance.
The balance between space and the number of stallholders/delegates is very im-portant – too small and it’s cramped, too big and the energy drops.
The design and layout of the space should encourage participation and discussions.
Give the stallholders as much freedom as possible to influence the marketplace de-sign. Becoming an enabler rather than a controller can be difficult for confer-ence organisers, as it involves risk and trust, but from our experience this ap-proach worked exceptionally well.
Mark Narayn
AA
“(marketplace) stalls were very interesting. It’s lovely to be on the floor and have people wandering in between the conversations… peo-ple have felt comfortable to have a coffee and have a discussion with us, so it’s been a good platform for us.”
DT
“I found it particularly useful that there was the marketplace, because as a relatively new RSA fel-low, I hadn’t found it particularly easy to en-gage with other fel-lows…but when I came early and went around the marketplace, I real-ised that there were a number of projects or contexts of community work that I was previ-ously aware of. So I have been pleasantly sur-prised.”
WH
“I visited most of the marketplace stalls, and to see all the differing community groups was very exciting as well.”
JG
“I’ve really enjoyed being on the (marketplace) stand. People keep com-ing over so you’re con-stantly meeting new people and finding out about their projects.”
RB
“...a very valuable net-working session.”
12
Community Meeting
Concluding plenary sessions at day conferences are notoriously difficult to manage effec-
tively. Often they consist of little more than hurried reports of workshops and seminars,
vociferous complaints from dissatisfied punters and perfunctory votes of thanks to or-
ganisers. Frequently, too, large numbers of participants have already left to catch trains
or to hit the road in order to be home before supper.
We decided to offer a different model whereby nothing was pre-planned and to trust
that the emphasis on participation throughout the day would result in free-flowing dis-
cussion and a process that would prove energising. Our hopes were rewarded. As al-
ways, many delegates did leave before the Community Meeting but there was nonethe-
less a healthy attendance and the discussion was rich and fast flowing. Many voices
were heard – my sense was that the majority actually spoke – and there was wide-
ranging reflection on the day’s proceedings, some vigorous exchanges and much valua-
ble guidance for follow-up to the conference. Criticisms were respectfully offered and
votes of thanks and praise were voiced with evident sincerity. Subsequent feedback
showed that 75% of those present felt the meeting to be an excellent or good experi-
ence. Perhaps most significant of all was the spirit of congeniality and enjoyment which
prevailed throughout the three-quarters of an hour. It did indeed have the marks of a
community and not simply that of a collectivity of tired people mouthing things at the
end of a conference.
Brian Thorne
D and A
“Like the diverse groups present today.
“Enjoy the different takes on improving edu-cation and child care. Like the references to creative ways of thinking and listening. Seeing cre-ativity and a means of living rather than as ad-ditional to normal lives is how we see things. Sug-gest that conference could start with a crea-tive activity to create a different tone from the start.”
PH
“It was great to hear Matthew Taylor, it was a very interesting talk. I look forward to the fin-ished/final version of his talk. At the beginning of the day sessions were good and very helpful and useful to follow up. I would like to know more about the Norwich Fo-rum and will pop along to visit it as soon as I can to catch up with what is happening there. The conversations I have had between the sessions have been very useful and helpful.”
FO’B
“It’s been great!”
13
Finance
The total cost of the conference was £3,374.06, including fees to the University of East Anglia for the CUE administration, the conference venue and catering. The total cost of the conference to the RSA was £1,779.26. The balance was funded by the delegate and market stall holders fees. There were no commercial sponsors. The Norwich RSA Educa-tion Forum Conference Organising Committee commissioned the Community University Engagement (CUE) team at the University of East Anglia to do the conference admin-istration. The CUE team attended the organising committee, produced & updated the workplan & budget, set up the Eventbrite site & managed the bookings, dealt with en-quiries, liaised with the RSA & workshop contributors, liaised with the UEA Conference Team and UEA Finance, wrote, designed & produced the conference pack, devised & conducted the post-conference e-survey, collated the information and settled invoic-es. A detailed breakdown of the conference budget is available from Ruth Selwyn-Crome at the University of East Anglia.
Julie Bounford
Organisations quoted in this report:
Cambridge University
The Common Room
DfE
East of England RSA
Friends of Train Wood
Funky Families
Grapes Hill Community Garden
The Magdalene Group
LSI Architects
The Magdalene Group
Meander and Have a Go
Ringsfield Hall Trust
Shout Out Suffolk
Syndicate Rooms
Trade School
Visions for Change
14
15
Mike Anstey, Sustainable Opportunities Ltd
Ross Ashley , Ringsfield Hall Trust
Siobhan Ashwell, The Magdalene Group
Alison Atkins , ME AND ER & Havago Festival
Alan Barrell, University of Cambridge
Rachel Barrett , The Churches Conservation Trust
Emma Bond, UCS
Julie Bounford, UEA
Eileen Brown, Amastra
Michael Brown, The Undergraduate Beyond Grades
Jan Brownfoot
Luca Budello, Shallow Waters
Nigel Bumphrey
Irene Campbell, Chair, Fellowship Council
Peter Clitheroe, Integral
Juliet Colman, UEA
Tony Colman, UEA
Tim Cornford
Alan Cottey, Visions for Change
Mike Cowling, The Crown Estate
Mark Crutchley, Visions for Change
Jo Durning, RSA East of England
Roshan Dykes
Sam Eade, 4women Stonham
Ann Edwards
Michael Edwards
Fran Ellington, Grapes Hill Community Garden Group
Peter Ellington, UEA
John Elliott, UEA
Appendix (i) (emails shown where permission given ref. post-conference survey)
Clare Gartland, UCS
Jack, Godfrey, Trade School Norwich
Peter Gould
Jeremy Gugenheim
Ian Hacon, Yellow Brick Road
Rowena Hagger-Utting, 4women Stonham
Mark Hall, RSA
Simon Hallsworth
Paul Hann
Mell Harrison, Ringsfield Hall Trust
Suzi Heybourne, The Magdalene Group
Ben Higham, Ben Higham Consulting
Wyn Hurst, Friends of Train Wood
Giselle Jay, Future Radio
Chris Kington, RSA Cambridge Network
Karen Knight
Paul Levy, UEA
Joanna Massie, RSA
Kevin Mitchell
Helen Mould, Peterborough Art House
Mark Narayn, Thinking Heads
Malcolm Noble, RSA
Sarah Noble, Edexcel
Catherine O'Hanlon
Contd.
16
Christine O'Hanlon, UEA
Timothy O'Riordan, UEA
Alaric Pugh, Making a Difference - to your business
Peter Radford
Leonie Ramondt, Changing Chelmsford
Dee Robinson, New Routes
Beverley Rushbrook, Funky Families
Ruth Selwyn-Crome, UEA
Aisha Shaibu, New Routes
Debra Shipley
Cordelia Spalding, ME AND ER & Havago Festival
Matthew Taylor, RSA
Ryan Tebbit, The Sue Lambert Trust
Felicity Thomas, Minds4learning
David Thompson, LSI Architects
Brian Thorne, Conference Chair
John Malcolm Wagstaff, University of Southampton
Christopher Walton, Ringsfield Hall Trust
Liane Ward, LSO, Norwich Business School
Alan Waters, LGIU
Marian Whitehead
Danny Wilson, Represent Radio
Sarah Wilson, Shallow Waters
John Worthington, Changing Chelmsford
Rinku Yunusa
Bryan Zhang, University of Cambridge
17
Appendix (ii)
FE
“I really enjoyed the conference and actually feel re-energized by all the positive vibes that were shared!”
“(I found the day) Awe-inspiring.”
RB
“I thought it was a really interesting and inspirational day.”
DT
“I found it particularly useful that there was the marketplace, because as a relatively new RSA fellow, I hadn’t found it particularly easy to engage with other fellows….. but when I came early and went around the market-place, I realised that there were a number of projects or contexts of community work that I was previously aware of. So I have been pleasantly surprised.”
FO’B
“It’s been great!”
KM
“It’s the serendipitous nature of who you bump into and the conversations that happen, that have been the best bits.”
SH
“I thought the keynote speech was very good.”
“It was interesting getting a background to the RSA and to the initiatives that it’s doing currently, and the fo-cus on their renewed vision of how to engage with community and drive community projects forward.”
SA
“I’ve really enjoyed meeting people who are interested in community work and the different elements and ways it’s put together, all for the greater good.”
“It’s quite exciting seeing everybody’s (marketplace) stand”.
WH
“I thought it was absolutely fantastic and really exciting, and it was lovely to be with people who felt the same way about things as I do!”
“I visited most of the marketplace stalls, and to see all the differing community groups was very exciting as well.”
“It would have been nice to have been able to attend all of the workshops.”
18
RB
“The marketplace was very useful. I learned about other community groups doing similar things to what we’re do-ing, and it was a very valuable networking session.”
“The venue was very nice and very modern.”
“The only downside I could possibly find, was that the UEA have installed new cycle parking outside that is com-pletely useless – you can put your bike in, but you cannot lock it to anything, which does not make it secure.”
D and A
Like the diverse groups present today.
Enjoy the different takes on improving education and child care. Liked references to creative ways of thinking and listening. Seeing creativity and a means of living rather than as additional to normal lives is how we see things. They suggest that conference could start with a creative activity to create a different tone from the start.
BR and LW
The conference so far has been inspiring. I have been taking notes as I run a local community group. I enjoy today meeting people, networking, business help and talking to people from other community groups. It has given me knowledge of what is going on eg., I didn’t know about Quick Start.
SA and SH
The conference has been fantastic to understand and learn about the work of the RSA in Norwich, and see what they are doing. It is really interesting. The keynote enabled me to get an overview of the national picture and how the RSA plays out locally in partnership with the people of Norwich.
JD and JR
Firstly, at the conference the presenters shouldn’t make assumptions about the knowledge of people in the audi-ence. Yet the overall atmosphere is friendly, people are not reticent about asking questions and speaking out. I have been very impressed by what I have seen and heard about changing not for change sake but for improvement of communities. I am very happy generally about all I have experienced so far.
PH
It was great to hear Matthew Taylor, it was a very interesting talk. I look forward to the finished/final version of his talk. At the beginning of the day sessions were good and very helpful and useful to follow up. I would like to know more about the Norwich Forum and will pop along to visit it as soon as I can to catch up with what is happening there. The conversations I have had between the sessions have been very useful and helpful.
19
Organisations quoted in this report:
Cambridge University
The Common Room
DfE
East of England RSA
Friends of Train Wood
Funky Families
Grapes Hill Community Garden
The Magdalene Group
LSI Architects
The Magdalene Group
Meander and Have a Go
Ringsfield Hall Trust
Shout Out Suffolk
Syndicate Rooms
Trade School
Visions for Change
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Conference June 14th 2014 Julian Study Centre, University of East Anglia
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