From high street to my street: bringing urban dwellers back to town centres
[We're running a short walking tour of Sunniside before the talk – leaving Pop Recs 17.15pm. Join us for a preview of the Sunniside area.]
Revitalising town centres and high streets by encouraging more people to live in and around them has been the name of the regeneration game for a few years now – and has felt even more urgent post-pandemic. But repositioning neighbourhoods that many have left behind isn’t easy.
Historic assets are lovely but they coexist with present-day challenges; market forces are slow to catch up with visions; and balancing continuity and change to serve the needs of existing as well as new residents requires care, and thoughtful engagement.
This Common Good event - part of the fringe events for Sunderland Expo - will hear from practitioners working in inner urban neighbourhoods in Sunderland, Birkenhead and Aberdeen where attracting people to live is the focus of sustainable regeneration. They'll give you the highlights and the lowlights and hope to set the grounds for a lively debate that’s a feature of all Common Good events, as well as the usual pie + peas offer (see ticket options to get you're lovely pie ordered!)
This Common Good event is part of Expo Sunderland’s Delivering Future Cities Forum – where a stellar line-up of experts will descend on Sunderland to explore what it takes to deliver the cities of our future.
Stockport, an independent spirit
An opportunity to buy a drink/coffee and hear from local traders followed by a walking tour of central Stockport's independent scene. The tour will end at the market hall for an evening of learning, celebration and exploration.
'Soap box' speakers:
- John McCauley, Grit Studios
- Sophia Rosemary (Barese) – Top of the Town Vintage
- Coral Murphy – Emiko Studios
- Scott Graham – Oh My Glaze/Burgatory/Spinn Off
- Mark Welsby - Runway Brewery
Stockport’s ‘journey’ in context:
Joe Barratt - High Street Taskforce, Teenage Market co-founder and Local Councillor
Followed by panel discussion / Q&A
The Future is... Dock Branch Park
One year on from our previous Birkenhead event 'The Future is... Birkenhead', this time we're focused on one of the central ‘catalyst’ projects for the town – Dock Branch Park (and neighbourhood).
Streets for Girls: Creating safe & inclusive places
Join us for an evening of discussion on how we can create safer, more inclusive streets and public spaces for women. Women from a range of professional and cultural backgrounds have been invited to speak at the event, including academics, community and not-for-profit organisations, civil servants, town planners and designers.
They’ll discuss the great work they are doing in the field, their lived experiences of streets and spaces, issues and challenges in creating safe and inclusive places for women, what safe and inclusive places mean to them, and the changes required to achieve this. Like all Common Good events, the discussion will be interactive, with audience members encouraged to take an active role in each session, sharing their own experiences and perspectives to broaden the conversation.
Pieminister pies, including vegan and vegetarian options, are available to pre-order when you book your ticket, and will be served hot and ready to eat on the night.
1 Year On: Building for the Common Good in a Crisis
November marks the first anniversary of Common Good and we are hoping to celebrate with supporters old and new to learn about our story so far and to help shape our next steps toward positive change.
Currently in Planning
Currently in Planning
Sunderland
From Riverside to Sunniside in July
Stockport
An independent spirit in September
and perhaps something in Huddersfield…
Common Good is a group of volunteers acting together in a thought-leadership and enabling role, not beholden to any employer or sponsor.
The views that we express are therefore those of us as individuals, in accordance with our core values.
Similarly, the views expressed by contributors are presented from their personal experience in work and life, not the body-corporate experience of their employer, using the guiding principle ‘leave your lanyards at the door’.