Day 1 Thursday 17th October
Subject to change
09:00–10:15
Study tour: Wharfside & Civic Quarter: Re-inventing the Urban Heartland
Many northern City Centres have seen a welcome renaissance in recent decades – but how do you rejuvenate other urban areas, away from the bright lights of city core? This study tour will explore the Trafford Civic Quarter and adjacent Wharfside neighbourhood to show how sport, heritage and strong design can lead regeneration in an inner urban location.
The award-winning Civic Quarter Area Action Plan and emerging Wharfside Development Framework aim to make the most of existing sporting landmarks, breathe new life into the existing built environment and deliver over 9,000 new homes in the process.
You can find out more about each of the regeneration projects here:
Civic Quarter Area Action Plan (trafford.gov.uk)
Trafford Wharfside Development Framework
Masterplan - Trafford Design Code
Places on this walking study tour are allocated on a first come, first serve basis. Please log in to your Solace Portal and navigate to the Manage Registration tab and select the ellipsis for more options and then 'purchase new session' to select your session. If the session is fully subscribed, please submit your details onto the waitlist and we will be in touch if a place becomes available. If you have reserved a space and are no longer able to join us, we kindly ask you let us know so we can release your place to the waitlist.
09:00–09:30
Springboard Registration
Library
09:30–10:45
Springboard Session
Library
Facilitator:
Liz McQue
Solace Associate
Guest Speaker: To be Announced
This session is part of the Springboard programme for cohort 2023–24.
10:00–10:45
Registration
Main Entrance, The Point
10:00–10:45
Refreshments
Exhibition Hall, The Point
11:00–11:10
Presidents Opening Speech
11:10–11:15
Welcome to Trafford Council
Main Stage, The Point
Sara Todd
Chief Executive, Trafford Council
11:15–12:00
Dr Khadija Owusu
Main Stage, The Point
Award-winning Leader, International Speaker
and Junior Doctor
Chair:
Solace President and Chief Executive at Dorset Council
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
12:00–13:00
PANEL SESSION
Influencing Inclusion
in Local Communities
Main Stage, The Point
County Administrator at Washington County, Oregon & President Elect of ICMA
Chief Executive of Horowhenua District Council & Vice President of Taituarā
More details coming soon….
13:00–14:00
Exhibition and Lunch
Exhibition Hall, The Point
14:00–14:50
ROUNDTABLE
Multi-Scale and Complex Collaborative Delivery
By Invitation Only.
Club Suite
Head of Strategy and Performance, Scottish Police Authority
Superintendent, Scottish Police Scotland
By Invitation Only.
By Invitation Only. The session will explore how the delivery of a place-based community confidence action research project in several communities across Scotland has involved complex collaboration between a series of national and local statutory and non-statutory bodies, and active participation on the part of communities.
14:00–14:50
ROUNDTABLE
What is best for local authorities in 2025: A Service Partnership or an In-House Service Delivery?
By Invitation Only.
Senior officers need to make decisions based on accurate and current information. This session will look at debunking the most common myths when using a service partnership: • The council will lose control of service delivery • There will be job losses • In-house service performance will be better • In-house services are cheaper • There is no real partnership / no compromises
14:00–14:50
WORKSHOP
Community Resilience – What are the options?
Honours
Head of Resilience, National Emergencies Trust
South East Branch Chair, Solace
CEO, Verudatus Limted
People today face huge challenges. From the very youngest to the oldest, from the individual to our communities, change is occurring – economic, environmental, and social - and there is a need for public sector agencies to come together, to support our communities in learning to adapt and innovate. Finding new ways to support communities, in advance, will make a defining difference to their resilience. But how do we do this? This highly interactive session will provide an opportunity to provoke deep thinking and consider innovative options for making communities more resilient as part of implementing corporate plans. This session will provide an opportune moment to reflect on and consider the emerging themes and in particular understanding: What Community Resilience means in your place? What the role of local government might be in this space? What does ‘good’ look like and how do you know if your plan is working? What other opportunities and solutions are out there? What is the ‘right governance’ to make this work?
14:00–14:50
WORKSHOP
Artificial Intelligence – A Truly Transformational Shift in Local Government
Library
As UK Councils navigate the dual challenge of reduced income and rising costs, particularly in social care services, the urgency for innovative approaches in public service delivery has never been more pressing. Generative AI has emerged as a key tool in this landscape, transforming local authority operations by enhancing community engagement, budget management and service quality. It marks a significant shift in public administration, moving from traditional human-centric methods to a more efficient and streamlined hybrid approach that combines human insight with AI. This technology directly addresses financial and service quality challenges, boosting staff focus on impactful work and public engagement, while also offering substantial savings in the current economic climate. Central to the programme is AI-driven demand management, capable of reducing service loads by 25% through automated responses and efficient resource allocation in areas like social services. This not only streamlines service delivery but also improves staff efficiency and satisfaction. This session draws upon such transformative outcomes and evidences the discussion with real examples from UK councils.
14:00–15:00
SPRINT
Various Challenges
Main Stage, The Point
Series of smaller session held in the main space where challenges or issues are set and then they mmove around the room trying to solve the issues/ challenges , 4 issues/challenges with 5–10 mins inbetween to move around.
14:40–15:30
Exhibition Demonstrations
Room: TBC
Turning Knowledge into Action: How to build productive relationships between Universities and local government to achieve better local outcomes
Overview - "Imagine the power of knowing what works here—right where you are, in your own community, yet drawing on global scientific knowledge and lessons learned in places similar to yours. Our session is designed to help you, as a public policy leader, harness that power. We can guide you in applying evidence-based practices, tailored to your specific context. A specific focus will be how to build strong, productive relationships with universities, that helps develop the capacity and strategies you need to turn research insights into action and outcomes for the communities in your place. This session will be facilitated by the Local Policy Innovation Partnership (LPIP) Hub. The LPIP Hub is a UKRI-funded programme, led by the University of Birmingham, that supports place-based partnerships to address local challenges connecting evidence with policy and practice”
14:50–15:00
Exhibition Demonstrations
Exhibition Hall, The Point
15:10–15:40
WORKSHOP
The Power of Knowing Ourselves in Leadership
Emirates
Solace Associate
This session will explore why self-awareness, self-management and self-regulation are vital in leadership. It will introduce practical tools and tips which can be put into practice easily for continued growth and development.
15:10–15:40
WORKSHOP
To Be Announced
Members Lounge
More details coming soon….
15:40–17:00
Various Challenges
Main Stage, The Point
SPRINT
Series of smaller session held in the main space where challenges or issues are set and then they move around the room trying to solve the issues/ challenges , 4 issues/challenges with 5–10 mins inbetween to move around.
15:40–16:30
WORKSHOP
Participative Action Research: Building Community Confidence in the Police
1864
Strategy and Research Lead, Scottish Police Authority
Community Inspector, Police Scotland
The session will explore how the Scottish Police Authority and Police Scotland have worked with four communities in Scotland to improve trust and confidence in the police, as part of a 3-year Community Confidence Action Research Project. All four communities taking part in the research experience some form of deprivation, as measured by SIMD. The session will explain how the Project team worked has worked with communities to co-identify community issues and co-design and test a series of initiatives, and will cover research findings, challenges and enablers, and collective learning.
16:40–17:10
WORKSHOP
Head in the Clouds: Rapid Recovery From A Cyber Attack Through Strategic Innovation
Members Lounge
Assistant Director - People Management, ICT and Digital, St Helens Borough Council
Head of ICT and Digital Delivery, St Helens Borough Council
We will be sharing our learning and approach to adopting a cloud model and how this helped us to respond to the substantial cyber attack we faced last year. Not only did this enable staff to continue working with minimum disruption, but also ensured there was minimum impact to residents and businesses in the borough. We will also discuss how we engaged with all staff and members on the issue and how all our workforce played their part to help us recover as quickly as possible. We will also look at learnings from the attack and how they are helping us to prepare for a possible attack in the future.
17:00–18:00
Sponsored Drinks Reception
Exhibition Hall, The Point
19:00–19:45
Summit Presidential Drinks Reception
Mezzanine Floor, The Point
19:45–00:00
Summit Charity Dinner for British Heart Foundation
Main Stage, The Point
