Last week I attended a very interesting event: Vision For Leeds - DIY Style, organised by T4P. The event took place in Leeds at the DLA Piper LLP building and to quote the organisers:
This event, for people working in the business sector, is one of a series of small events playing around the edges of the official Vision for Leeds 2030* process – stimulated by it, contributing to it… and challenging it!
- What makes cities great places - to work in, to thrive in, to live life to the full?
- What’s your dream for how this city might be in the future?
- What might we then do to help Leeds become all it can be?
We started by talking about why we were there and what we hoped to achieve by coming to the event. The answers were mixed: some people focused on transport, others spoke of narrowing the social gap, others spoke from a business angle, some just wanted to talk about Leeds and this was perhaps their best chance of being heard. All in all the group seemed enthusiastic, intelligent and wanted to help the city.
Picture From Tamara @ ithunter.com
During the session we spoke about when we personally were most happy in the city, and what circumstances facilitated or contributed to that feeling. I spoke about our recent project with the Barcelona online community (blog post to come on this next week) and how it made me very happy to open the doors of our city and it's fashion/culture to an international audience. Some of the other stories evoked great memories such as talk of the Lord Mayor's Parade and other events where the city was alive and the community engaged.
The talk inevitably turned towards the council and city planners. We spoke about some of the barriers that are in place and what we can do to remove them. We also spoke of the 'brand' and 'story' of the city: What is Leeds? What are we good at? What is great about the city?
All in all the evening was very interesting, but for me the next question is: What do we do about it? Do we keep talking, or do we act? Do we wait for the council to tell us it is ok to do things, or do we do things anyway? How can the private sector of the city work together more effectively and collaborate on mutually beneficial projects?
I have a lot of ideas in this area and am currently meeting with lots of people who have an important role to play in the future of the city. If we can all work together, collaborate and take a few risks... this difficult economic climate could have just helped to stimulate the best thing to happen in the city for a long time, and I for one am excited!