West Midlands Regional Observatory Annual Conference 2009

Graphic from Fit for the Future bookOur Annual Conference titled ‘West Midlands: Fit for the Future?’ was held in Sutton Coldfield on 20th October 2009.

The conference focused on the economic recovery of the West Midlands, rather than the recession, and how we position the West Midlands to hit the ground running.

The conference followed on from West Midlands: Fit for the Future? book (PDF, 5.7mb) of the same name that we launched in July 2009.

The speeches and workshop discussions generated a lot of interesting content, which we're sharing via our Observations blog. The main speakers' presentations are available below plus links to the five workshops.

Main speakers

Richard Woolhouse: banking crisis, global recession and recovery

Richard Woolhouse is currently leading a major project on surviving recession for the Centre for Cities. Richard delivered the keynote speech.

Here are the video, slides and audio from Richard's speech:

 

Rosie Paskins: Fit for the Future? Shining some clear light

Rosie Paskins, the Observatory's Chief Executive, highlighted the Observatory's work over the last year and launched the State of the Region Report 2009.

Here are the video, slides and audio from Rosie's speech:

 

Daniel GidneyDaniel Gidney, Chief Executive of the Ricoh Arena

Daniel gave a more local perspective to economic recovery, based on his experiences in Coventry. As one of the region's business leaders, he focused on issues including skills, culture and tourism (including the Olympic legacy).

Here's the audio of Daniel's speech: (mp3, 15.6mb)

 

 

Sir Roy McNultySir Roy McNulty, Joint Chair of the Shadow West Midlands Joint Strategy & Investment Board

Sir Roy McNulty made the link to the forthcoming regional strategy and how the evidence base to support it will be developed.

Here's the audio of Sir Roy's speech:

 

 

Cllr Roger Phillips, Joint Chair of the Shadow West Midlands Joint Strategy & Investment Board with Sir Roy, unfortunately could not attend the conference. Sir Roy read out Cllr Phillips' speech, which reflected a local authority view. We'll try and post a transcript of this speech shortly.

Workshops

There were five workshops, each providing delegates with opportunities to discuss and debate the issues raised in the Fit for the Future? book (PDF, 5.7mb) and influence development of the evidence base to inform the Single Regional Strategy.

We're summarising the workshop debates on our blog as they are written up, so you can continue the dialogue online:

 

Question and answer sessions

Following the speeches, delegates questioned the speakers on a range of issues.

Q and A with Richard Woolhouse and Rosie Paskins

Richard Woolhouse and Rosie Paskins fielding questions from delegates

 

Questions and answer session with Daniel Gidney and Sir Roy McNulty

Question and answers with Daniel Gidney and Sir Roy McNulty by wmro

 

Questions and answer session with panel

Question and answers with the panel by wmro

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