Urban Rooms Network at the Voice, Agency and Control Conference, Cardiff
31/01/24
The annual Foundational Alliance Wales conference, ‘Voice, Agency and Control’ took place on 31st January 2024 at Cardiff University. The day focussed on how new kinds of co-production can inform, influence, and transform social housing to improve livability and build social trust.
The day was filled with presentations and conversations on how housing association tenants can be involved in decision-making from the start. Attendees and speakers included CEOs of housing associations, representatives from tenant associations and researchers. Presentations focussed on the development of new methods of social innovation to improve the voice, agency and control of local residents in relation to their homes, health, training and education. Hilary Cottam, author of Radical Help, gave an inspiring keynote presentation.
In the ‘Mechanisms for a more effective voice’ session, Carolyn Butterworth, co-Chair of the Urban Rooms Network, presented how Urban Rooms can play a key role in providing creative and inclusive spaces to explore the future of neighbourhoods. She then joined a panel with Prof Mhairi McVicar from Cardiff Community Gateway, also a member of the URN, to discuss how situated creative engagement can effectively foreground local voices in placemaking. The People’s Economy facilitated breakout discussions to develop an action plan setting the priorities and the means to collaborate and organise further.
[Image Credit: Urban Rooms Network at the Voice, Agency and Control conference]