Summary
This is the development of a Citizen and local
Small Business context, fit for purpose for Innovative Projects, in Salford
with a video presentation bottom left
Major Learning point for Citizen Enablement
Local Salfordian’s now have a place in which to explore joint interests and using the principles of ‘positive deviance’ learned from each other how to develop their own wealth creating ideas into working enterprises. The SIF became the hub for much future collaboration between different community group and with supportive academics from the university, bringing new, unique and innovative ideas into the market place.
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The Case
James developed a pioneering conference called ‘Smart City Futures’, held in the Lowry Centre 2009, which uniquely involved the local communities and small businesses in a highly interactive mode empowering citizens to undertake key developments in conjunction with the Greater Manchester Universities. (www.smartcityfutures.co.uk).
In particular, and to aid the Enablement of the local Citizens attending in huge numbers, the conference used an open innovation platform that unlocks the problem solving potential of ordinary people. Using everyone’s own mobiles, big screen technology and massive data handling software, it enables a sort of digital transformation of collective ideas – a decentralised continuous improvement engine that removed obstacle to good citizen experiences and empowered everyone attending the conference workshops to a unique and innovative conference experience. Invented by Katz Keily, of BEEP – the Bahavioural Empowerment Platform, it provided a social context for the conference that democratised the design thinking of citizens, working with colleague support academic and, in Katz terms ‘industrialises people powered micro innovation. To ensure this socially inclusive part of the conference worked properly it was enabled by Katz herself. As result it encouraged all citizens attending to participate fully in all discussions, empowered them to give voice to their needs and wants, and led ten teams of citizens and academics and citizens towards new developments which were pump primed by Salford University,
This unique innovative drive for a better way of Enabling Citizens, identified issues, shared knowledge, and produced solutions which truly showed how to keep the citizens of this thriving city-region at the forefront of policy, strategy development and decision making in the UK, throughout Europe and the rest of the world.
The Smart City Futures approach properly enabled:
- policy leaders develop more successful & sustainable strategies & infrastructure
- professionals in all forms of practice to design more humanely responsive solutions
- citizens to become empowered to work in socially responsive ways and thus enabled to get their desired ends and means.
All academic in Greater Manchester Universities reached–out to local citizens and communities; this is in the richest sense of the word ‘community’. They also engaged with them in powerful partnerships for mutual benefit and ideally co-creation to enable all to flourish in the Knowledge Economy. The main themes of much cooperation were:
- strategic policy engagement: knowledge for urban policy and action
- improved professional support for sustainable features
- citizen empowerment and inclusive visioning
Smart City Future’s enabled Salford and Manchester to focus on the empowerment of professionals & policy leaders working closely with citizens and communities for the benefit of all. It did this by empowering local citizens to take part in a new and different form of collective conversation.
Major Learning point for Citizen Enablement
It is entirely possible for a conference style activity to be developed that will properly engage citizens in a way to enable them to share best practices with each other, using the best principles of ‘positive deviance’. This in turn can help Cities and Region to engage with their citizens, to share ideas with them and to help local growth.
The Enablers
James Powell initiated the process, was the main Citizen Enabler and led the team running SCF. SCF became a beacon of Citizen Enablement for Greater Manchester and helped its four universities learn a new and better way of helping what would otherwise be disenfranchised communities. Katz Keily enabled the fullest engagement of citizens at the conference event itself.
