Communities & Stakeholders
When regeneration professionals and politicians talk about ‘The Community’ they usually mean people who live in that locality; when they talk about ‘Stakeholders’ they are often referring to a different, geographically disperse group of people who have significant financial or other interests in the area. But do the Community and the Stakeholders talk to each other?
Depending on who you talk to, regeneration is led (or at least informed) by Communities or Stakeholders.
Let us put aside for now whether either of these groups, if such they be, are in reality leaders of regeneration; what we first need to ask is, are Communities the same as Stakeholders? In my book the answer is, No.
Communities are generally held to be bound by fences, real or metaphorical. In terms of regeneration this usually means they have a geographical, if not always sociological, footprint or identity within the physical area being regenerated. Stakeholders however may be found anywhere.
Sometimes it’s useful during the consultations which must precede major developments to seek the views of The Community. This means that a number of ‘local’ people are ‘consulted’, though perhaps on an agenda set by non-locals.
There again, Stakeholders may be consulted, often in a more formal way. These tend to be the people who have serious financial or other formal interests in the area under consideration. In the back of some parties’ minds, Stakeholders are sometimes perceived as likely to be more formally articulate in their approach, and perhaps to have a wider view of the possibilities, challenges or whatever.
In both instances, those who conduct the consultation will probably be professionals from outside the area to be regenerated; and they will probably have expectations based around their own educational and social backgrounds about what Communities and Stakeholders respectively can realistically bring to the process. But the big question could be, have the Communities and the Stakeholders actually communicated with each other? Whose job is it to ensure this happens? And should (or could) those who conduct consultations on regeneration developments help here?
Grants & Investments
Are there differences in the sorts of people who ‘give’ Grants, from those who ‘make’ Investments? Are these fundings for genuinely different types of activity? Or do we sometimes forget that all funding from the public purse has at base the same objectives of improving quality of life?
When is a Grant an Investment? This is probably only a meaningful question in the context of the public and not-for-profit sectors, either as recipients or as giver.
In private-sector-to-private-sector transactions everything is Investment; but when we go to other sectors, the likelihood that an Investment will become a Grant seems to increase with the supposed distance from hard commercial factors.
Thus, IT projects are likely to benefit from Investment, but Cultural ones receive Grants.
The implications of this for how we perceive these activities are significant. Yet, for instance, cultural activities can be both business-like and of benefit to their communities, as can technological ones. If we seriously believe that varied and high-skills activities of all kinds are necessary in a modern economy, it might help to recognise that Investment is what we do when we support activities of any sort which help to build that economy, by making jobs, engaging people and – whisper it – just generally improving quality of life.
But there again perhaps Investments are made by people who have experience of business, and Grants are made by those who usually don’t. Whether this matters or not is an open question.
Leadership & Management
Which needs to come first? Good Leadership or good Management? Can we have one without the other? And can they be done by the same people?
In the past couple of weeks I’ve received three notifications of different events about the development of Leadership – in the arts, education and regeneration. All look to be splendid conferences with excellent speakers.
It’s often implied (as indeed is the case for some of the examples here) that Leaders are Bosses; but is this necessarily so? Does it depend on the role of the ‘boss’? Are some bosses quite properly straighforward Managers or even ‘just’ administrators? At what point, or in what context, does a Manager become a Leader? Or are there occasions when a Leader may, or should, not be a Manager? (For example, is there a difference between leading by example, and managing people?)
Is this the connundrum which lies behind the desire of some excellent teachers, health workers and, say, artists and musicians, – or, come to that, salespersons or IT specialists – to perform at the highest level, but not to become Managers?
We often hear that successful organisations require flexibility and the capacity for responsive change; and this of course requires Leadership. But can an organisation offer top quality Leadership if it is not also providing good Management? And how would you tell?
Conservation And Sustainability
What do the terms ‘Conservation’ and ‘Sustainability’ say about our attitudes to change? And can we apply them to the same sorts of things?
Can we conserve a building, area or whatever without making it sustainable? Does conservation always, or generally, have an impetus towards the status quo? And does sustainability generally suggest forward movement? Can we sustain without progressing? And, if so, is this conservation?
Is there some sort of inverse law which suggests that the rate of dis-integration (a sort-of ‘half-life’) of things we conserve is related to the strength of the bond we try to make with the status quo? Is the converse true of things we seek to sustain?
And, most importantly, how do we articulate (to ourselves and / or others) the inevitability of change when we use the word Conservation and the word Sustainability?
The Lexicon
We all use words in a general way to indicate the areas we are thinking about; but sometimes it’s interesting to search behind the vocabulary to see what we’re really looking at.
Some commonly used terms are examined in The Lexicon to see what they tell us, for instance, about areas of regeneration, culture and social change.
We all use words in a general way to indicate the areas we are thinking about; but sometimes it’s interesting to search behind the vocabulary to see what we’re really looking at.
Some commonly used terms are examined in The Lexicon to see what they tell us, for instance, about areas of regeneration, culture and social change.
About Hilary Burrage
Welcome to Hilary’s professional website. Hilary is a consultant in strategic policy. Her interests range from the knowledge economy to what makes a good community engagement strategy, taking in eco-issues, sustainability, science, equality and diversity, and the arts and culture, along the way.
Hilary’s work is about communication, and the ‘translation’ of dialogue between different groups. She hopes you will join in this dialogue via the Comment sections of this site.
Hilary writes (on 1 January 2009):
I am an enthusiast who draws on wide practical experience to help and encourage people seeking to make things better…. the environment, renewal of our rural areas, towns and cities, social equity, and sustainable communities and economies are all a part of this.
Previously a Senior Lecturer in Health & Social Care, I have developed a fascinating new independent practitioner portfolio after the onset of my own mid-life health challenge. This led me, as I took control of the situation, to a different emphasis, on arts & culture, community engagement, regeneration, environmental issues and science / technology policy – a wholesale professional transition which, looking back, I have never regretted!
I am currently, or have recently been, a member of the Boards / Councils of the British Urban Regeneration Association (BURA), Defra Science Advisory Council, an NHS Ambulance Service (as a Non-Executive Director), Liverpool Chamber of Commerce (as chair of the Arts & Culture Committee), a group advising government ministers on Asset Transfer to the Third Sector, and a Trustee of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society, as well as the Equality and Diversity Champion for BURA, Founding Chair of HOPES: The Hope Street Association (Liverpool) and Vice-Chair of the NW Sustainable Development Group (which advises on / promotes S.D. in NW England). Details of these various roles are given below.
I also teach one of the new web-based Home and Communities Agency / Academy professional courses on Sustainable Development, and I am an Independent Consultant who advises Local Authorities and similar bodies on service and policy alignment to secure appropriate delivery for customers and the general public. Much of my work with local government has centred on services for the very early years (especially Sure Start and Children’s Centres) and for young people, with a focus on health, employment and economic issues.
As an adjunct to my usual activities, I am manager of a number of small ensembles of classical musicians (my husband, the musical director, is a professional violinist) who perform interesting concerts at a range of levels of formality in community, educational and local venues. I am also promoter and producer of an annual community-based concert, HOTFOOT on Hope Street, at Liverpool Philharmonic Hall. In all these activities we have a particular commitment to promote the music of Britain’s foremost black classical composer, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. We also collaborate with classically trained Indian musicians.
In the course of this whole gamut of tasks and roles I have prepared and presented numerous papers and talks, and have led many workshops and debates.
I am a keen (published) writer, weblogger – http://www.hilaryburrage.com – and photographer, often combining these activities in my commentaries on Liverpool life and my visits to other European cities.
Originally a student of natural science (and a trained singer!), I have a first degree in Social Sciences, I am a qualified teacher, I have a Master of Science degree in the Sociology of Science and Technology and I am a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
A disciplined and focused researcher, speaker and teacher, I am always positive and enthusiastic about my work and interests, whilst also maintaining the experience-based realism required to deliver a balanced and pragmatic ‘can do’ approach to professional, policy and delivery issues. This focus on making things happen is my moving force, whether I am considering the knowledge economy, equality and diversity, regeneration and sustainability, science in government, life in Liverpool or how to put on a community concert!
I am consistently keen to promote discussion about how to engage people of all sorts more in the decisions which affect their lives. This relates both to community development and to wider issues around regeneration and sustainability at both local and national level. (I know that we all need to work harder to develop shared meanings in these matters; this is what makes it so interesting.)
I enjoy sharing my enthusiasm for the arts, and especially music, as a means towards social cohesion, or what we might call ‘social glue’….
My aim, whatever the topic and whoever the client or audience, is to get people to feel it matters, and to believe that they can (and indeed perhaps ‘should’) take a view for themselves.
Contact Hilary here
View Hilary Burrage’s profile
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Hilary’s more recent Publications, Lectures and Talks
Hilary’s other publications
Hilary’s professional and honorary roles and interests include:
* Independent Consultant in Strategic Policy, Writer & Public Speaker; areas of interest are indicated on this website and include
~ a specialist focus on complex organisational or public sector transitions requiring a multi-disciplinary or cross-professional approach;
~ issues around regeneration, the knowledge economy (highly skilled activities in technical and / or cultural and artistic areas) and sustainability; and
~ diversity and community cohesion.
Current Appointments & Roles
* Independent Consultant in Strategic Policy, Writer & Public Speaker
* Member, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) Science Advisory Council
* Vice-Chair, North West Regional Sustainable Development Group
* Hon. Director, British Urban Regeneration Association (BURA), with responsibility for BURA Education & Training, and as Diversity Champion
* Council Member, Liverpool Chamber of Commerce and Industry
(& Hon. Chair, LCCI Arts & Culture Committee)
* Member, Editorial Support Team, Neighbourhood: The International Journal of Neighbourhood Renewal
* Hon. Chair, HOPES: The Hope Street Association
* Member (previously Trustee), Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine
* Member, North West Business Leadership Forum
* Founder / voluntary organiser of Monday Women
* Hon. Agent for Mrs Louise Ellman MP
* Manager-Producer of classical music ensembles (Ensemble Liverpool, Elegant Music and Live-A-Music)
Recent and Previous Appointments
* Non-Executive Director, Mersey Regional Ambulance Service NHS Trust
* Lay Partner & Lay Visitor, Health Professions Council
* Senior Lecturer in Health and Social Care, Wirral Metropolitan College
* Lecturer and Researcher, University of Liverpool and the Open University
* Hon. Chair, Liverpool Riverside Constituency Labour Party
* Vice-Chair, Liverpool Community Network Arts & Culture Steering Group
* Non-Executive Director, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society
Hilary’s Publications
A list of Hilary’s main editorial duties, publications and lectures over the years, including those written before this website was created. Some entries here are hyper-linked for immediate access. More recent publications and lectures are not listed here and are located individually as posts on Hilary Burrage’s website.
Please note: What follows is historical. Recent work is as above.
2011: ‘Green Hubs, Social Inclusion and Community Engagement’, Municipal Engineer Vol.164 Issue ME3, September (subsequently shortlisted for an Institution of Civil Engineers 2012 Award.)
2009: ‘From Regeneration to Sustainability: A northern take on knowledge’, Journal of Urban Regeneration and Renewal, October
2009: ‘Where should we put the ‘evidence base’ when we make policy?’, New Start blog, July
2009: Biography (‘The tale of a jobbing sociologist’), British Sociological Association Sociologists Outside Academia magazine, June
2009: ‘Can Liverpool’s Arts And Culture Businesses Thrive Post-2008?’, Liverpool Chamber magazine of the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce, January / February
2009: ‘Was Liverpool a truly inclusive Capital of Culture in 2008?’, New Start magazine, January
2008: ‘Arachnid ‘art’, big toys and cultural communties’, a-n magazine, December
2008: ‘Liverpool 08: Cultural Turn or Cultural Tourism?’, lecture at the Architectural Association seminar supported by the Architectural Review, London, 5 December
2008: ‘If only scientists could remember – science has its responsibilities’, an analysis of the DIUS A Vision for Science and Society, Science Review, 5 November.
2008: DIUS Science and Society consultation submission, October
2008: From ‘Regeneration to Sustainability: A Northern Take On Knowledge’, keynote address at the NUREC conference, Liverpool, 28 July
2008: ‘Regeneration Rethink’ (equality and diversity), Public Service Review: Transport, Local Government and the Regions, issue 12, Spring
2008: ‘Places for People: Hope Street Quarter as a case study’, Communities and the Public Realm Masterclass, Bradford, 21 April
2008: ‘Alice in economic context’, (re: Big Science in Regional Economic Contexts: Daresbury Laboratory and the ALICE programme) Education Guardian letters page, 13 April
2008: Introductory speaker (and instigator) at the BURA Equality and Diversity Network Launch, London, 20 February
2008: Member, Editorial Support Team, Neighbourhood: The International Journal of Neighbourhood Renewal
2007: Putting scientific research in context, The Guardian (letters), 17 February
2006: ‘Can I have a speaker that reflects the community? Too white, too male and too posh. It’s time conferences had an injection of diversity’, New Start, 27 October, p.11 (website version)
2006: ‘Should women be starting more businesses?’, Vision (Liverpool Daily Post‘s regional business magazine), Summer, p.52
2006: Sure Start in Halewood: Service Provision Overview, report for Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council, March
2006: ‘No-Win or Win-Win Gender and Babies Agenda?‘, Diverse Liverpool , March, pp. 113-115
2006: ‘Knowledge Economies and Big Science: A challenge for governance,’ Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES) Local Work: Voice, No.68, February (website version)
2006: ‘Make a move too far and you might find yourself exposed’, New Start, 27 January, p.11 (website version)
2005: ‘Regional Issues around the Very High Skills Knowledge Economy’, Knowledge Economy Network Conference, London
2005: ‘The Hope Street Quarter, Liverpool’, Northern European Cathedrals Conference, Liverpool2002: ‘Cultural Tourism as a Catalyst for Renaissance’, Mersey Partnership Cultural Impact Conference.
2000: Paper presented to the Secretary of State for Culture, and the Millennium Commissioners on the Hope Street Millennium Festival, London, September
2000: ‘Imagine all the people – and all the things they’d do…..‘, Manifesto for a New Liverpool (eds: M. Lyons & J. Egan), University of Liverpool et al
2000: Art at the Heart: The Role of Established Cultural Quarters in City Renaissance (commissioning editor, for HOPES: The Hope Street Association)
1987-96: Member of Editorial Board of Gender and Education
1993: ‘The Sociology of Science and the Science of Society’, Chapter 1 of Sociology Reviewed (eds: T. Lawson et al), Collins Educational
1991 onwards: articles and reports in the arts media and cultural publications (eg: Classical Music magazine, writing as Frances South) & many response / positional documents for CAMPAM and HOPES.
1991: ‘Gender, Curriculum and Assessment Issues at 14-16+’, Gender and Education, vol.3, no.1 (March)
1990: ‘Health Education’, Chapter 4 in The New Social Curriculum (ed: B. Dufour), Cambridge University Press
1986-90: Editor, Social Science Teacher (national professional journal)
1989: ‘”Recent, Relevant Experience”: How CATE legitimates narrowly defined concepts of teacher education’ (with W. Boxall), Journal of Further and Higher Education, vol.13, no.3 (Autumn)
1987: ‘Epidemiology and Community Health:a strained connection?’, Social Science & Medicine, vol.25, no.8 – later cited by WHO
1987: ‘Striking at the Heart: sociology’s place in the school curriculum’, The Guardian, 11 August
1987: The National Curriculum 5 – 16: Response of the Joint Forum of Academic and Teaching Associations in the Social Sciences
1986: Paper delivered to the Hungarian Academy of Sciences / SANA symposium of The Socio-Economic Consequences of World War Three (July, Budapest)
1986: ATSS Submission to the Winfield ESRC Enquiry on PhD Completion Rates
1984: ‘Doctors and Patients – Bird’s Eye or Worm’s Eye View?’, Scottish Medicine (December)
1983: ‘Women University Teachers of Natural Science, 1971-2: An Empirical Study‘, Social Studies of Science, vol.13, no.1, (February) (Report of M.Sc. research of same title)
About this website
This website is a collaboration between Hilary Burrage and Nick Prior. It is Hilary’s professional website and reflects her wide ranging interests and opinions.
For Nick, this site is an example of how some of the current trends in social computing can be used to implement co-operative information systems.
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Dreaming Realist 