Conference Summary
The Gloucestershire Rural Partnership Conference 2008
Future Opportunities for Gloucestershire’s Rural Economy
‘A stimulating and interesting event’
The 2008 Gloucestershire Rural Conference, held at Hartpury College on Wednesday 7th May was attended by 110 people, representing approximately 70 organisations in Gloucestershire – one of our biggest conferences to date. Associated documents and presentations can be found in the 'Related Documents' section on this page.
The theme was ‘future opportunities for Gloucestershire’s rural economy’ and in his introduction, the chair, Robin Grist, highlighted the challenges faced by rural communities in Gloucestershire. A Gloucestershire Rural Renaissance DVD illustrated the achievements of the programme and its impact on organisations and communities in Gloucestershire. This DVD was introduced by Claire Edwards, Programme Manager for the RR programme. For a copy of the DVD, please ring 01242 864142.
The keynote speaker, Rob Hopkins, founder and co-ordinator of the Transition Town Network, gave a synopsis of the nature of the energy challenge we face and highlighted ways in which local action can have a positive impact on developing the local economy and creating sustainable communities. Follow the links below to view the presentation. (We have divided it into four documents to allow it to be uploaded.)
- Rob Hopkins - Slides 1-23
- Rob Hopkins - Slides 24-34
- Rob Hopkins - Slides 35-44
- Rob Hopkins - Slides 45-56
For a summary of Rob's talk click here
Further talks were delivered by:
- Ian Knight (Area Director for the West of England and Gloucestershire SWRDA) who presented the SWRDA priorities and delivery plan.
- Stan Jones (Managing Director, Gloucestershire First) who outlined the Gloucestershire Local Area Agreement targets relating to the rural economy.
- Ian Piper (Director of Sustainable Communities, SWRDA) whose presentation summarised the Rural Development Programme for England.
A panel question time led by Henry Robinson, Chair of Gloucestershire Rural Issues Task Force, gave the opportunity for questions from the audience.
Summary by Robin Grist (Chair)
Robin Grist summarised that the issue of planning had been raised at every Rural Partnership Conference to date and without the planning system being on side, it is difficult to see how initiatives such as the Transition Movement can succeed. Gloucestershire Rural Renaissance has invested in Agricultural Forums where planners and landowners have come together to understand better one another’s points of view – these have been very popular and it is hoped that they can continue as part of RDP-E. The implications of SWRDA’s intentions only to invest in Carbon Zero projects from 2013 are significant and we need to start addressing them now. Robin thanked speakers, panel members and all participants and organisers of the conference and stated that it is not surprising that people are confused; it is confusing but there are opportunities. He urged people who had good ideas to seek help to bring them forward and find a way through the maze.
The evaluation of the conference showed that the event was very well received, with location, venue, organisation and content being scored highly. 11 people felt that they were not given enough opportunity to put forward their point and comments suggested that further time for questions and answers would have been appreciated. The differences between messages at local and regional level were highlighted in the evaluations.
