Cohesion Counts Conference
Building and measuring community cohesion

The Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, Thursday 25th March, 2010
Booking Code: 15024

• About the event
• Benefits of attending
• Who should attend
• Programme
• Prices
• Booking
• Download the Flyer (PDF: 652 kb)

• Have you ever thought you had cohesion issues in your neighbourhood, but were not sure where to focus?
• Have you ever needed to run a cohesion project, but were not sure what type of intervention to use?
• Have you ever wanted to know the impact your projects have had in a measurable way?
• Have you ever wanted to understand how your projects are contributing to the wider objectives of your organisation in a measurable way?
• Have you ever had to plan a cohesion strategy, but were not sure where to start?

If you have ever answered yes to any of these questions, then Cohesion Counts is the conference for you.

About the Event

In 2008, the Oldham and Rochdale Housing Market Renewal Pathfinder secured resources from the then Housing Corporation’s Innovation & Good Practice Fund to pilot a programme of activities in local communities.

We commissioned a wide range of projects, some research based, others practical hands on activities, to complement various initiatives already operating in Oldham and Rochdale, designed to bring people together and make them feel confident in their neighbourhoods.

Our overall objective was to pilot and develop effective ways of building and measuring the impact of cohesion, something that previously has been difficult to do. A key and unique element of the project has been a robust evaluation that enabled us to provide a genuine measure of impact and value.

We now want to share our experiences and findings with all those involved in the development and management of housing and communities.

The conference sessions and workshops will show what interventions worked and what didn’t plus what could have been improved, ways of identifying where cohesion support is needed and how to measure the impact of intervention.

But perhaps more importantly, the conference will demonstrate replicable and effective ways of managing your own project including how to assess cohesion issues, identify best practice and evaluate a project. We will also be sharing these methods and more on a new interactive website, a good practice guide to building and measuring community cohesion, which will be launched at the conference.

Benefits of attending this event

• Find out the latest thinking from the TSA on the importance of building strong and cohesive communities
• Receive practical information to help you plan and manage community cohesion projects
• Discover the importance of a robust evaluation framework, how and when to put it in place
• Hear from professionals and practitioners on what works and what does not
• Participate and discuss your issues in specialist workshops
• An excellent opportunity to network, make new contacts and renew old contacts at a showcase venue in the heart of Manchester.

Who Should Attend:

People working for housing organisations involved in

• Development of new schemes
• Policy making
• Management of housing and communities

People working to develop cohesive communities

Programme

Speakers include

Keynote address from Ted Cantle, Institute of Community Cohesion

Ranjit Sondhi, TSA Board Member and Conference Chair

Dr Phil Brown, Salford Housing and Urban Studies Unit – Why it matters how you consult and engage around new build if you want to develop cohesion

Alastair Graham, Oldham and Rochdale HMR Pathfinder

Workshops include

• Effective evaluation of community projects
  (York Consulting)
  This ‘how to‘ session by York Consulting will take you through an example of project evaluation. The session aims to leave you with a better understanding of how to organise the evaluation of your own projects.
  
  
• Engaging community groups through philosophical discussion - uses and impacts
  (Contour Housing Association)
  You will be able to join in a session that will provide a real insight into how effective Philosophy is as a tool for breaking down the barriers between participants and enabling discussion about sensitive issues in ways you would never have thought possible.
  
  
• Community Cohesion or Social Engineering? How, why and how far to go
  (Andy Steele, Salford University)
  Andy Steele is an experienced housing researcher and practitioner who has evaluated schemes to support people to move to non traditional areas in Oldham and Rochdale. Some call this social engineering whilst others call it opening up access for all. Andy will talk about the impacts these schemes have had and what this might mean for anybody thinking of developing such a scheme.
  
  
• Getting residents together in newly completed developments – why and how?
  (Helen Brzozowski Arc 4 and Gemma Faulkner, Great Places)
  This project aimed to bring people together in new build developments in recognition of the fact that mixed tenure developments implicitly attract people from different backgrounds. Arc 4 and Great Places will talk about their experience of doing this and what they anticipate the impacts to be.
  
  
• The role of conflict resolution in developing resilient communities
  (Moira Blood, Oldham Housing Investment Partnership and Good Relations Oldham)
  For communities, the pace of change can be a frightening prospect and their response to it can often be expressed in ways that do not contribute positively to the development of cohesive communities. Good Relations Oldham (GRO) - which delivers conflict resolution training and services based on the methodology developed by Mediation Northern Ireland – will be sharing their experiences of using conflict resolution in developing strong and supportive communities. There will be time for discussion as well as opportunity for you to try out some of the techniques for yourself.
  
  
• How to develop a Cohesion project including effective engagement
  (Helen Barnes, Regenda, Catherine Wilks, Spiral Dance & Steve Hardy, Groundwork Oldham and Rochdale)
  We can think of great ideas for projects to bring people together but how do we actually engage participants? Do we settle for the usual suspects or try different ways of engaging new people, especially the ‘target’ audience? We learned a lot through running these projects and this workshop will enable you to learn from our experience and contribute to the discussion.

Prices

The delegate price of £95 + VAT includes attendance at two workshops, a comprehensive delegate pack, all refreshments and lunch.

Please note that conference and workshop places are limited so please book early to avoid disappointment.

To Make a Booking

You can book your place on this conference in one of the following ways:

• Use our online booking form (Booking Code: 15024)
• Or download a booking form (PDF: 40 kb)
  and return to

  CIH Training & Conferences,
  Octavia House,
  Westwood Way,
  Coventry CV4 8JP
  
  Tel: 024 7685 1772
  Fax: 024 7642 1973
  E-mail: events@cih.org

Booking Information

• Please do not send any payment with this booking - you will be invoiced after the event.
• If you cancel a booking more than 20 working days before the event, you will be charged a £70 administration fee per booking. If you cancel within 20 working days you will be charged the full fee.
• If you downgrade your booking from Residential Plus to Residential or Day Delegate or from Residential to Day Delegate within 20 working days of the event you will be charged your original booking fee.
• If, at the time of booking, you do not know the names of delegates, please let us have names no later than two weeks before the event.
• If you are booking two delegates and sending a third delegate for half price, you need to send all three bookings together on the same form to qualify for this offer.
• Please note that the CIH cannot guarantee that delegates’ names will be printed on the delegate list and a badge will be produced, if bookings are received within 10 working days of an event.
• Please keep a printout of this form for your records, if possible.
• This booking is subject to the usual CIH Terms & Conditions.

Limitation of Liability

The Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) accepts responsibility for accident, injury or loss suffered whilst attending one of our events only if it is directly due to negligence on our part. Delegates are responsible for taking care of their own property. CIH accepts no responsibility for any loss incurred whilst using material or information gained at one of our events.

Cancellation of Events

CIH may have to cancel an event. In this case we will return any payments received in advance. We will not refund any other costs you may incur as a result of this cancellation.

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