The Beaufort Ballroom Theatre in Ebbw Vale, Gwent, Wales
I took a trip up to Abergavenny today, the weather was fine (in patches) but no canines of any colour appeared to be both liberated and mobile and I would nnot have claimed ownership in any event. However I can fulfil the promise to show you a photograph. If you don't understand all that then you are not old enough! In practice I took the bypass to the south of Abergavenny and then the Heads of the Valleys road to Beaufort to speak about complexity in government to the Borough of Blaenau Gwent. My slides are here. The event was set up by Paul Thomas at the University of Glamorgan who has been working with the Council for some years. The location is pictured, it looks a bit bleak from the outside but was warm and welcoming inside. In major part that was the audience who were open to thinking in new ways. When you get good feedback, your own delivery improves and the whole thing is more enjoyable. Its also good to present in your home country, a shared history creates a common use of language and communication is easier. One of the big subjects raised was citizen engagement, something I plan to blog about shortly. I'll also talk more specifically on that subject tomorrow when I am back in Wales, this time in Cardiff docks, a significant location in my own family history. More on that tomorrow.
Comments (1)
I thought yesterday's presentation was extremely thought-provoking and have notified colleagues of this blog so hope others will come along and contribute, as it raised lots of questions and challenged accepted "wisdom" about how public services operate and how people behave.
I'm particularly interested in our paranoia regarding IT security and how it is preventing rather than enabling efficient policy making and service delivery. If we're serious about improving as an employer and service provider we need to learn from anyone who wants to contribute and collaborate. I'm sure there's lots of people who would be happy to help us if only we enabled them to easily communicate with us. We can all do it outside of the workplace but we seem determined not to evolve our organisations for fear of "IT security" (or should that be insecurity?). It's bizarre that an industry built on new technology and ways of working is in reality feared so much by us at the same time as we state ambitions of building better societies and communities by being innovative.
The info on weak signal detection was really interesting and something that can be ideally promulgated in a local authority. We have many colleagues whose role is working within communities in various roles. They would be ideally placed to identify these weak signals and collect their stories to inform policy and strategic direction and far less expensive (and more insightful) than mass consultation.
I hope others contribute to the debate and more importantly enact some of the ideas.....what have we got to lose?
Posted by Simon Green | July 8, 2009 9:05 AM
Posted on July 8, 2009 09:05