Place Pizzazz breakout information
1. Can a Place Make You Healthier? Recognising the health impacts of the places we shape
From street cleaning and public realm improvements to cultural events, public safety and urban greening, Business Improvement Districts (BIDs), local authorities and many other partners shape the environments where we live, work and spend time. But how much difference do these services really make to our health and wellbeing — and how would we know? This session explores the growing evidence behind place based health impacts, the role of BIDs and local authorities in creating healthier environments, and how collaboration between place makers and health researchers can help us understand, measure and improve the wellbeing outcomes of the places we shape.
Professor Stefan White, Professor of Architecture, Manchester Metropolitan University
Nadia Broccardo, Chief Executive, Team London Bridge (BID)
Don Campbell, Head of Communication, Team London Bridge (BID)
Ros McDermott, Research Practitioner, Evidence Islington
2. “Build It and They Will Come? The missing economic proposition”
Can housing growth alone create thriving places? Join us to explore why a clear economic proposition matters from the outset, how it can shape development decisions, and what local authorities and partners can do to turn growth ambitions into lasting economic opportunity.
Sarah Greenwood, Programme Director, New Towns, Homes England
3. Change the narrative: How building a local community tribe can revive our high streets.
How do we engage the wider community to support their high streets? It starts by shifting the conversation from transactional to relational; from negative to positive. Through Love Wellington and Love Bridgnorth, Sally Themans has shown that when you build a passionate, place based tribe, everything follows: community investment, local authority collaboration, and private sector confidence. If we can reframe the local story and spark genuine pride, passive residents become active champion investors in their own place. A mindset shift at grassroots level creates a resilient ecosystem where high streets don’t just survive, they thrive together.
Professor Nigel Morgan, Professor of Social Sustainability, Manchester Metropolitan University
Sally Themans, Placemaker, Good2Great – Love Wellington
4. What Matters Now for Places and Place Practice?
This interactive session puts delegates’ priorities at the heart of the discussion. Real-time feedback from participants will help shape the agenda, identifying the most pressing challenges and opportunities facing places and place management today. Guided by issues raised from the room, the session will explore practical priorities for improvement and future action.
Professor Steve Millington, Professor of Place Management, Manchester Metropolitan University
Chris Gregory, Director, Heartflood Ltd
5. Pride, Power & Place
Who shapes our towns and neighbourhoods, and who gets to decide? This discussion brings together Chris Wade’s seemingly simple focus on getting more “smiling faces in places” and Kris Mackay’s 360 Degree Society approach, while exploring that creating great places is about more than physical change, it’s about relationships, identity, agency and collective action.
Chris Wade, Director, The People & Places Partnership
Kris Mackay, Independent Chair, Pride in Place – Batemoor, Jordanthorpe and Lowedges, Sheffield and Place Director, 360 Degree Society
6. Beyond bricks & mortar: Turning investment into social value
What makes a place successful? Is it the investment it attracts, the jobs it creates, the businesses it supports or the quality of life it offers its communities? This session will explore the relationship between economic growth and social value, and how we ensure that investment in existing and new places delivers lasting benefits for local people.
Emma Drake, Founder and Director, Henbe Communications and Associate Director, thinkingplace
Amanda Anderson, Director of Ops & Strategy, Place, Business in the Community
7. From Data to Decisions: Research for Better Places
Bring a question about a place – or places – and help shape the research that could answer it. Does falling footfall signal decline – or a changing role for town centres? Do events drive spend? Do boundaries matter? This interactive breakout brings practitioners and policymakers together with data providers and researchers to explore what existing data reveals. Together, we’ll identify gaps in the evidence and shape research that can inform decisions about our places.
Professor Cathy Parker, Professor of Place Management, Manchester Metropolitan University
Nicki Butler, Sales & Marketing Manager, Beauclair, Ltd
8. If we put place first, what needs to change?
There’s a lot of talk about ‘place first’, but what does it really mean, and how do we make it happen? This interactive session explores the practical changes needed in how organisations work, make decisions and invest. Led by Sonia Cubrilo, Director of IntoPlaces, who previously worked at Trafford Council on the regeneration of Altrincham town centre, the session begins with a short opening contribution before delegates share experiences and consider three key questions: 1. What do we need to stop doing? 2. What do we need to start doing? 3. What needs to change? Together, we’ll identify barriers, explore what’s working, and develop practical actions to take forward individually and collectively.
Sonia Cubrilo, Director, IntoPlaces
Ian Harvey, Head of Institute of Place Management, Manchester Metropolitan University
9. A playbook for regen in partnership – From ambition to delivery
Successful regeneration rarely happens through a single project or organisation. It relies on strong partnerships, a shared vision and the ability to turn long term ambition into deliverable action. This session explores the core ingredients of effective regeneration partnerships, drawing on practical experience from shaping and delivering complex town and city centre programmes across the UK. Attendees will gain insight into the value of a story first approach, building alignment between partners, creating a clear delivery framework, maintaining momentum through change, and balancing commercial, political and community priorities.
Tarah Gear, Director of Brand and Place Futures, Milligan
Alex Shillito, Regional Head of Land and Development – North, Willmott Dixon Developments Limited
