The next In the City seminar is at UEL’s USS building on Weds November 6th
The Municipal Commons: Urban governance and the idea of community
After nearly a decade of austerity-led neglect, many local urban communities are struggling to cope with the erosion of important services that help to bring them together. Amid all the gloom, however, there are a few encouraging signs on the horizon. Local authorities like Preston and Newham have engaged with the concept of community wealth building and its aim to produce inclusive and seemingly democratic local economies [1]. Similarly, while under economic pressure to grow student numbers and become global players, universities are also being asked to consider how their research can engage with, and impact on, the places in which they are located [2]. Certainly, in contrast to the metrics intended to gauge the global reach of academic work, these institutions need to further consider their connection to the local community.
This seminar in the CCSR series, In the City, sets out to explore how various ideas of urban community might relate to, or can become realized in, initiatives like community wealth building and the truly civic university. It also asks what kind of role so-called anchor institutions, like the university, might play in revitalizing post-austerity local communities.
Programme
Carys Hughes (UEL) on left governmentality and participatory governance (tbc)
Julian Manley (UCLan) on community and co-operative wealth building: from top-down to rhizomatic-up!
Paul Watt (Birkbeck) on urban community
Keir Milburn (Leicester) on ‘Public-Commons Partnerships’
Tony Sampson (UEL, CERG) introduction and chair
Followed by Q&A and discussion
All seminars 18:00-20:00. Venue: University Square Stratford, 1 Salway Road, Stratford, London E15 1NF. Room US.1.01. All free, all welcome, no advance booking required. Directions and Map:
For further information please email t.d.sampson@uel.ac.uk
[1] See CLES on community wealth building. https://cles.org.uk/tag/community-wealth-building/
[2] See UPP Foundation report Truly Civic: Strengthening the connection between universities and their places. https://upp-foundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Civic-University-Commission-Final-Report.pdf
VIRALITY 
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