Big Meet 7
25 April 2017, London
There is increasing interest in the role of people in place enhancement. Indeed, the benefits of involving local people in the creation of the built environment are being increasingly recognised at a global and national scale. The UN-Habitat World Cities Report (2016) calls for the greater participation of citizens in the development of sustainable, inclusive, safe and resilient cities. In the UK, mechanisms to encourage greater community and third sector organisation involvement in the planning and design of the built environment have been pursued under the Localism Act (2010), and promoted through the Farrell Review (2014).

About Big Meet 7: Engaging communities in Place-Making
Big Meet 7 explored and showcased how approaches of creative community engagement and co-production can transform the built environment and strengthen communities at the same time. Participants from a diverse range of groups met champions from across the UK who are involved in innovative practice in community engagement, enabling them to share experiences, learn useful techniques and reflect upon their own local challenges and opportunities in the light of the case studies presented.

Launch of Education and Place Working Group
(aka Generation Place)
Amy Harrison, Head of Learning & Participation at The Architecture Centre together with Kate Percival, Founding Director of 22 Sheds have announced the launch of Generation Place – a national platform that brings together organisations in specific fields of education working at promoting placemaking to young people and connecting them to the professions involved.

Best practice presentations & Community Engagement workshop
The impact and importance of community engagement on place-making were discussed by the following speakers who presented best practice in creative community engagement: Sophia de Sousa, Janet Morris, Diane Dever & Lewis Biggs, Claire Tymon and Carolyn Butterworth.
In the afternoon delegates took part in a workshop, using material developed by Live Works, to understand the challenges and opportunities in developing their own Urban Room or place-based community engagement project.

Urban Room Fair
The term Urban Room was coined by the Farrell Review, as a collective label for spaces such as The Lighthouse in Glasgow, the NLA in London, and the Architecture Centre in Bristol, where city’s inhabitants can come together to debate the future of their urban area. Within Urban Room Fair, six urban rooms shared their best practice community engagement activities in place-making and regeneration.
Featured Talks & Speakers
Place Alliance is thankful to all Big Meet speakers for being so generous with their time.
We really appreciate the involvement and we are grateful for the time and effort speakers took to share their thoughts and experiences with all our Supporters.
We hope that they enjoyed contributing and have gained further insight from the experience.

Lewis Biggs
Chairman of the Institute of Public Art, Curator of
The power of the motivated, determined individual was a theme of the
discussions, and in the area of community
This emphasis was instigated by the sizable
One principal lesson from Folkestone is the need to invest in education, as well as the economy and placemaking. Diane and Lewis asserted “It is the density of thinking that makes a place”.

Sophia de Sousa
The Glass-House Community Led Design Chief Executive
Sophia offered an insight into the work of The Glass-House, a charity which operates nationwide and aims to connect people with design and design with people.
In her

Claire Tymon
Senior Creative Producer at Future Everything, Director of Placeshakers
In Blackburn, a similarly challenging post-industrial context and the hollowing out of local authority