Event Details

Key Speakers

	Eleanor Warburton, Deputy Director for Integration, Department for Communities and Local Government
	Ted Cantle, Executive Chair, Institute of Community Cohesion

Overview

Over the last decade, measures introduced to build cohesive communities across the UK have arguably had some success. However, incidents of hate crime, the growing disparity between affluent and disadvantaged areas and increasing disengagement amongst some sections of society demonstrate that neighbourhoods still face many and varied challenges to integration and cohesion.

The negative impact of Prevent on Muslim communities across the country continues to be felt and there is an urgent need to strengthen partnership working with Muslim groups in order to foster better relations, dispel tensions and address outstanding grievances within the community. The changing migration landscape, alongside the recession and increased competition for resources has also presented complex challenges to local leadership that must be tackled.

Recent events have highlighted the urgent need to reform current community cohesion measures at both a national and local level, in order to address widespread disaffection, promote good relations and to ensure that every group has a stake in their local community. Stressing the importance of building stronger local identities, the Government has sought to empower local people to shape their community and local services, reducing central control through the new Localism Bill, increasing local accountability and transparency, and encouraging active participation amongst all generations and all sections of the community. The Government has also underlined the need to reduce segregation between communities through less passive tolerance and instead championing active liberalism and British values, whilst it is hoped that practical measures, such as encouraging immigrants to learn English, will encourage a common identity for people to relate, irrespective of culture or religion.

This timely symposium offers an invaluable opportunity for key stakeholders from across the community cohesion, local authority, police and government landscape to consider the new challenges faced by local communities and examine the next steps in promoting community cohesion, improving integration and transforming community relations.

Delegates will:

• Assess the current challenges to good community relations and the Government’s policy to promote cohesion and integration
• Consider how to encourage active participation across all generations, develop trust in local institutions and transform local leadership
• Examine how to support the integration of newcomers in your community, and to tackle racial tension and prejudice against certain groups
• Explore how to improve relations with marginalised groups, working in partnership to address grievances and promote shared values
• Discuss, debate and share vital best practice

Programme

Who Should Attend?

• Community Cohesion Officers
• Equal Opportunities Officers
• Equality, Diversity and Human Rights Practitioners
• Race Equality Councils
• Race Equality Practitioners
• Local Authority Officers and Councillors
• Community Engagement Officers
• Community Relations Advisers
• Refugee and Asylum Support Officers
• Social Inclusion Officers
• Neighbourhood Renewal Officers
• Disability Practitioners
• Campaigning Organisations
• Health Service Professionals
• Children and Young People’s Services
• Local Education Authorities
• Youth Offending Teams
• Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships
• Police and Fire Service
• Hate Crime Units
• Student Welfare Advisers
• College and University Officials
• Private Sectors Employers
• Public Sector Employers
• Central Government Departments
• Third Sector Practitioners
• Trade Union Representatives

“ Under the doctrine of state multiculturalism, we have encouraged different cultures to live separate lives, apart from each other and apart from the mainstream... instead of encouraging people to live apart, we need a clear sense of shared national identity that is open to everyone … We must build stronger societies and stronger identities at home … That includes making sure that immigrants speak the language of their new home and ensuring that people are educated in the elements of a common culture and curriculum … I also believe we should encourage meaningful and active participation in society, by shifting the balance of power away from the state and towards the people. That way, common purpose can be formed as people come together and work together in their neighbourhoods. It will also help build stronger pride in local identity, so people feel free to say, ‘Yes, I am a Muslim, I am a Hindu, I am Christian, but I am also a Londoner … too’. It’s that identity, that feeling of belonging in our countries, that I believe is the key to achieving true cohesion.”
— Prime Minister, February 2011