Member Article

Waterfront cities look to Liverpool

It has been announced that the inaugural UK Waterfront Cities Symposium is to take place on the first day of the Liverpool International Waterfront Forum 2015.

LIWF is a global platform for waterfront cities to come together to discuss common themes and build stronger international alliances. The concept for the forum, which was created in a partnership between Liverpool Waterfront Business Partnership and international consultancy Arup, will this year be hosted at the Cunard Building on Liverpool’s iconic Pier Head, on June 3 and 4, 2015.

The UK Waterfront Symposium will see representatives of cities from Belfast, Bristol, Glasgow, Liverpool and Newport present to an invited audience of UK and International investors, developers and other businesses with a focus on cities.

LIWF provides vital understanding of the common themes that are shared by waterfront cities across the globe and how their waterfront assets can be used to focus economic growth, attract inward investment and improve the quality of life for their residents. The topic for discussion at the LIWF 2015 will be exploring ‘The Role of Culture and Place Making as Tools for Fostering Growth of Waterfront Cities’.

UK Waterfront City Symposium Speakers:

Belfast: Kerrie Sweeney, Chief Executive Officer of Titanic Foundation

Kerrie joined the foundation in March 2013 and has 18 years experience working in the tourism sector including 10 years between Belfast City Council and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board, where she was a member of the team that put together the plans for the Titanic Signature Project. Kerrie’s experience is in product and destination development, capital projects and partnership initiatives.

Bristol: Kate Brindley, Director at Arnolfini

Kate Brindley is director at one of Europe’s leading centres for the contemporary arts Bristol’s Arnolfini. The Arnolfini presents innovative, experimental work in the visual arts, performance, dance, film, music and events, accompanied by a programme of learning and participation activities.

Glasgow: Councillor Archie Graham OBE

Councillor Graham has represented the Langside Ward on Glasgow City Council since the council was formed in 1995. In May 2012 Councillor Graham was appointed chair of Glasgow Life and in 2014 was appointed as chair of the shadow joint board for Health and Social Care integration. He had responsibility for delivery of the Commonwealth Games in 2014, and was recognised for the success of the games and his services to Local Government in the 2015 New Years honours list by being awarded the OBE.

Liverpool: Claire McColgan MBE

Claire is director of culture responsible for cultural delivery, City Hall, Cruise Liner Terminal, tourism and policy for Liverpool City Council. She joined the Liverpool Culture Company in 2000 and created and managed the cultural programme for public involvement in the Capital of Culture bid. Claire was responsible for producing Sea Odyssey – Giant Spectacular in April 2012 - a participative street theatre performance spread across three days throughout north Liverpool and the city centre which was hailed as a “magnificent cultural spectacular and giant financial success” for the city grossing £32m in economic benefit to the city and in May 2013 the celebrated 70th Anniversary of the Battle of the Atlantic and more recently (in July 2014) produced Memories of August 1914 which was the UK’s largest commemoration of World War One staged in Liverpool seeing an audience of upwards of 1.5m.

Newport: Will Godfrey

Will has been chief executive at Newport City Council since January 2013 working with councillors, local communities and staff to ensure the council is focused on “Improving People’s Lives” is the core principle which drives him in this exciting role which recently saw Newport host the Nato Summit which saw world leaders at this high security event. Newport is undergoing a huge transformation and has secured significant inward investment which is delivering physical and social change to the city including a new waterfront district providing new riverside homes and leisure opportunities

Max Steinberg, CEO of Liverpool Vision and chair of Liverpool International Waterfront Forum said:

“The cities selected to take part in the first UK Waterfront Symposium were chosen as they share a commonality, they each have ambition, a clear identity and shared experiences in the delivery of world class cultural and place-making enlivenment in a waterfront setting. We are very excited to share and learn from our partner cities as we look to forge stronger relationships between UK cities.”

Chair of the Liverpool Waterfront Business Partnership, Sue Grindrod, added:

“The Liverpool International Waterfront Forum plays a significant role in attracting inward investment into the city, showcasing the Uncesco World Heritage waterfront as a vibrant place to invest and develop. There is also a part to play in positioning Liverpool among the global rankings of waterfront cities as an exciting place to do business.

“Liverpool has seen how investment in culture and place making has fostered growth. We are delighted to be supported by Arup, Titanic Hotel, Peel, Planit-IE and Winkworth Sherwood, who have enabled the LWBP to secure such a high caliber of international and national speakers and we would welcome interested parties to contact LWBP as we have further sponsor opportunities as we near the event in June.”

Gary Banks, director of Arup, added:

“Arup has been instrumental in waterfront projects around the world including key waterfront projects in Liverpool. We see the Liverpool International Waterfront Forum as a coming together of national and international significance and as such we are honoured to be in a position to support the event in its second year.”

LIWF is supported by Liverpool Waterfront Business Partnership and Arup, other sponsors include Peel, Planit-IE, law firm, Winckworth Sherwood and Titanic Hotel Liverpool.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Paul Richards .