Leith Conference
The Leith Conference brought local people, organisations and businesses together to jointly identify key issues affecting life, for better and worse in Leith, and to agree priorities for future action.
As part of the Making Places Programme, the issues discussed were drawn from a wide body of research on the area, including plans and manifestos from across the board, alongside recent and ongoing consultation with residents and community groups.
Several items of community research have been highlighted as part of this process. This includes a range of reference material, such as:
- Our Leith Community Action Plan First Draft
- The Leith Blueprint
- Edinburgh Northern and Leith Community Manifesto
Incorporating this research, alongside the other significant plans for the area, into one document we produced an infographic, the Leith Pulse, downloadable here.
Day One of the Leith Conference worked to address the Top Ten hot topics, as below. Each area has been ordered in terms of priority and linked to a range of discussion points made on the day, as detailed.
- Safe and Clean Green and Blue Spaces
- Employment and Our Local Economy
- Keeping Well, Health and Wellbeing
- Getting Together, Connecting Our Community
- Access to Buildings and Spaces
- Development, Housing and Planning
- Trams, Transport and Connectivity
- Our Culture and Heritage
- Families, Children and Community Support Services
- Any Other Topics
In addition, a data release was made by the City of Edinburgh Council:
This was supported by data extracted from the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (2016), downloadable here.
Day Two of the Leith Conference was about getting our voices heard and learning from examples of best practice.
Alongside the need for greater accessibility and space for unheard voices, several cross cutting themes from Day One were identified, as below, and with further details here.
The room chose to focus on three key conversations, as highlighted.
- Assembly/Alliance/Federation/Development Trust
- Intergenerational Developments
- Including Young Adults in the conversation
- Our Opportunities
- Linking/Connecting/Communicating
- Our Environment
For further details of next steps, how to join in or to have your say about where Leith goes from here, contact info@leithcreative.org
Please also see the event page and like our facebook page for details.
Thanks to James Trimble for permission to reproduce the SIMD maps above.