Community Cohesion

Thursday 24th March 2011, Grange Holborn Hotel - London, 09:00 - 14:00 (half day)

Preventing Violent Extremism: Building Cohesive and Resilient Communities

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Overview

The Big Society launched by the Prime Minister, July 2010, aims to give more power and responsibility to communities. The Big Society agenda aims to support local areas so they can take an active part in tackling local problems and contributing to decisions that affect them. A cohesive society is integral to the success of the Big Society.

According to the Citizenship Survey, published 22 July 2010, a large majority of people thought their community was cohesive, agreeing that their local area was a place where people from different backgrounds got on well together.

According to Communities Minister Andrew Stunell, "its good news that the great majority of people get on well with each other and are satisfied with their local area. But levels of volunteering and civic participation could be higher. We want to see communities all over the country in which high numbers of people are actively engaged in making their neighbourhood better and are giving something back.”

A cohesive society will not only enable the Big Society but is crucial for strengthening a communities resilience against extremism. The changing nature of the terrorist threat poses a big challenge to communities. The overwhelming majority of people in Britain feel positive about living side by side with people from different backgrounds. However, there are still some new and complex challenges that require national and local action to ensure that society is inclusive and any extremism and potential community tensions are tackled. Consequently, the government will review the Prevent programme, the government’s strategy for preventing violent extremism . The new Prevent strategy will separate work to prevent terrorism from work to promote integration, which will be led by the Department for Communities and Local Government

Agenda

As migration and economic change alter the shape of our increasingly diverse local communities, it is more important than ever that we take action to deliver community cohesion. This timely and informative forum will offer delegates the opportunity to discuss and examine how to overcome the challenges of building cohesive and resilient communities.

09:00	Coffee and Registration
09:45	Chairs Welcome Address Ewan King, Director, Office for Public Management (CONFIRMED)
09:50	Community Cohesion: Building Stronger, Safer, Resilient Communities What does the Big Society mean for community cohesion? How can they go hand in hand? Creating strong, prosperous and empowered communities Effective delivery of Prevent and community cohesion: the changing role of key stakeholders Implications of the Communities and Local Government Inquiry The role of the voluntary, community groups and social enterprise in building community cohesion What works in community cohesion? Jane Everton, Deputy Director, Integration Division, Department for Communities and Local Government (CONFIRMED)
10:10	Questions and Answers Session
10:15	Big Society: A Driver for Community Cohesion Practical solutions to increasing cohesion in the community Developing a new model of ‘gateway’ community leaders to tackle all forms of extremism Minimising intolerance through community engagement How can civil society be rebuilt to give people the opportunity to learn about others, come to terms with change and develop shared interests Using communications to promote cohesion Towards better engagement and participation in the community Reducing community tensions in the long term Tackling different forms of violent extremism to build community cohesion Examples of best practice John Tatam, Executive Director, Institute of Community Cohesion (iCOCO) (CONFIRMED)
10:35	Exploring the Potential role of the Big Society in Tackling the Risk Factors Associated with Extremism What are the potential links of the Big Society initiatives to the promoting cohesion and resilience How can the Big Society mitigate the risks factors associated with extremism Looking at role of the National Citizen Service in promoting cohesion and resilience Does the new focus on "integration" hold potential in building resilient communities Ewan King, Director, Office for Public Management (CONFIRMED)
10:55	Case Study: Community Cohesion in Leicester 2011 Understanding the diversity of Leicester: beyond ethnicity Community relationships in the face of a far right demonstration Trish Roberts-Thomson, Policy Lead for Community Cohesion, & Clive Billingham, Leicester City Council (CONFIRMED)
11:15	Questions and Answers Session
11:35	Coffee and Networking
11:55	The Police Role in Community Cohesion Intelligence and data sharing Identifying vulnerable communities Role of crime mapping Working in partnership with local communities to build community cohesion Spencer Chainey, Director of Geographical Information Science, Jill Dando Institute of Security and Crime Science, University College London (CONFIRMED)
12:15	Community Cohesion: The Role of Education and School Background and context around community cohesion and schools Schools role in the Big Society Future of the cohesion duty on schools Role of schools in building cohesion and tackling violent extremism Key skills for twenty-first century, global citizens Andrew Hobbs, Former Headteacher and Prevent Project Manager and Adviser for Education (Yorkshire and The Humber) (CONFIRMED)
12:35	Questions and Answers Session
13:00	Lunch and Networking
14:00	Chairs Summary and Close

*programme subject to change without notice

Audience

Delegates will include community cohesion managers, equal opportunities managers, 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 and will be drawn from central government, local authorities, criminal justice sector, health service and charities, community groups and social enterprises.