The British-Irish Council, in partnership with the Welsh Government, the Design Commission for Wales and the Department for Infrastructure NI held a 1-day symposium on ‘Placemaking in Practice’ in Cardiff on Friday 8th September. Following an invitation from the Department for Infrastructure, the International Centre for Local and Regional Development (ICLRD) was invited to speak to the role of cross-administration collaboration in placemaking. ICLRD’s Director, Caroline Creamer, was keen to emphasise the great strides made in cross-administration collaboration over the past twenty years – made possible initially by the Good Friday Agreement and subsequent policy alignments aided and informed by EU membership. Highlights included the efforts of both administrations to align the policies of the National Spatial Strategy and the Regional Development Strategy, the commitment to all-island data and mapping, the joint development of the ‘Framework for Cooperation’ policy document and more recently, the cross-administrative support for the North West City Region.
With a very strong focus on placemaking policy and practice, the symposium offered attendees the opportunity to examine the concept of placemaking through multiple lens:
- Climate, Nature and Place
- Communities, Care, Connections, and
- Culture, Creativity and the Commons.
Looking to the future, ICLRD encouraged both administrations on the island of Ireland to maintain their commitment to policy alignment – acknowledging that the presence of an international border on the island following Brexit gives rise to potential policy divergence. In terms of future action, the ICLRD called for cross-administration support for an all-island data platform that ensures an evidence base for placemaking at all scales.
