09 Apr 2015

Spaghetti and Marshmallows…What could possibly go wrong?

Ever tried balancing a marshmallow on the end of a stick of spaghetti? Neither had I until last week. Let me tell you that it’s harder than it looks – particularly when the spaghetti (spaghetto?) is balanced on top of a structure made up of other…spaghetti.

Article first appeared
http://www.blog.urbact.eu/2015/04/can-marshmallows-save-our-cities/

19 Jan 2015

The worst start to a year?

Has there ever been a worse start to a year? January has always been my least favourite month; long, cold and grey. The only glimmer is the prospect of a new start; the offer of renewal as the calendar page turns.

Article first appeared
http://www.blog.urbact.eu/2015/01/charlie-hebdo-and-the-challenge-to-cohesive-cities/

19 March 2015

You’ve got to hand it to the Americans; they have a way with words. I was reminded of this last Friday during a conversation with a politician from Cleveland Ohio. This was at the Focus 2015 event hosted by the French Embassy in Washington which brought U.S. and French city mayors together in advance of the COP21 Global Environment summit being held in Paris in December 2015.

Article first appeared
http://urbact.eu/rightsizing-city-sustainability-and-growth-dilemma

22 Dec 2014

What can cities do to fight the loneliness and social isolation of its citizens, young and old?

Some answers from around the world: Seoul and its food-sharing initiative, US and the Sunday Assembly or URBACT and Healthy Aging network. By Thematic Expert, Eddy Adams.

Article first appeared
http://urbact.eu/sometimes-heart-city-loneliest-place-0

16 Dec 2014

Torino: Open to ideas

Energy sensors to minimize power usage in public buildings; the adoption of virtual meetings to reduce staff travel time; and the establishment of a crack team to modernise local authority procurement methods. These were some of the winning ideas generated by local authority staff as part of Innova.TO, the city of Turin’s recently completed innovation competition for staff.

For Aurelio Sarno, Head of Customer Service – Enel, Northwestern Italy, one of the competition’s sponsors, the experience has been a revelation. As he explained to us, “We are in the business of changing mindsets, in relation to energy use. Everyone has a duty to think responsibly about their consumption. This is a great way to get that message across, and big public employers have a key role to play in that shift.”

Article first appeared
http://www.blog.urbact.eu/2014/12/smart-city-turins-platform-for-employee-driven-innovation/

17 Sep 2014

Apart from Jordan and Even, I don’t think anyone else noticed that the carrots were missing. The two signature dishes created by chef Even Bakke during our workshop went down a treat. Both vegetarian, and one inspired by Iranian cuisine, they typified the exciting things happening in Sweden’s public kitchens. They also provided the perfect finale to our workshop on food, social innovation and cities that took place as part of the London Unusual Suspects Festival.

Article first appeared
http://www.blog.urbact.eu/2014/09/sharing-food-to-save-the-planet-the-unusual-suspects-festival

08 Sep 2014

Hey, lets talk about procurement.
……

You still there? Yes, procurement has a bit of a problem doesn’t it. But if I kick off with – “Hey, lets talk about how cities use their resources to get better results”, then it’s probably a different matter.

Article first published
http://www.blog.urbact.eu/2014/09/the-trouble-with-procurement

30 Jul 2014

Spaghetti open data and confiscated Mafia assets: Italy's cities aren't waiting around for PM Matteo Renzi's promised reform. 

Article first appeared
http://www.theguardian.com/public-leaders-network/2014/jul/30/devolution-italy-city-reform-renzi-innovation

05 Feb 2014

As kids, coming home from school, my sister and I used to have a joke: “If you can’t smell burning in the kitchen, then we’re having salad for dinner.” My Mother has many talents, but cooking isn’t one of them, so it was routine for us to see black smoke billowing out of the kitchen, accompanied by colourful Glaswegian language! But every smoke cloud has a silver lining, and through necessity I developed an interest in cooking from an early age – and have been a foodie ever since.

Article first appeared
http://www.blog.urbact.eu/2014/02/paradiso-del-cibo-food-paradise

11 Jul 2013

As my U.S. friends might put it. “urban running rocks”. For me, there are few better ways of getting to see a city than pulling on your runners and heading out the door, particularly if you’re only there for a dew days.

I wrote this on the way back from a three-day event in Philadelphia organised by the Social Innovation Exchange (SIX). This is a global network of social innovators, supported by a small dynamic team housed in NESTA’s London offices. They brought around sixty social innovation specialists together in the City of Brotherly Love to address the hot topic of jobs and businesses for young people.

Article first appeared
http://www.blog.urbact.eu/2013/07/running-the-river-of-awesome

15 Apr 2014

In most cities, I spend time looking for the actions to match the words. In Medellin it was the opposite. After five days gasping at the audacity of its actions, I finally found words that helped me begin to really understand this remarkable transition process.

Article first appeared
http://www.blog.urbact.eu/2014/04/making-sense-of-medellin/

27 Sep 2013

On the business card of Won Soon Park, Seoul’s dynamic and charismatic Mayor, there is a drawing of a spoon-billed sandpiper, with the legend small but can fly further. Mr. Park is very interested in how far he and his city can fly, and if you ever wanted proof of the value of city leadership to social innovation, he is the man; the Seoul man.

Article first appeared
http://www.blog.urbact.eu/2013/09/meeting-the-seoul-man

13 May 2013

Eddy Adam FRSA has spent the past year looking at how cities can innovate in addressing the challenges they face in the 21st century. Central to this is how cities can better learn from one another.

Article first appeared
http://comment.rsablogs.org.uk/2013/05/13/cities-learn

Ever heard of Masdar City? It’s an uber-ambitious scheme to develop a carbon free metropolis in the middle of Abu Dhabi. That’s a long way from Glasgow - especially by bike. But if Amina Nabi’s plans come true, Clyde-built electric bikes will be the transport mode of choice in this grand experiment in ecological living.

Understanding social innovation: preparing undergraduates for opportunities in social enterprise

As graduate unemployment rises, universities are under pressure to get better at promoting student employability. Find out how York University is supporting students to engage with social enterprises.