Walsall Borough Strategic Partnership

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Walsall Borough Strategic Partnership

• A Vision for Walsall 2021

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Walsall in a Global Context

• A global dimension to our lives
• What might the future hold for us?

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The Future Is Asia
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China Economic Growth Forecast
trn
Overtakes Germany 2008
Overtakes Britain 2005
Overtakes America 2035
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China Tomorrow

• Highly motivated, educated talent pool
• Growth of knowledge, high-tech sector
• China corporations in acquisition trail
• China determines currency rates and world trading
  patterns

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India Economic Growth Forecast
trn
Overtakes US 2050
Overtakes Britain 2022
Overtakes Japan 2032
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India Tomorrow

• Continuous upgrading in talent pool
• High tech/knowledge based sector
• Infrastructure investment
• Emerging affluent consumer market
• Opportunities
• Indian companies in acquisition trail
• Improved compliance enforcement

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India China

• 2.5 billion people into the world economy

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A Vision for Walsallin 2021

• A vision needs to be both locally strong and
  globally aware
• The WBSP wanted to create a longer term vision
• And, involve the wider community in creating that
  vision

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Vision

• Leaders articulate a vision and persuade people
  that they want to become part of it, so that they
  willingly, even enthusiastically, accept the
  distress that accompanies its realisation.

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Vision

• Vision is the link between dream and action.
• When people have a vision they are motivated to
  make it a reality.

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Vision

• We each are influenced by our own mental
  picture of what we are building with our
  effortsthese mental pictures are visions and
  they play an important part in what a community
  becomes.

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Why 2021?

• The vision for 2008 provided focus, direction and
  cohesion
• Pride and confidence have been built around
  specific objectives
• Vision 2008 was a shorter term timescale people
  related to well

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Why 2021?

• A longer term vision is required
• Connecting here and now to the future
• Recognising the potential for Walsall
• Connecting the local to the global

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The Vision 2021 Project

• In late 2005 Oi was asked by WBSP to carry out
  some preliminary work on a Vision for Walsall in
  2021
• Aimed to report to the Walsall summit in Spring
  2006

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The Purpose of the 2021 Inquiry

• To engage partners and stakeholders in a process
  of discovering what Walsall can be in 2021, in
  order to
• Create a compelling vision for the community.
• Determine the necessary components and milestones
  to achieve the vision.

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The Purpose of the 2021 Inquiry

• Generate relevant and meaningful insights related
  to the physical, technological, sociological and
  organisational design of Walsall.
• Create a positive transition to the new Walsall
  by building understanding, support and buy-in for
  the change (and all that the change implies).
• We are using Appreciative Inquiry (AI) techniques
  to engage people.

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What Is Appreciative Inquiry?

• Ap-pre-ci-ate, v.
• to value or admire highly to judge with
  heightened understanding to recognize with
  gratitude

• In-quire, v.
• to search into, investigate to seek for
  information by questioning

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AI

• Focuses organisations and communities on their
  most positive qualities.
• Leverages those qualities to enhance the
  organisation or community.
• Appreciative Inquiry is the study of what
  works well

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Why use AI ?

• AI is a way of seeing things in the world, i.e.
  problems and solutions are not separate but part
  of a whole, made of wishes for and paths to the
  future
• Our current models tend to be deficit based,
  placing high value on the machine metaphor, i.e.
  take it apart, fix it and return to some ideal
  state

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Whats Different About AI?

• Purposefully positive
• Builds on past successes
• Grass roots and top down
• Highly participative
• Nurtures a positive inner dialogue
• Stimulates vision and creativity
• Accelerates change

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The 4-D Model
Discovery Appreciate What is
Affirmative Topic Choice
Delivery Create What will be
Dream Imagine What might be
Design Determine What should be
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The Four Appreciative Propositions

• People want to live in Walsall
• Walsall has excellent education and employment
  opportunities

• There are lots of things for everyone to do in
  Walsall
• Walsall is a friendly place where people get
  along well

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The Story So Far

• First round of over 50 organisations, identified
  for conversations
• Completed the conversations early in 2006
• Now on the second round of conversations
• Keen to increase the team of interviewers and
  the number of conversations we hold

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Round One Synthesis

• A skilled workforce for the 21st century
• A more flexible curriculum for children and young
  people
• A 21st century transport infra structure
• A town centre offer live arts and performance
  centre, café culture and great shopping

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What we heard

• .every place has a time thats theirs, where
  things happen. I believe that this is Walsalls
  time now, if we can grab it and make it our time
• Change needs to be vibrant and people need to be
  energised by their surrounding
• There are huge opportunities for Walsall to
  establish itself at the leading edge of a
  renaissance for the Black Country and the
  Birmingham region.
• Investment in young people repays itself
• Walsall is positive about its diversitymoving
  forward because diversity brings wealth through
  individual enterprise, through cultural exchange
  and through the trade and investment that can
  follow communities with strong links to foreign
  countries.

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Round Two Emerging Themes

• The 4 main themes from Round One came out
  strongly again
• Strong cross sector partnerships for long term
  planning and investment
• Safety in neighbourhoods and town centre
• Community cohesion celebrating and building
  more understanding
• Preserving and improving green spaces in and
  around Walsall

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Consulting the Citizens Panel

• 715 Panel members replied to a questionnaire in
  the Autumn of 2006
• Some questions were based on the positive
  elements designed for the AI Conversations
• A different methodology to AI
• Not the same sort of creative information did
  not allow for the dream element!
• But.showing some similar priorities, desires and
  hopes

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Vision 2021 in 2007

• Bruce Gilbert, Chairperson of the WBSP

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Vision 2021 - Appreciative Inquiry - Part 2

• Remember Appreciative Inquiry is deliberately
  positive
• People naturally move towards the positive and
  what works well
• So, discovering what works well is part of the AI
  process

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Discovering What Works Well for You

• Without being modest, what do you most value
  about yourself and your capacity to produce and
  contribute to your team, your organisation and
  community?
• What are the main things that support and
  encourage high levels of success and satisfaction
  in your team, organisation and community?

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In Closing

• How can Vision 2021 help your community, group or
  organisation to have appreciative conversations?
• We would like you to contribute to Vision 2021 in
  2007.