Local community housing provider staff have been invited to be involved in the World Urban Forum (WUF9) in Malaysia, reinforcing Hunter expertise in the housing industry. More than 25,000 people are registered to attend the forum representing 173 countries.
Compass Housing Group Managing Director, Greg Budworth has been invited to moderate a high level roundtable discussion on Cities for All and Housing at the Centre.
Compass’ Knowledge Manager, Professor David Adamson OBE will also showcase the Muswellbrook Deep Place Study report he authored as part of a training presentation entitled The Deep Place Method for equitable and sustainable development.
Greg, David and other Compass staff are also co-presenting a consultation event to further develop actions and priorities for the implementation of UN Habitat’s global 20 year planning project, New Urban Agenda (NUA). The consultation event will identify early actions and key priorities in Australasia and Pacific to feed into a roadmap being developed by a civil society subgroup
The panel Greg is moderating is the pinnacle of WUF9. It includes four national Government Ministers from The Netherland, Paraguay, India and Cameroun as well as an OECD Director. Greg’s invitation from WUF9 organisers says he has been invited to moderate the panel “in recognition of the relevant contribution you have been providing to the global framework of debate on sustainable urbanisation”. He is Vice President of the UN Habitat General Assembly of Partners (GAP). GAP presides over 16 world-wide partner constituent groups (PCG).
David and colleagues at the Deep Place Centre, based in Wales, pioneered the Deep Place method as a means to achieve equitable and sustainable community renewal of urban settlements. The method was initially developed to assist with the economic and social transformation of marginalised former mining towns in South Wales (UK).
David last year authored a Deep Place Study into Muswellbrook, focusing on the Muswellbrook South and Wollombi Road social and affordable housing areas which Compass manages. That study has informed the basis of work now being carried out by a committee comprising Department of Premier and Cabinet, Muswellbrook Council, Compass Housing and a number of government agencies and NGOs.
“Conducting Deep Place studies is part of Compass’ long-standing commitment to improving the social outcomes of tenants by focusing on the people, place and the performance (PPP) associated with our housing locations,” David said
“It is exciting that our methodology is being viewed worldwide as an important and effective tool for sustainable community renewal.”
WUF9 takes place in Kuala Lumpur from February 7-13, 2018. WUF is a non-legislative technical forum convened by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) held since 2002.
Hunter-based Compass Housing has grown to be an international community housing provider managing more than 4,600 properties and community development projects in Australia, New Zealand and Vanuatu.
