Sponsored article: Be inspired at the Festival of Ideas

And it is happening closer than you might expect.

In fact, the latest thinking about making the UK’s cities more inclusive, prosperous and sustainable will be discussed at a special event at the University of Leeds later this month.

The Festival of Ideas takes place on Wednesday 28 February and brings staff and students from Leeds University Business School together with senior experts from the public and private sectors to discuss the latest thinking in a broad range of business subjects, including ‘smart’ and ‘future’ cities. The day is free and open to all, although

attendees need to register.

Tom Bridges, Director, Cities Advisory at Arup, will kick off the day with a discussion about how Leeds can meet the ‘smart city’ challenge in the face of global change. This will summarise the key developments in so-called ‘old’ infrastructure, like transportation and housing, and ‘new’ infrastructure, like IT and communication, that are transforming how we live. This will be tied to how participative planning and effective local action, together with national policy guidance, can help to develop smart cities. What Leeds needs to do in terms of skills, innovation, digital and data transformation to enable residents and businesses to be more productive and prosperous will also be discussed.

The Festival of Ideas has been organised to showcase the breadth and quality of Leeds University Business School’s world-leading academic research. This is an event where

there is something for everyone. Visitors can drop into sessions and hear academics discussing subjects including environmental management regulations; business ethics;

international business; the social impact of innovation; entrepreneurship in the UK and overseas.

Meanwhile Business School postgraduate researchers will showcase their research on subjects including family business; the innovation in the NHS; and digital technology. We

will also welcome experts from Leeds City Council, law firm Squire Patton Boggs, and the Leeds Business Improvement District (Leeds BID), who will be taking part in panel

discussions.

The event will close with what promises to be a fascinating talk by Mike Barry, Director of Sustainable Business (Plan A) at Marks & Spencer on the subject of how to build sustainable supply chains. Mike Barry was part of a small team of people that in 2007 developed and delivered Marks & Spencer’s Plan A, a five-year plan to address a range of environmental and social issues.

This talk will reflect on the supply chains which span the globe and involve millions of factories, farms, fields and forests. While these supply chains create economic value, they can also generate social and environment as challenges as well, including human rights, climate change, deforestation and waste. Balancing the resultant economic, social and environmental needs are critical.

Full information about each event is available here:

business.leeds.ac.uk/defining-the- city-of- the-future/

business.leeds.ac.uk/building-a- sustainable-supply- chain/

The Festival of Ideas is open to all, but visitors have to register online for the session(s) that they wish to attend. The sessions on ‘smart’ cities and building a sustainable supply chain will be of particular benefit to local businesses, especially those looking to work closely with the Business School or to learn about how to prepare their business for the future.