BOSF Conference 2014

Saturday 14th June 2014 at The Studio, Cannon Street, Birmingham.

This year we were back at The Studio on Cannon Street.  The Conference was very well attended by over 80 delegates from community groups and partners across Birmingham.
The packed afternoon included:
12.00 – Networking Lunch – join your contractors and park managers for discussions about individual sites
1.00 – Introduction and Welcome by the Conference Chair
1.05 – Welcome by Councillor Lisa Trickett
1.10 – ‘Just a minute’ speakers corner session – sixty second presentations of successful activity from five of the groups present.
1.20 – Current Position in Parks – Darren Share – Head of Parks
1.50 –  Birmingham’s Trees – Steve Flood
2.05 – ‘Just a minute’ speakers corner session – sixty second presentations of successful activity from five of the groups present.
2.15 –  BOSF AGM
2.35 –  Break – refreshments
2.50 –  Active Parks Update – Emma Woolf
3.10 – Explaining Natural Capital and Biophilic City as the Future of Parks – Nick Grayson
3.40 ‘Just a minute’ speakers corner session
The feedback received from everyone who attended was very positive. The venue, speakers, food and usefulness of the day all scored in average greater than 4.5 out of 5.0, greater than last year.
Last year we acted on the main comments about the room being a bit too small, so this year the room was a lot bigger and therefore scored better.
Some of the comment about the usefulness of the day included:
“Met some great people & heard lots of interesting stuff”
“Very good opportunity to meet people & hear what is going on”
“Very helpful as a newbie!”
“V informative – gave me more ideas for my park”
The presentations on the day were looking at the future of our Parks and Open Spaces and working in partnership with the Parks Section of Birmingham City Council:
Darren Share thanked everyone for their support in speaking up about the budget cuts and helping to save £”million from being cut from the parks budget. He also looked at the next year facing our open spaces. Click Here to view the presentation.
 
Steve Flood & Simon Needle spoke about the Tree Section within Parks, their work and how they work with Friends Groups. Click Here to view the presentation.
Emma Woolf from BOSF then gave an update on where we are with Active Parks. This year we have moved from 6 to 50 parks across Birmingham and we are working everything out as we go, so bear with us and lets get active in our open spaces. Click Here to view her presentation of pictures.
Nick Grayson, Climate Change & Sustainability Manager from BCC spoke about Birmingham becoming UK’s first Biophilic City and we are joining other cities in the world to value our natural capital.  Click Here to view the presentation.
We at BOSF hope that you enjoyed the day and we look forward to seeing you at future conferences.