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Cafe 3 with Charlie Leadbeater
May 23, 07
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Charlie Leadbetter |
To view presentation click on link
The visiting thinker for Providence & Beyond for Cafe 3 on May 23rd 2007 will be Charlie Leadbeater. Charlie is a leading authority on innovation and creativity. He has advised companies, cities and governments around the world on innovation strategy and drawn on that experience in writing his latest book "We-Think: The Power of Mass Creativity", which charts the rise of mass, participative approaches to innovation from science and open source software, to computer games and political campaigning.
"We-Think", which is due to be published in 2007, is the latest in a string of acclaimed books:
- "Living on Thin Air", a guide to living and working in the new economy;
- "Up the Down Escalator", an attack on the culture of public pessimism accompanying globalisation, and,
- "In Search of Work", published in the 1980's, which was one of the first books to predict
the rise of more flexible and networked
forms of employment.
In 2005 Charlie was ranked by Accenture, the management consultancy, as one of the top management thinkers in the world. A past winner of the prestigious David Watt prize for journalism, Charles was profiled by the New York Times in 2004 for generating one of the best ideas of the year, the rise of the activist amateur, outlined in his report The Pro-Am Revolution.
Charlie' presentation at Providence & Beyond will take into account his work in the mass creativity enviornment, and also focus on some specific issues being experienced within Providence like:
- The large quantities of industrial space that have become available following the decline of Providence's manufacturing base - now occupied by artists, small business and others seeking affordable property costs.
- Access to these spaces is now being impacted by things like the historic tax credit creating a new market for rehab buildings and rezoning for high-value dwellings - these type of issues are adding stress to Providence's nationally recognised arts community, local start-ups seeking cheaper space, and comunities suffering 'gentrification'.
Providence is struggling with the development of its ‘next economy’, and is looking to see how it can link the above conditions to:
- Identify a better way of leveraging its RISD (RI School of Design), and especially keeping graduates in Providence,
- Create work for dislocated workers who have been left behind with the loss of industrial jobs, and,
- Leverage the significant immigrant population in Providence and RI - immigrants have always been a primary force in innovating new economic growth – how does Providence do this?
Charlie's visit to Providence & beyond is made possible by CEO's for Cities.
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BLOG: What is the possibility of Web2 application to sustainability strategy?
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| QUESTION: How effective do you think web 2.0 applications can be in addressing the issues facing Providence - in particular collaboration, inclusion and strategy formulation that will lead to sustainable outcomes?
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Leadbeater notes
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