See, hear or book a speech  |   Forthcoming events

As well as work in the UK, recent talks and keynote addresses covered visits to the USA, Canada, Mexico, Japan, China, Taiwan, Korea, India, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Dubai, Turkey, France, Denmark, Germany, Eire, Italy, Belgium, Albania, Norway, Switzerland, Croatia, Serbia, Greece, and Finland.

Talks given in recent years, in reverse chronological order, are as follows:

2009

• Belfast, Getting Irish Towns and Cities on the Radar Screen, Strategic Investment Board
• Imatra, the Potential of Smaller Towns, the Association of Finnish Towns
• London, Reimagining the Gateway, Thames Gateway Forum
• Belfast, Inspiring innovative City Making, British Council
• Enschede, Netherlands Open Innovation and Creativity in Management and Governance, University of Twente
• Mechelen, Belgium, Marketing the City, CityMakers Mechelen
• Penang, World Bank Symposium on Repositioning Penang, Khazanah Nasional Berhad
• Quito, Ecuador, Creative Tourism, Quito Tourism Board
• Almere, Netherlands, The Art of Making an Intercultural City, De Pavilleons Museum
• Shenzhen, The City of Design and more, the Creative Culture Centre
• Hong Kong, Infrastructure for a Creative Age, the Global Infrastructure Finance Conference, Euromoney

2008

• Enschede, Netherlands, the Roombeek Revitalisation Celebrations
• Oslo, The New Thinking on Cities, Statsbygg, the Norwegian National Government Property Management Body
• Birmingham, Health Cities, Creative Cities, Core Cities Network
• Umea, Sweden, What is a Future Library?, Cultural Department
• Rome, The Future of Local Authority Finance, Euormoney
• Add Valdosta to Savannah – two separate talks
• Oporto, Portugal, Creative Clusters and Oporto’s Potential, Serralves Foundation
• Penang, The Four Pillars of Sustainability, Khazanah Nasional Berhad
• Detroit Creative Cities Summit
• INTA Global Urban Development Conference in Riga, Latvia
• Les Rencontres: Europe Capital of Culture Conference, Stavanger
• Bandung, Indonesia: Far Eastern Creative Cities Network of The British Council
• Santa Fe: The UNESCO Creative Tourism Conference
• Winnipeg Canadian Urnab Planners Conference
• Savanna, Georgia, USA: Making the Most of Heritage Tourism
• Bankgkok, Thailand: Creativity & Design Centre - Unfolding Creativities Conference
• Seoul City Government Creative Administration

2007 and previous years

• Revisioning Dubai in the 21st Century, Urbis & Urban Planning Committee, (December 2007)
• Korean Distinctiveness and the Creative City, Asian Development Conference, Busan, Korea, (November 2007)
• Japanese Distinctiveness and the Creative City, Asian Development Conference, Kitakyushu, Japan, (November 2007)
• From Hard Assets to Soft Assets, Creativity World Forum, Qingdao, China, (October 2007)
• Making Assets out of seemingly nothing: The World Hot Spring Culture - Beppu as a Creative City, Beppu, Japan, (October 2007)
• Moving on from the Creative City Agenda, World Creative City Forum: Developing the Creative City through Networking, Senri Foundation, Osaka, (October 2007)
• Creativity and Knowledge Capital in Urban Development, 1st World Knowledge Summit, Monterrey, Mexico, (October 2007)
• Repositioning Guadalajara, Guadalajara, Mexico, (October 2007)
• Healthy Cities can spark the Imagination, WHO Healthy Cities Conference, Rennes, France, (October 2007)
• Suburban Futures, Arts Depot, London, (September 2007)
• Rethinking the City, International Federation of Housing & Planning, Copenhagen, (September 2007)
• The Art of (Great) City Making, Institute of Human Machine Cognition, Pensacola, Florida, (September 2007)
• Creating Annapolis: Urban Innovation in the 21st Century, enVisioning Annapolis, MD, USA, (September 2007)
• Live the Culture: The Grano Seminars, Toronto, (September 2007)
• Provocations to the City of Toronto, the Ramsay Group, Toronto, (September 2007)
• Creativity & Ontario’s Economic Prosperity Strategy, Ontario Federal Government, Toronto, (September 2007)
• Thinking artistically about Cities, the Metropolis Laboratory, Thinking Metropolis - Copenhagen International Theatre Festival, (August 2007)
• From the Creative Economy to the Creative City, British Council Far East Symposium, Yokohama, (July 2007)
• Creativity & Identity: The potential of New Zealand’s secondary cities, Hamilton City Council, (July 2007)
• How can we be imaginative about the future of Cockburn?, FORM Creative Capital Programme, FORM, Perth, (June 2007)
• Culture and Creativity, Cultural Capital Istanbul, (June 2007)
• Competitiveness, Creativity and the Future of Business, World Forum for Direct Investment, Bologna, (June 2007)
• Creative Europe - Vision or Utopia: How to win the Future with Culture, The Power of Culture in European Cities Congress, Federal Ministry of Culture and Hamburg Senate, May 2007
• Space, Place, Life, Academy of Urbanism, Dublin Castle, Dublin, (May 2007)
• Artists and the City, Annual Arts Awards, Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville, (April 2007)
• Museums as Urban Regenerators, Children’s Museum, Pittsburgh, (April 2007)
• The Art of City Making, the Salem Partnership, Salem, Mass., April 2007
• The Power of the Creative Economy, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Boston, (April 2007)
• An Artistic Approach to City Development, Plymouth Arts Centre, Plymouth, (March 2007)
• Is Mumbai a World City? The British Council, Mumbai, (March 2007)
• The Sensory City, the Centre for Subtropical Design, Brisbane, (March 2007)
• Living Smarter: The Future of South East Queensland, Office of Urban Management, Gold Coast, (March 2007)
• Mining as an Opportunity for Imaginative Rethinking, the Shire County, Port Headland, WA, February (2007)
• Creative Capital Programme: A series of talks to Perth’s leaderships, Perth, (February 2007)
• Re-thinking and Re-dreaming Beyoglu: Culture and Tourism Led Strategies for Regeneration, Beyoglu Partnership, Istanbul, (January 2007)
• An Imaginative Visitor & Tourism Strategy, Culture Department Blackpool, (January 2007)
• Getting on the Radar Screen: Progressing towards a Creative Capital, FORM, Perth, WA, (December 2006)
• Problems as Creative Opportunities, the Urban Regeneration Company, Blackpool, (November 2006)
• Alternative Cultures and Creativity, Radialsystem, Berlin, (November 2006)
• Culture & Development: Approaches to Practice, German Ministry for Development & the Goethe Institut, Berlin, (November 2006)
• The Art of City Making and the Role of Cultural Institutions,
• Engage in the Visual Arts Conference, Whitworth Gallery, Manchester, (November 2006)
• Providing the Creative Environment: Cities as New Incubators for Creative Business, World Creativity Forum, Ghent, (November 2006)
• Art makes the City, the Nordic Cities Network, Trondheim, Norway, (November 2006)
• Thinking Differently about Cities: Inspirational Speakers Forum, Birmingham, (November 2006)
• Creative DC: Engaging the Spirit, Downtown Association, Washington, (9November 2006)
• Art, Artists and City Making, Grantmakers to the Arts, New York, (November 2006)
• History and Creativity: Great Partners, the National Preservation Conference, Pittsburgh, (November 2006)
• Can Artists Make Great Places, Arts & Business, London, (November 2006)
• Making the Knowledge City, West Northants Development Corporation, Northampton, (October 2006)
• Problems as Opportunities: Albanian cities and their Creative Potential, Tirana, (October 2006)
• Health and Creativity, Local Governments and Health Development, WHO Healthy Cities Conference, Turku, Finland, (October 2006)
• Making the Most of Urban Assets, the Connect EU Programme Final Conference, Belfast, (October 2006)
• 100 Years Forward 100 Years Back, the Daniel Burnham Centenary Celebrations, Chicago Architectural Foundation, Chicago, (October 2006)
• Designing Cities with a Creative Touch, Sarasota International Design Summit, Ringling School of Art, Florida, (October 2006)
• Challenges for the Richmond Leadership, Richmond, VA, (October 2006)
• Creative Fuel, the Creative Change Center & Venture Richmond, Richmond, VA, USA, (October 2006)
• Culture, Competitiveness, Community and Creativity, Canada's Federal, Provincial and Territorial Ministers responsible for Culture and Heritage, Toronto, (September 2006)
• Hemispheric Mayor’s Meeting between North and South American Leaders, CEOs for Cities, Miami, (September 2006)
• Culture and Urban Regeneration, URBACT final conference, Roubaix, France, (September 2006)
• Culture for European Towns and Cities, Festivaletteratura, Mantua, Italy, (September 2006)
• The Future of the Creative City, the Green Party Congress, Berlin, (September 2006)
• The Creative City and its Relevance to Greece, the Symi Symposium, Samos, Greece, (July 2006)
• Creativity without Frontiers, the Belgrade Festival of Ideas, Belgrade, July 2006
• Cinderella Cities: Tales of Modern Urban Renaissance, ULI, Birmingham, (June 20060
• Culture as a Tool for Revitalization, the Gorlitz Denksalon, Germany (June 2006)
• New York and its Creative Potential, the Rockefeller Foundation, New York (June 2006)
• What makes a Great Place, the Great Towns Meeting, York, (May 2006)
• The Green Agenda and the Creative City, the Green Party, Hamburg, (May 2006)
• Challenging Thinking about the City, Festival of Ideas, Bristol, (May 2006)
• Cultural Transitions in South-Eastern Europe: The Creative City: Crossing Visions and New Realities in the Region, Dubrovnik, (May 2006)
• Stirring it Up, Wakefield Cultural Partnership, Wakefield (April 2006)
• Singapore and the Creativity Agenda, Singapore Heritage Commission, (April 2006)
• The Creative Capital and Perth’s Potential, FORM, Perth WA, (April 2006)
• Imagine the Impacts: Rethinking the City, NZPIA National Congress, Gold Coast, (April 2006)
• Stirring Culture, A Centennial Discussion on Imagination, Arts, Community, Alberta College of Art & Design, Calgary & Edmonton, March 2006
• Art, Artists, Change & Inspiration, The Musagetes Retreat, Quebec City, (March 2006)
• Lessons Learnt from using Culture in Development, Pro Helvetia, Zurich, (March 2006)
• Cross-regional Collaboration: Lille Metropole, Lille, (March 2006)
• Uncommon Solutions to Common Problems: Creativity from Below, City Stories KATHA Asia International Utsav, Delhi, (January 2006)
• The Making of a Creative City: International Forum, Taipei, (December 2005)
• The Art of City Making, METAA Symposium, Seoul, (December 2005)
• The Goal of the Creative City, Yokohama Symposium, (December 2005)
• The Way of Thinking about the Creative Cities, Tottori, Japan, (December 2005)
• The Age of the City: The Challenge for Creative Cities, Senri Foundation, Osaka, (December 2005)
• Culture in Regeneration:The Asian Culture Symposium, Gwangju, Korea, (December 2005)
• Culture & Urban Regeneration, URBACT, Gijon, Spain (November 2005)
• The Creative Industries: Benefiting from Growth, Design Museum, London, (November 2005)
• From Dawn to Dusk: Urban Dream or Civic Nightmare, Civic Trust, London, (November 2005)
• From Bilbao to Bryne: Culture as the Driver of the Creative City, Stavanger, Norway (October 2005)
• Creative Clusters and Creative Quarters, the First Moscow International ‘Culture Plus’ Forum, Moscow, (October 2005)
• Making spaces for creative places 41st Isocarp conference, Bilbao, October 2005
• Innovating Cities across the World International Platform on Sustainable Urban Development, Geneva (October 2005)
• Cultures role in development Swiss Development Co-operation, Berne (October 2005)
• Creativity Matters, Santa Clara, Silicon Valley, (October 2005)
• The Risk Revolution, Artscape, Toronto (October 2005)
• Cultural strategies and creativity, VOCAL, Dundee (September 2005)
• Culture & Development: Lessons Learnt, Swiss Development Co-operation, Tirana (August 2005)
• Urban development: Perspectives from the cutting edge, National Housing Federation, Warwick (July 2005)
• Creative Risk: Bending the rules to get things done British Urban Regeneration Association, London (July 2005)
• The relevance of culture and creativity to developing countries German Technical Zusammenarbeit, Frankfurt, (June 2005)
• Creating a cultural city - Cork European City of Culture Cork (June 2005)
• The Art of City Making and the Creative City Providence RI & London Ontario (June 2005)
• Aligning Professional Mindsets The London Development Agency (May 2005)
• The Annual Cultural Industries Quarter Lecture Sheffield (April 2005)
• How can Doncaster get on the radar screen Doncaster (April 2005)
• How can Worcester become a creative city Worcester, Mass (April 2005)
• Creative CapitalKennisland conference, Amsterdam, Netherlands (March 2005)
• The Creative City - An introduction Kuopio and Jyvaskyla, Finland (March 2005)
• Creative quarters and creative cities Wolverhampton (February 2005)
• Leadership and creativity Memphis Leadership Forum, Memphis (February 2005)
• The Creative City - An introduction Cork & Dublin (February 2005)
• The risk society and the development of cities Urban Summit, Manchester (February 2005)
• Riding the rapids: The creative city in an age of complexity Toronto, Philadelphia, New Orleans (December 2004)
• The Magnetic South Eastbourne, (November 2004)
• Cultural resources and the making of places South West Museums, Archives and Library Services (November 2004)
• The Art of City Making conference Birmingham (October 2004)
• The cultural responsibilities of urban agglomerations Montreal (October 2004)
• Creative Cities Summit, St. Petersburg, USA (September 2004)
• Urban Futurology: Walsall Art Gallery, Walsall (August 2004)
• The Cutting Edge of Cultural Policy, Mount Engadine, Banff, Canada (July 2004)
• Norwegian Association of Housing and Town Planning, Tromso (June 2004)
• Stamsund International Theatre Festival, Lofoten Islands (June 2004)
• Norwegian Arts & Business Association, Oslo (June 2004)
• Urban Regeneration in Slovenia, Ljubljana (June 2004)
• Dublin City Competitiveness Conference, Dublin (May 2004)
• Homezone Conference, Lowestoft (May 2004)
• Faculty of the Built Environment, University of New South Wales, Sydney (May 2004)
• Innovation in Cites Australian British Chamber of Commerce, Sydney (May 2004)
• Innovation and Creativity Festival, Canberra (May 2004)
• Massachusetts Cultural Council, Boston (April 2004)
• Salem Partnership, Salem, Mass (April 2004)
• Sustainable creativity Convergence Environmental Festival, Dublin (April 2004)
• Creative Cities Programme, Shkodra and Pogradec, Albania (March 2004)
• URBACT - Culture and Regeneration Network, Naples (March 2004)
• Tokyo Chamber of Commerce, (February 2004)
• Yokohama City Council (February 2004)
• The Age of the City, Osaka (February 2004)
• The creative industries in creative cities Barents Sea Foundation, Kirkenes, Norway(January 2004)
• Style Cities, Liverpool (December 2003)
• Salzburg Seminar: Cultural Institutions in Transition (October 2003)
• The Inward Investment Association, London (October 2003)
• The New Cultural Leadership - The Museums Association, Brighton (October 2003)
• Creativity and the City, Amsterdam (September 2003)