The future of the ‘Public Realm’ in the Big Society

A media commentator and a key player in British governmental policy will debate the meaning and future of the ‘public realm' in the Big Society at an Edge Hill University event.

Matthew Taylor, Chief Executive of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), will be at the Ormskirk campus on 24^th May to launch a major series of open lectures on the concept of the public realm in the public and private sectors.

He will look at three key areas in detail: ideas matter, local people matter and institutions matter. He will also examine the challenges universities face in times of uncertainty and political unrest.

Since 2006, Matthew has been leading the RSA - a charity that has been the source of ideas, innovation and civic enterprise for over 250 years - towards its aim of seeking ‘to develop and promote new ways of thinking about human fulfillment and social progress'.

Prior to his appointment to the RSA, Matthew was Chief Adviser on Political Strategy to the then Prime Minister Tony Blair. Being at the heart of Government, he advised the PM directly on matters of policy and worked closely with cabinet members and senior officials.

Matthew was appointed to the Labour Party in 1994 to establish Labour's rebuttal operation and during the 1997 General Election he was Labour's Director of Policy. He was also the Director of the Institute for Public Policy Research between 1999 and 2003, Britain's leading centre left think tank.

As an author, he is also a frequent media commentator on policy and political issues and has written for publications including The Times, New Statesman and Prospect.

Stuart Speeden, the University's Director of the Centre for Local Policy Studies which has organised the series of lectures, said: "This is the first of a number of debates on the public realm, its meaning and its future that we have organised. We are entering a period where the boundaries of public and private are once again shifting and distinctions between the two have become increasingly blurred under successive governments since the 1980s. As the coalition government addresses the recession, it can be seen as portraying ‘private' as good and ‘public' as bad. Yet many challenges that we face both nationally and globally evoke the public realm and its importance.  Climate change, the digital and globalized economy, the crises in the banking system and the future of the welfare state all raise questions about the public realm, its scope and the way it is governed. This lecture series will explore these issues in further detail and I'm delighted that Matthew will be joining us in this important debate. I'm sure he will give an interesting perspective on the public realm."

Matthew Taylor's public lecture is free to attend and spaces are limited. To book your place, email corporateevents@edgehill.ac.uk. Arrival is 5.30pm with drinks with canapés, ready for a 6.30pm start and refreshments and networking afterwards.