This morning the City Office held its bi-annual City Gathering. These meetings bring together leaders from all aspects of society, public, private and third sector and today’s was the largest to date with over 250 attendees. City Gatherings are key to how we work collectively as a city to get things done.
Following the success of last year’s One City Plan launch, this morning’s gathering saw the launch of the second iteration of the plan. This year’s iteration includes updates on the plan to include increased ambition towards carbon neutrality as well as updates from the City’s thematic boards. This year’s plan is also now available in a filterable format through the City Office dashboard which is a first attempt to improve the accessibility of the One City Plan.
The gathering also saw a review of what the City Office has achieved over the previous year. Last year’s City Office priority objectives (Period Friendly Bristol, Affordable Childcare and Tackling Street Conflict) were reviewed and are covered in the City Office annual report which is now live on the City Office website.
Our January City Gathering also establishes the City Office’s three priorities for the year. Our Youth Council and Babbasa youth ambassadors voted to select the City’s Connectivity priority to explore funding measures for mass transit systems in Bristol. Gathering attendees then voted for the two remaining priorities, and they chose the Environment Board’s Going for Gold Food Sustainability programme and the Homes and Communities priority of reducing the number of families in temporary accommodation.
We were also incredibly honoured to have Dame Caroline Fairbairn, Director-General of the CBI, and former Ambassador David Donoghue. Dame Caroline spoke about the need for more positive engagement between business and Bristol’s schools. David facilitated the negotiation process of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and gave a strong endorsement for the work of the University of Bristol and the City Office to embed the SDGs in Bristol and the One City Plan.
The positive, collaborative and incredibly productive nature of today’s gathering is a testament to what we can achieve as a city when combining our efforts. We welcome your comments and suggestions on the One City Plan. If you would like to share your solutions and get involved, please get in touch with the One City Office.
You can hear more about today’s gathering in the video below.