
EDAS to join international showcase on community transformation
EDAS Chair Liz McEntee will be among the delegates at a major international conference this week.
She is travelling to join the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development’s (OECD) Local Development Forum.
Taking place in Cork, Ireland, the event will feature speakers from places including Sweden, Canada and Mexico.
It will reflect on how to improve the quality of local jobs, better leverage community assets and expand economic opportunities and inclusion to create spaces where everyone can thrive.
Delegates will examine how the ongoing consequences of the COVID- 19 pandemic, as well as the humanitarian, social and economic pressures sparked by the war in Ukraine, broader shifts such as the green transition, digitalisation and demographic change are fundamentally changing the communities where people live, work, create and consume.
βI am really looking forward to this event, to meeting others who are passionate about local economic development across the world and to learning from international thinking and practice examples that can inspire what we do in Scotland,β says Liz.
OECD says: “These changes bring both opportunities and challenges such as the changing geography of jobs and a need to rethink and ramp up the skills systems to keep pace with these changes.”
The three-day event, from Wednesday until Friday, will explore what can be learned from how such transformations have been managed in the past, and what innovative approaches communities are taking to help all places and people emerge stronger and more resilient.
Liz will be feeding back to members on some of the best practice shared at the showcase. Keep in touch with our social media for updates after the event.
You can find out more about the forum and its line-up of speakers here. While this is an in-person event, plenary sessions are also being live-streamed.