Events

The Eastbourne People’s Panel, designed by the New Citizen Project and overseen by the Sortition Foundation, will meet over four facilitated sessions in September and October 2026. Selected through a civic lottery sent to 7,500 households, 25 residents will work together to develop investment priorities for up to £20 million in local funding.

The Head of the Institute of Place Management, Ian Harvey, will be speaking about place management, pride in place, devolution, and the role of communities in shaping the future of places. Drawing on examples from across the UK, he will share recommendations and practical ideas from other towns and cities. Ian will also participate in discussions with panel members, helping to explore how communities can play a more active role in local decision-making.

Tuesday 6^th October – Geoffrey Manton 3.34 1-4pm

This half-day sandpit will bring together a commercial data provider (Beauclair), academics, place practitioners, and policymakers to explore the research, policy, and practice potential of Beauclair’s substantial UK spend dataset which includes anonymised, GDPR compliant debit/credit card spend for a significant sample of UK cardholders, including data on retail sector, customer origin and customer demographics.

The sandpit will follow “the IPM way” of place-first engaged scholarship. Participants will combine their research, practical, and policy  expertise to identify research questions that matter for places and explore what the data might reveal. Promising projects can then be taken forward by teams consisting of academics with support/input from practitioners and policymakers.

Alongside the potential for excellent research, each project will identify who needs the findings, how they could inform decisions or action, and how learning from their application can feed back into practice, policy, and further research.

To take part you need to be interested in practical or policy applications of spend data and be willing to dedicate some time to supporting a research project over the next year. This might include refining research questions and establishing the practical or policy relevance of findings.

For registration, please contact ipm@mmu.ac.uk

Understanding places requires knowledge that crosses the boundaries of academic disciplines, individual organisations, and research projects. Yet these structures organise (and constrain) how knowledge is produced, valued, and resourced.

In this seminar we want ask what changes when place becomes the organising principle of scholarship – and responsibility for knowledge extends to its interpretation, application, impact, and subsequent development?

This seminar examines the intellectual and methodological foundations of what we are terming “place-first scholarship”: an approach developed through sustained relationships between research, professional practice, policy, and education. Its potential contribution lies in treating knowledge production, collective interpretation, and practical application as a continuing, connected process. Professional networks, longitudinal evidence, and institutional memory become part of the conditions through which place-first scholarship is possible.

Dr Chloe Steadman will share emerging findings on what makes scholarship truly engaged from Doing Impactful Marketing and Consumer Research, the special issue of the Journal of Marketing Management she is co-editing with Dr Laura Reynolds and Dr Nikos Ntounis. 

Dr Nikos Ntounis will draw on a previous Royal Geographical Society presentation to explore how knowledge is produced with places.  

Professor Cathy Parker will introduce Beyond Recovery, an empirical examination of sixteen years of footfall evidence.  

Chis Gregory will present findings from his current PhD and explore how professionalisation and a sustained community of practice might connect scholarship with the everyday work of improving places. 

 Together, we will explore the methodological significance of place-first scholarship.

This research seminar will be an exercise in engaged scholarship as well as a seminar about it. The presentations will provide a starting point for collective inquiry, inviting participants to bring their own knowledge and experience to interpreting our work, questioning its assumptions, and shaping the further development of ‘place-first scholarship’.

Register to attend here.

Professors Steve Millington and Stefan White, alongside Dr Nikos Ntounis and PhD student Natalie Raben, will be representing Manchester Metropolitan University and the Institute of Place Management at the Congress. Natalie will be sharing the early findings from her PhD research, which explores urban ageing and aligns closely with the Institute of Place Management’s wider research on place, communities, health and demographic change.

If you are also attending the Congress and would like to connect with colleagues from Manchester Metropolitan University and the Institute of Place Management during the event, please get in touch with IPM.

Professor Mihalis Kavaratzis, Professor Nigel Morgan, Professor Steve Millington and Dr Chloe Steadman (pictured), alongside colleagues from across the sector, will be attending the 10th anniversary conference of the International Place Branding Association (IPBA) in Lisbon. The event will bring together academics and practitioners from around the world to explore the latest research, ideas and practice in place branding. Please get in touch if you would be interested in meeting to discussion more about their individual work or the IPM.

Professor Steve Millington will be chairing a session at the British BIDs annual conference. More information to be announced.

As part of the ESRC Festival of Social Science 2026, the UK’s largest celebration of social science research, the Institute of Place Management is working with colleagues from Manchester Metropolitan University for an immersive night at Hidden exploring the culture and future of nightlife.

Led by Jenny Kanellopoulou from the Institute of Place Management, alongside Professor Kirsty Fairclough and Dr Susan O’Shea from Manchester Metropolitan University, the event brings research, music and art together to explore why nightlife spaces matter to our cities — and what happens when they disappear or change.

From DJ sets and immersive soundscapes to informal discussions and creative activities, the evening invites you to move, listen, contribute and create.

The event explores how rising costs, noise complaints and urban redevelopment are affecting grassroots’ nightlife venues, and the wider role these spaces play in the social and economic life of our cities. Clubs and other nightlife venues can be important places for community, creativity, social connection and self-expression.

Join the party and see why these creative spaces are such an important aspect of identity and social inclusion for young people in Manchester.

thinkingplace, in partnership with the Institute of Place Management at Manchester Metropolitan University, is proud to present the fifth Place Pizzazz Conference on 12th November 2026 at Manchester Metropolitan University Business School.

As devolution accelerates and government increasingly treats place as an organising principle, thinkingplace and Manchester Metropolitan University are well positioned to contribute to this agenda. Manchester also provides a particularly fitting setting for this conversation. The city-region has been at the forefront of English devolution and has demonstrated the value of sustained collaboration between local government, business, universities and communities.

Hosting Place Pizzazz at Manchester Met will give delegates an opportunity to experience Manchester and learn from the city-region’s journey, while bringing together diverse places, perspectives and ideas from across the UK and internationally to explore the challenges and opportunities affecting places everywhere.

You can register for free to join us via: https://lnkd.in/e8YYHwH6

The Institute of Place Management is delighted to announce “A Place First Approach to Tourism” on Thursday 21st January 2027. This one-day conference will explore what a Place First approach means for tourism and the visitor economy.

Led by Sean Owens and Amanda Miller and hosted at Manchester Metropolitan University Business School, the event will consider how tourism can contribute to the wider economic, social and cultural development of places. It will also explore the relationship between destination management, place management and communities, drawing on perspectives from the UK and internationally.

Bringing together academics, practitioners and policymakers, discussions will examine emerging issues including visitor levies, the role of Business Improvement Districts (BIDs), and how tourism policy can better connect with wider place priorities and ambitions.

Further details and speakers will be announced shortly. Registration is available here.