Knowledge, skills and experience: we’ve got it all

The responses ranged from a brisk seven words to several paragraphs, but the common thread running through them all was that while physical development was easy, regeneration by contrast was complex, difficult, required partnership, community engagement and a whole lot more besides.

It takes immense knowledge, skill and experience to deliver all that, and the people with those qualities are relatively rare. This is a sector where skills shortages are a perennial problem, and where the best practitioners are routinely sought after by headhunters. Training in regeneration skills is thin on the ground, and opportunities for the private and public sectors to learn about how the other works are negligible.

Our Regenerate Leaders initiative, launched in this issue, is an attempt to help bridge the knowledge gap. For this initiative, we have assembled an informal group of 32 regeneration experts. We debated long and hard over the make-up of our list. It includes representatives from all sectors – local authorities, delivery agencies, housing associations, housebuilders and developers – across the UK.

Our list is not intended to be definitive, but to reflect the regeneration nation

We have nationally recognised sector leaders, such as Sir Howard Bernstein and Tony Pidgley. We have lesser known players who are central to delivering change in their region or city. There are experts who have delivered schemes through boom and bust, and who have special expertise in such areas as housing density, tenure, social unrest and a host of government regeneration programmes.

Our list is not intended to be definitive, but to reflect the regeneration nation. Its composition will inevitably change over time. It is intentionally light on London-based experts because the capital has its own separate dynamic, and because we wanted to reflect regional expertise.

In future issues, the Regenerate Leaders will be sharing their views, knowledge and practical experience. We’ll be quizzing them on key issues, and passing on their best practice lessons and innovations. Whatever challenge you come up against in your working life, the chances are that one of our experts has tackled it before. We hope you enjoy learning from them.