Social Impact 2025: Speakers announced for two-day event

T his year’s Festival of Place: Social Impact 2025 event is focussing on affordable housing, impact investment and spatial justice this year, as it seeks to support learning on how professionals are seeking to make a measurable and positive place-based impact in the built environment. Speakers have been announced and topics include the just transition, feminist planning and investing in social housing.

 

The event features 8 online talks with audience Q&As. Covering two days on topics of housing and spatial justice, Festival of Place: Social Impact is supported by LDA Design, who will also be sharing case studies of their work "creating places where people belong." 

 

The annual event is a live streamed digital conference over two lunchtime sessions, running from 24-25 March on Airmeet from 11am-3pm. Tickets are on sale while organisation members attend free.

 

2025 Speakers:

 

Monday 24 March - Housing

 

Alexandra Notay, Chair, Radix Big Tent Housing Commission

11am - Unlocking social impact through affordable and quality housing - overcoming barriers in the market

 

Chinyelu Oranefo, Director of Sustainability & ESG Finance, Lloyds Bank

12pm - Adopting the lens of a just transition and assessing social risk in the context of sustainable and ESG finance, as well as the retrofitting of social housing and the National Wealth Fund

 

Jack Burnham, Head of Affordable Housing, Octopus Investments with Mark Gayler, Head of Pensions and Investments at Devon County Council

1pm - Place-based impact investing: Working in partnership to deliver affordable housing

 

Matthew Morgan, Director and Co-Founder, Quality of Life Foundation

2pm - Assessing the social impact of Built to Rent development: Presenting the findings of resident and community evaluations at three flagship BTR projects in London

 

 

Tuesday 25 March - Spatial Justice

 

Holly Bruce, Councillor for Langside, Glasgow City Council

11am - Feminist planning: Gender mainstreaming to prevent violence against women and girls

 

Sophie Thompson, Director, LDA Design and Chris Koster, Programme Manager, Coastal Partners

12pm - Beyond the water: Infrastructure and social equity

 

Catherine Manning, Head of Impact Practice at Impact Reporting

1pm - Imperfect solutions for impact measurement. The single truth linking all frameworks and how to put your best practice foot forward.

 

Dr Julia King, Director and Founder, Social Place

2pm - Evidencing and amplifying marginalised voices: How to capture young people’s concerns and desires to inform inclusive policies, practices and designs