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Some places do better than others even though they have the same resources. Why? Ambition is a main quality. It generates energy, motivation and passion from which other possibilities flow. It can jump start processes of change as key people think ‘it is not OK to only be OK’. Aligned to openness and creativity this is a powerful combination as conditions are created for people to think, plan and act with imagination in solving problems and creating opportunities to become and be the best city they can be. This can harness the collective imagination. Examples from Europe and elsewhere will be given that might inspire Krakow to make more of its potential and to establish itself more firmly on the global radar screen.
The lecture, which will take place on Tuesday, May 31st at 18:00 at the International Cultural Centre, will be conducted by an international authority on using imagination in creating self-sustaining urban change- Charles Landry. He works with cities around the world to help them make the most of their potential, helping to find apt and original solutions to seemingly intractable dilemmas, such as marrying innovation and tradition, balancing wealth creation and social cohesiveness, or local distinctiveness and a global orientation. He is widely acclaimed as a speaker (talks in over 60 countries), innovator and author. He has written over a dozen books, some of which make it to the list of classical publications on the debate on cities, including The Creative City: A toolkit for Urban Innovators, whose concept became a global movement, and The Art of City Making which was recently voted the 2nd best book on cities ever written by the planning website: http://www.planetizen.com/node/66462. His Creative City Index is a powerful tool to measure the creative eco-system of places. His last book Cities of Ambitions, that continues the discussion on the factors making cities successful, inspired the topic of the closing session of the ICC jubilee conference Kraków and the World.