Land Talks #1: Flywheels, Cabins, Brushstrokes & More!
🗺️ Where Fresh Thinking Meets Britain’s Oldest Bottleneck
Land is key to economic growth and equality of opportunity, yet in Britain we’ve done almost nothing in decades to unlock our most limited resource. Is it any wonder houses are unaffordable, productivity has stalled and social mobility has flatlined?
Co-founded by Francis Irving, co-creator of TheyWorkForYou, and Henry Morris, founder of the social mobility charity upReach, Land Talks is a series of evenings to inspire and connect high-agency people to reimagine land for everyone’s benefit.
⚡Lightning Talks, Lasting Ideas
Each evening features six sharp, informative and inspirational lightning talks, backed by data, or code. The brilliant speakers and their provocative talks booked for the first evening of Land Talks are:
🖼️ Brushstrokes of Power: Land, Art, and the Language of Status by Luna Mustfa
After feudalism, land became a new currency of power and pride – and its depiction in oil painting reflected that shift. Luna explores how the wealthy used art to project abundance – from plump livestock to sweeping estates – and how changes in land ownership have both shaped and mirrored evolving symbols of status over the centuries.
🛖 A Wee Dream Deferred: Scotland’s Log Cabin Conundrum by Jim Stichbury
One man’s journey though Scotland’s tiny-living market revealed both a compelling lifestyle and frustrating obstacles. Find out why Jim walked away from log cabin life and what it tells us about missed rural regeneration and outdated land-use policies.
☸️ The Data We Need to Transform Planning by Paul Downey
The Service Owner of planning.data.gov.uk describes the “planning data flywheel”. Paul sheds light on the importance and value of planners, and their undervalued role in shaping our world.
🏚️ The Rent Trap: How a Once-Sensible System Now Traps Millions by Ben Dunn-Flores
Renting was once one option among many. Today, it's the only option for most. Ben charts how soaring housing prices and well-intentioned judges trapped four million households and what must change for renting to stand shoulder to shoulder with homeownership.
🕊️ Freeing Holds: How To Fully Control Your Block of Flats by Martin Keegan
Whether you own or rent a flat, you'll often have problems caused by a the collective management arrangements. Martin unpicks some of the different forms of block ownership and management, how to get out of them, and who can help.
🪖 Hostage to History: Turning Tank Land into Townhouses by Mark Williams
The Ministry of Defence holds vast areas of prime land hostage, much seized during WW2 but never returned. Discover how releasing just a fraction of it today could unlock thousands of new homes, create iconic country parks, all without threatening national security.
📋 How the Evening Will Run
Arrive from 6.00 p.m.
Three talks plus questions: 6.30 p.m.
Finger food: 7.00 p.m.
Three talks plus questions: 7.45 p.m.
Chat with your fellow groundbreakers as long as you like!
👯 Join the Groundbreakers
Whether you’re an analyst, policy wonk, programmer, policymaker, activist, or simply passionate about a brighter, more abundant future, join us at the inaugural Land Talks to make Britain’s land system work harder for everyone’s benefit. In the meantime, find out more at landtalks.org.