BITC is currently undertaking an important study, called 'Work in Society', which examines the global forces that are changing the world around us and the consequences for life as we know it today. The findings of this study paint a dramatic and compelling picture of the challenges we face in the coming decades. They are already touching each of us - creating new opportunities and, at the same time, new challenges for business, for individuals and for the communities in which we live. It seems to me that in such a turbulent world people's sense of place matters more and more. It is familiar and understandable and it is where individuals can believe they have some control over their own destinies.
Local problems require local solutions.
They demand a practical grasp of what will work and what will not. You have the ability to bring that knowledge and understanding. I also believe that you have the advantage of scale. If we think nationally, the problems of urban blight, of homelessness and alienation, of unemployment, crime, drugs, health and the environment, can seem overwhelming and intractable. But, viewed locally, they can become far more manageable.