Programme

Monday 14th October 2019

(Mistra Urban Futures delegation)

Comparative Project Workshops

(By invitation of comparative project leaders)

Venue: Cutlers’ Hall, Church Street, Sheffield, S1 1HD
Time: 0900-1300

The morning session provided space for the comparative projects to meet and work together, and included invitation-only workshops on the following project themes by request of the comparative project leaders:

Cultural Heritage: Cutlers’ Hall (Main Hall)
Migration: Reception room
Sustainable Development Goals:Banqeting Hall
Transport: Osbourne Room
Urban Food: Drawing Room
Waste Management:Goodwin Room

Lunch

This provided an opportunity for informal networking and discussion.
Venue: Cutlers’ Hall, Church Street, Sheffield, S1 1HD
Time: 1300-1415

Sheffield Walking Tours

Venue: Different locations in Sheffield.
Time: 1415-1700

Walking groups met in the Hadfield Hall to depart at 1415, on the ground floor of Cutlers' Hall.

Option 1 - Old and New Sheffield: The History and Highlights of Sheffield City Centre

Walk leader: Marcus J Newton, Walking Tour Guide, trading as Sheffield City Walking Tours
Marcus has lived, studied and worked in Sheffield all his life and will introduce you to the best of old and new Sheffield. On your tour, you will see the two Cathedrals, the Town and City Halls, the famous Crucible and Lyceum Theatres, the Millennium Gallery and heart of the City quarter, the beautiful Winter Garden, and the World’s best car park. Marcus provided not just an introduction to the 900 years of Sheffield history but also highlights why twenty-first century post-industrial Sheffield is a great place to live, work, visit, study and invest. Marcus also gives helpful ideas on places to eat, drink and be entertained, along with useful information on places to visit and how to travel to them using local transport.
Please note:
Participants were prepared to walk for 60 to 90 minutes. (You will be outside for about 60% of this time). The overall distance covered will be about one mile (~1.6km).
The walk finished at Cutlers’ Hall at about 1545.

Option 2 - Walking and Talking Energy: Sheffield’s District Heat Network and Incinerator

Walk leader: Dr Aimee Ambrose, Reader in Energy Policy, Sheffield Hallam University
Deep underneath our city are 44 kilometres of pipework which carry hot water to hundreds of buildings to keep them heated. This heat is generated by burning household rubbish. Join us on a tour of Sheffield Energy Recovery Facility (ERF) and learn about Sheffield’s heat network.
The first stop was Tamper Sellers Wheel, Arundel Street, a 10-minute walk from Cutlers’ Hall. Here you receive refreshments and a presentation, before departing to follow the route of the heat network, and make a visit to the ERF Incinerator. A tram journey was included.
Please note:
Participants were prepared to walk for 45 minutes to 1 hour – the route will follow footpaths.
This excursion finished at about 1715, with an invitation to the Sheffield Tap to debrief.

Blogpost report from the Energy site-visit in Sheffield

Option 3 - Urban Food Systems: Hi-tech and Community-based Solutions

Leaders: Charlie Spring and Nick Taylor-Buck with Heeley City Farm Participants travel by taxi-bus to Heeley City Farm (HCF), a friendly farm and environmental visitor centre in the heart of Sheffield that supports community-based and led training, employment and youth enterprise. The itinerary included a brief tour of the farm site, including its aquaponics facility, and a presentation about HCF work including a holiday hunger programme and re-skilling people to grow their own food. University of Sheffield plant scientist Moaed Al Meselmani presented work underway in Jordan and a former school in Tinsley (Sheffield) to develop low-budget hydroponic systems, designed to help local communities. Rene Meijer, CEO of local anti-food waste organisation FoodWorks, also presented their work on utilising food surpluses but also trying to create more systemic change to prevent food waste in the first place. Refreshments was provided by the HCF café.
This was a relatively accessible option. Paths on site are gentle and wheelchairs are available to borrow if wished. The activities finished by 1645, and the group will returned to the city centre by taxi-bus.

Option 4 - Kelham Island: Industrial Heritage and Urban Transformation

Walk leader: Anders Hanson, local resident, walking tour guide and steering group member Kelham Island and Neepsend Forum
A walking tour explained the history and the present of Kelham Island. Once the beating heart of industry it is one of Sheffield’s oldest manufacturing sites. The manmade island was formed in the 1100s, when a stream was diverted to power a nearby mill. However, as industrial activity has moved on, the area has undergone a significant transformation in recent years and quietly become one of the most exciting parts of the city. The remains of the numerous cutlery and steel works, factories and workshops is part of what gives the area its distinct charm, except nowadays these buildings house everything from indie shopping arcades to microbreweries and galleries. Last year, Kelham Island won the Academy of Urbanism's UK Great Neighbourhood Award, beating off stiff competition from Hackney Wick in London and Ancoats in Manchester.

Participants were prepared to walk for 15 minutes (mostly downhill) to Kelham Island Museum, where the tour began. The tour itself included around 90 minutes’ walking (mostly flat), finishing at Kelham Island Museum at 1600.
A map and the number of a local taxi company was provided to plan your return route to the city centre. (There are dining options in this area for those who prefer to eat locally).

Kelham Island Site-visit: Industrial Heritage and Urban Transformation

Option 5 - Delivering Urban Climate Resilience through City Regeneration

Walk leaders: Zac Tudor, Principal Landscape Architect, Urban and Environmental Design, and Simon Ogden, Castlegate Programme Director, City Growth Department, from Sheffield City Council
A fast-paced walking tour of Sheffield’s city-centre’s flagship regeneration districts, demonstrating how the city is integrating climate resilience into key projects and schemes.This included how buildings and the wider public realm has been designed to create greater climate resilience, a visit to one of the city’s ‘flood parks’ providing multi-use spaces and the award-winning Grey-to-Green scheme – an exciting project that is transforming Sheffield’s Riverside Business District, turning ‘grey’ redundant road space into ‘green’ flower meadows and wetlands in a growing business and living area. We visited both Phase one which is completed and we also saw work in progress on phase two – which will transform 1.3 km of redundant roads into attractive linear public spaces, and will create the largest sustainable urban drainage system (SUDS) in the UK.

This tour was conducted at a fast walking pace and there are steep hills to ascend back on the return to Cutlers’ Hall. The route covered was approximately 3 miles (4.8km), and participants were outside throughout. The tour finished at 1630.

Evening

(Please arrange your own plans for Monday evening).