ICLRD Conference 2009: North-South Collaboration in Spatial Planning

22-23 January 2009
Radisson SAS Hotel, Letterkenny

At the conference in Letterkenny were (from left to right) John Driscoll, Grant Duncan, Dr. Gabor Novotny, Dr. Rupert Kawka, Minister Michael Kitt, Minister Conor Murphy, Steve Quartermain, Jim Mackinnon, and Prof. Peter Roberts

On 22-23 January 2009 the International Centre for Local and Regional Development (ICLRD) held its fourth annual conference in Letterkenny, Co Donegal under the title ‘Achieving Balanced Regional Development: Dynamic Regions, Spatial Strategies and Collaboration.’ Over 130 people attended. The conference was opened jointly by Mr Michael Kitt TD, Irish Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, and Mr Conor Murphy MP MLA, N.Ireland Minister for Regional Development.

Keynote speakers from overseas included Steve Quartermain, Chief Planning Officer in the Department for Communities and Local Government in London; Jim MacKinnon, Director for the Built Environment in the Scottish Government; Grant Duncan, Head of the Sustainable Futures Division in the Welsh Assembly Government; Dr Gabor Novotny, from the European Commission’s DG Regio (Urban Development and Territorial Cohesion); Dr Rupert Kawka from the German Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning; and Professor Gerrit Knapp, Director, National Center for Smart Growth Research and Education, University of Maryland.

For further information, programme and conference papers see the ICLRD website www.iclrd.org.