Times are tough. Which regeneration skills will be required to ease the impacts of the downturn and harness the potential of the recovery?

This round-table debate is the first of our series of three Changing Climate debates in conjunction with Regeneration & Renewal. The debates ask senior figures from regeneration to address the challenges the sector faces in the coming years.

The event set out to examine how the sector continues to develop regeneration skills as the credit crunch bites. Some of the sharpest minds in the field suggest that skills – such as leadership, partnership-building, risk-sharing and place-shaping – will be vital for survival. They also think there will be scope to develop these skills despite tightened budgets. But nobody present claims that any of it will be easy. The full article is is the column on the right.

Who's who?

Tom Bloxham Group chair and co-founder, Urban Splash
Bloxham founded property development firm Urban Splash in 1993, after the country was slowly emerging from the last recession. A Londoner by birth, Bloxham has been embraced by his adopted North-West as a purveyor of inspirational design and a champion of Manchester culture.

Maud Marshall Chief executive, Bradford Centre Regeneration
Marshall has been charged with turning Will Alsop’s ambitious plans for Bradford into reality. She has helped bring high street retail names into the city.

Eamonn Boylan Deputy chief executive, Manchester City Council and deputy chief executive designate, Homes and Communities Agency
Boylan has been a key figure in the Manchester renaissance. Next month he joins the Homes and Communities Agency, into which ASC will be subsumed.

Dr Gill Taylor Chief executive, Academy for Sustainable Communities
Taylor has 20 years’ experience in local government, ten of them at chief executive level. An expert in regeneration, she holds a PhD in urban and regional development.

Jon Sawyer Managing director, Eye consultancy
Sawyer has been a consultant to the regional development agencies and English Partnerships. He worked for KPMG for four years, and led its major physical regeneration work.

Dr Adrian Passmore Chief executive, RegenWM
Passmore is responsible for developing a programme at RegenWM to help satisfy the skills needs of the sector in the West Midlands. A former university lecturer, Passmore holds a D.Phil in planning history.