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On 15 December, Camden Council and Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê formalised their Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê President and Provost Michael Arthur and Camden Council Leader Georgia Gould hosted the virtual signing, and celebrated our existing collaborations, whilst looking to even more joint activity in 2021.Ìý

Centre stage was the Camden Renewal Commission, which is co-chaired by IIPP’s founding director Mariana Mazzucato, and Georgia Gould. Running since the summer of 2020, the Commission takes a mission-oriented innovation lens in order to tackle and provide new solutions to challenges such as food poverty and economic empowerment, which have been deeply exacerbated during the COVID-19 crisis.Ìý

The 14 Commissioners are all Camden locals, or work in the borough, and are drawn from a variety of expertise and backgrounds —Ìýincluding George the Poet, Pooja Agrawal (IIPP Honorary Fellow), Delia Barker (Programmes Director at the Roundhouse) and Christine Foster (Chief Commercial Officer at the Alan Turing Institute).Ìý

Together we have developed four draft missions. Setting the missions in ‘place’ in CamdenÌýand interrogating them deeply with Camden citizensÌýwill be vital for their success. The Commission is invested in using the concept of place to ground and funnel mission activities. It seeks to rethink such spaces such as housing estatesÌýand youth centres, so that they become places people can thrive inÌýand engage with. Through missions, we will also be able to prioritise citizen voices, and rethink how innovation can be governed in a truly multiplicitous, bottom-up manner.Ìý

Being able to situate the Camden Commission within the wider working partnership between Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê and the Camden Council provides numerous opportunities to advance the lives of Camden residents and businesses. Both Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê and Camden Council areÌýcutting-edge thinkers, innovators, investors, landowners, policymakers and leaders in their sectors. This MoU will serve to support innovative projects between these uniquely situated entities.Ìý

Camden Renewal Commission Commissioners:Ìý

• Georgia Gould:ÌýCo-chair of Commission
• Mariana Mazzucato:ÌýCo-chair of CommissionÌý
• Simon Pitkeathly:ÌýCEO of Camden Collective, Euston Town, Camden Highline and Alternative Camden
• Saul Klein:ÌýCo-Founder of Local GlobeÌý
• Michael Marmot:Ìý ÌýProfessor of Epidemiology at University College London and Director of the Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê Institute of Health Equity
• Kate Bell:ÌýHead of Rights, International, Social and Economics at the Trades Union Congress.
• Ann Phoenix:ÌýProfessor of Psychosocial Research at the Thomas Coram Research Unit, Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê Institute of Education, University of London and a Fellow of the British Academy
• Farhana Yamin:ÌýFounder and CEO of Track 0, member of Extinction Rebellion, associate fellow at Chatham house, a visiting professor at University College London and a member of the Global Agenda Council on Climate Change at the World Economic Forum
• George the Poet:ÌýSpoken-word artist, poet, rapper, and podcast host
• Marcel Levi:ÌýChief Executive of University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
• Athien Akec: Youth MP for CamdenÌý
• Delia Barker:ÌýProgrammes Director at the Roundhouse
• Pooja Agrawal:ÌýCo-founder of Public Practice, IIPP Honorary Fellow
• Alexis Keir:ÌýDirector of Elfrida Rathbone CamdenÌý
• Christine Foster:ÌýChief Commercial Officer at the Alan Turing InstituteÌý

Learn more about the Camden Renewal Commission