RIBA North West is hosting a series of talks across July and August aimed at providing architects and graduates in the region with inspiration from a range of award-winning national and international speakers.

Each event will feature an individual or practice who will share their experiences within their particular fields of expertise, and highlight that the routes to success within the fields of architecture and design can take many forms.

Public Practice is placing a new generation of planners within local government to shape places for the public good. It will build the public sector’s capacity to deliver homes and growth, make better places, and share skills and knowledge across authorities.

Public Practice acts as a broker, selecting outstanding Associates and matching them to Authorities in need of additional planning and placemaking expertise. As a not-for-profit social enterprise, it offers Authorities a cost-effective model to build the public sector’s capacity over the longer-term. As a placement programme, it gives Associates unique place-based roles to deliver change on the ground, alongside industry-leading training and development. And as a network of leading planning practitioners, it seeks to build a body of collective knowledge and research to be shared across the sector.

Speaker, Finn Williams is Co-founder and CEO of Public Practice. He previously worked for OMA, General Public Agency, Croydon Council, and the GLA. Finn sits on the Raynsford Review Task Force, PAS Board, RIBA Planning Group, and the ‘Working in the Public Interest’ Advisory Group. He is a Visiting Professor at the Institute of Innovation & Public Purpose, a tutor at the RCA, and was co-curator of the British Pavilion at the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale.

Admission is £10, or free for RIB members.