Ethnicity and Employment in the Private Sector: The role of legal regulation in promoting race equality in the private sector
Date: 1 March
Venue: British Academy, 10 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y 5AH
Organiser: Policy Studies Institute
Contact: Dr Maria Hudson - m.hudson@psi.org.uk - 020 7468 2217

Seminar Two in the ESRC/DTI/PSI Research Seminar Series titled 'Ethnicity and Employment in the Private Sector'.

The seminars are half-day events beginning with registration and lunch at 12.30, with the programme commencing at 1.30. The seminar finishes at 5.00, followed by a wine reception from 5.00-6.30 allowing delegates an opportunity to do some further networking and extend the seminar discussions.

Chair: Hilary Wiseman, head of diversity at HSBC

Programme:
12.30: Registration/lunch
1.45: Welcome - Maria Hudson (Policy Studies Institute)
1.50-2.10: Karon Monaghan (Barrister, Matrix Chambers) - Title to be confirmed
2.10-2.30: Stephen Alambritis (Head of Parliamentary Affairs, Federation of Small Businesses) - 'The Approach of Small Businesses'
Discussion
3.30-3.50: Monder Ram (Professor of Small Business and Director of Small Business Enterprise Research Group, Leicester Business School, DeMontfort University) - 'Supplier Diversity and Ethnic Minority Enterprise: Lessons from the USA'
3.50-4.10 National Employment Panel - Presentation on Fair Cities research programme - title and speaker to be confirmed

BMESpark Conference 2005
Future challenges for the Supporting People programme in meeting the needs and aspirations of black and minority ethnic communities
Date: 3 March
Venue: Central London
Time: 10.00-4.45
Organiser: Lemos & Crane

BMESpark's conference brings together providers and commissioners of Supporting People services working with black and minority ethnic communities from across the country.

Delegates will hear about the Government's plans to support vulnerable people and the role of service commissioners and providers in delivering these plans.

Delegates will also learn about practitioners' effective examples of practice in meeting the housing and related care needs of black and minority ethnic communities.

The conference is chaired by Gerard Lemos,  chair of Notting Hill Housing Trust, former Audit Commissioner, author of supporting people guidance on responding to the needs and concerns of black and minority ethnic communities.

Keynote speakers:

• Rt Hon Paul Boateng MP, Chief Secretary, HM Treasury
• Terrie Alafat, Director of Homelessness and Housing Support, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister
• Atul Patel, Chief Executive, ASRA Greater London Housing Association

Workshops presenting examples of effective policy and practice:

• Addressing Audit Commission recommendations and delivering a strategy to meet diverse needs with limited resources – Luton Borough Council
• Consulting with black and minority ethnic groups - Salford City Council’s 'Moving Beyond One Size Fits All' guidance
• Learning to understand the needs of black and minority ethnic service users - Stonham Housing Association
  Culturally sensitive services for mainstream providers - CDS Housing
• Preventing social exclusion through effective communication with black and minority ethnic communities - Govanhill Social Inclusion Project (GOSIP)
• Mental health needs of African Caribbean people – Kush Housing Association

Who should attend?
Policy makers and practitioners from Supporting People teams, local authority social services and housing departments, housing associations, drug action teams, probation, primary care trusts, community and voluntary groups, specialist providers of services for black and minority ethnic communities,

BMESpark is an action network of organisations that commission and provide Supporting People services and are working to meet Black and Minority Ethnic needs for housing and support services, and make services appropriate, anti-discriminatory and culturally sensitive. BMESpark is an initiative of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's 'Supporting People' programme.

Visit www.bmespark.org.uk to read more and apply to become a free member.

Booking form: http://www.lemosandcrane.co.uk/Data/ImageLibrary/122.doc

Raising achievement among ethnic minority pupils: Building a culture of success
Date: 8 March
Venue: London
Organiser: Optimum Conferences

Recent school improvement efforts from the DfES have focused heavily on individual pupil’s needs and personalised learning. At the heart of the vision for the future is a school environment where every child can reach their full potential. Schools must record and examine achievement of all groups, looking for ways to improve learning. Ensuring teaching styles vary according to each pupil’s needs is an important aspect of personalised learning, this includes adapting to differences in learning styles between different ethnic groups.

The Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 placed a positive duty on public authorities such as schools and LEAs to eliminate racism and promote good relations between people of different ethnic groups. Ensuring schools have an effective ethnic minority policy is not only essential to improving overall achievement in schools but is a vital part of building a positive community for all pupils.

This conference will look at recent changes and developments in this area focusing on:

• New research into cultural differences and learning styles
• Classroom and whole school strategies to improve motivation and achievement
• School 'Race equality and diversity' policies – what should they cover?
• Ensuring the curriculum reflects cultural diversity
• Motivating gifted underachievers
• Working with parents, the community and local authorities

Expert speakers include:

Dr Robert Berkeley, Deputy Director, The Runnymede Trust - looking at the Trust’s 'Race equality and cultural diversity' policy resource for schools: What it involves; how to implement it; how it can help schools to fulfill their duties towards all pupils in their care.

Dr Marie Stewart, Director, Taylor-Stewart Associates Ltd - discussing differences in learning styles across cultural groups and suggesting varying teaching styles to ensure all pupils needs are catered for.

Benefits of attendance:

• Help to develop and improve your schools race equality and diversity policy
• Keep updated about schools’ official responsibilities towards promoting and tracking equality and eliminating racist behaviour
• Learn about enrichment and partnership projects which are available for schools and young people
• Examine the different teaching styles and support ethnic minority groups will need from their school
• Question and discuss your experiences with peers and our expert speakers

Booking form

Stop the beatings: Suffering in Silence
Date: 10 March
Venue: Hammersmith Town Hall King Street
Contact: Mukesh Solanki/Raj Braich 020 8538 7703, Kamaljit Kaur 020 8400 8509 or Sonja Kapalay 0794 7716561

Conference aims to: raise awareness and revisit domestic violence within Asian communities and focus on specific implications for Asian women vis-à-vis immigration laws, honour killings, forced marriages and so on. Engage professionals/lay people from the community, voluntary and statutory sectors working in the field to share information and exchange views on domestic violence and look at effective interventions and support strategies.

Assess current developments in the field of domestic violence from central and local government to local community interventions. To explore potential framework of intervention and support groups, ultimately looking to set up networks for domestic violence workers across London.

Tackling Community Conflict Conference
Practitioner Action - From Understanding Causes to Building Coalitions
Date: 5 April
Venue: Central London
Time: 10.00-4.15
Organiser: Lemos & Crane

This ground-breaking conference brings together social landlords, local authorities, community safety and crime reduction practitioners from around the country to understand their role in preventing, managing and tackling community conflict – which occurs between groups of people within or between localities and neighbourhoods. Delegates will learn from case studies of conflict involving youth anti-social behaviour, racial tensions and drug dealing; models of community facilitation; frameworks for assessing risk factors and early warnings; and approaches to building coalitions within and between residents and institutions.

Keynote speakers:

• Brendan McAllister, Director, Mediation Northern Ireland
• Anil Singh, Chief Executive, Manningham Housing Association, Bradford
• Gerard Lemos, Lemos & Crane, author of Community Conflict: causes and action

Chair: Malcolm Dean, The Guardian

Workshops sessions:

• Tackling conflict involving gangs and weapons, inter-generational tensions, and conflict between travellers and Muslim communities – action examples from London Borough of Waltham Forest
• Dealing with anti-social behaviour by young people in Slade Green, Bexley: a housing management perspective – Orbit Bexley Housing Association
• Working creatively with young people affected by conflict: lessons from Burnley – Raj Bhari, community facilitator and advisor to UNESCO, UNICEF
• Approaches to community facilitation in areas showing signs of conflict: an evaluation of programmes across the country – the Tavistock Institute
• Plus sessions on strategies to tackle drug dealing, and racism in rural areas.

Youth Panel
Young people speak about their experience of conflict within their local community and who and what they feel can make a difference – representatives from the Leap Confronting Conflict project in London.

Who should attend?
Housing mangers, community safety officers, anti-social behaviour and hate crime co-ordinators, youth workers, drug workers, environmental health officers, race equality officers, officers leading on community cohesion, police officers, and community and voluntary groups working to tackle community conflict.

Booking form: www.lemosandcrane.co.uk/Data/ImageLibrary/124.doc

Religion, Ethnicity and Political Participation
Convenor: Parveen Akhtar
Chair: Chloe Taylor
Date: 6 April
Time: Session 6: 16.00-17.30

Papers:

• Global Events, National Politics, Local Lives: Young Muslim Men In Scotland, Peter Hopkins
• Explaining Muslim Political Participation: What's Context Got To Do With It?, Parveen Akhtar
• Politically (In)Different? Black and Minority Ethnic Young People's Political Participation, Therese O'Toole and Richard Gale

Booking: http://www.psa.ac.uk/2005/bookings.htm

Trauma - A Cross Cultural Perspective
Date: 25 April
Venue: Sixfields Football Stadium, Northampton
Contact: sarah.hogan@ngh.nhs.uk

This one-day conference will explore how professionals and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services can work effectively and sensitively across diverse cultures and communities.

MRS Ethnic Minority Research - Understanding the Challenges of Diverse Communities: training course
Date: 26 May
Venue:Thistle Kensington Park Hotel, London W8

This training course aims to enable delegates to identify and understand key issues for commercial and social research amongst ethnic communities in the UK. Further information is given in the Training section of the MRS website.

Let us know about an event, send details to ERNN@mrs.org.uk.