Special Report: Stoke-on-Trent & Local Action Plan - When ceramic becomes a product of innovation

In order to ensure that URBACT exchanges have an impact on local practices and policies, every partner in a project commits to setting up and leading an URBACT Local Support Group. This group gathers the main interested parties and local stakeholders impacted by the project's topic. URBACT Local Support Groups contribute to implementing transnational activities and to producing the Local Action Plan.
Download UNIC STOKE ON TRENT Local Action Plan (454.03 KB), a successfully completed example of an integrated strategy, was approved by the European Commission in May and is currently being deployed.

1 – The economic weight of Stoke-on-Trent's ceramic sector has declined since the 1970s, yet its fabric of professionals remains dynamic. Why did you feel the need to get involved in URBACT's UNIC project? 

It's true, Stoke-on-Trent remains one of Great Britain's ceramics clusters and the sector remains very active. But, the decreasing number of factories—due primarily to the difficulty they face competing with low-cost Asian players—is a concern. In the 1970s, our city had 600 factories, and today only counts 300. At the same time, direct employment has fallen from 50,000 to 8,000, primarily due to the introduction of new production methods. This decline in the economic and social weight of ceramic had a negative impact on the image inhabitants have of their city: they think that the ceramic industry is dead. And this is far from the case!

Working within the UNIC project allows us to demonstrate to the British government that we are part of a powerful European network that holds the promise of a fine future. In our lobbying activities, this is a strong argument for an average-size English city (455,000 inhabitants) such as Stoke-on-Trent. Bringing together stakeholders involved in ceramics around a joint project also makes us stronger, and more attractive to investors.

What is important is that through our Local Action Plan, we have defined our objectives and priorities once and for all. One of the most flagrant examples of the success of our Local Action Plan is that the change in the British government that occurred in May was not a handicap. On the contrary, we even turned it into an additional springboard because we were able to do a lot of lobbying by sending our strategic plan out to all the various state departments.

2- Your Local Action Plan is a model of integrated development. How did you come up with it?

Before formalising our Local Action Plan, we thought it was essential to bring together all the various ceramic stakeholders in Stoke-on-Trent and the region (industrials, universities, labour unions, etc.) in order to jointly discuss the project. This preparatory step of dialogue and confronting points of view took us six months, during which we carried out a full analysis of the current situation and challenges. This work allowed us to build a shared vision of the ceramics cluster for 2025 and of the actions needed to reach this objective. Our Local Action Plan was born.
At the same time as we put together the Local Action Plan in the format URBACT asked for, we formalized a Download Ceramics_Launch_Report_in_PDF.pdf (1.05 MB) that expresses our vision for 2025 and four recommendations to implement. It was build with the involvement of the 18 members of our Local Support Group, but we opened the consultation to fifty or so other stakeholders in the ceramic sector.

3 – What are the challenges involved in this renewal of the ceramic sector and the city?

It is first a question of making sure that the ceramic industry remains one of the driving forces of the region's economic appeal and that it will again be able to generate potential growth of stable employment for inhabitants. For that, it has to have the support of all the available networks to secure its business over time and respond to current and future market demands. Today, the challenge lies in deploying an integrated strategy that will ensure the transition between heavy industrial production that is no longer competitive and an economic model based on innovation. European ceramic has to become a product of creativity and high technology. Ceramic has properties such as heat resistance that lead to new applications in medicine, aeronautics, aerospace, wind energy, and more. There is also a major challenge in terms of valorisation. Ceramic has to break away from its "cooking utensil" image. Despite 300 years of shared history, ceramic remains a very current product and we also have to attract new graduates so that they continue to transmit the know-how. The city of Stoke-on-Trent is very entrepreneurial and we are also trying to convince artists and designers to get interested in this industry.

4- What factors do you think have made your Local Action Plan so well received by the city's ceramics community so that they all back it today?

We had an excellent base from which to start because there is real solidarity among ceramic industrials in Stoke-on-Trent and they are determined to work together on a common cause.
Then, I think that the strategy of opening the Local Support Group and the participative approach that presided over the development of our Local Action Plan was a federating factor that people found very attractive. The preparatory phase involved consulting fifty or so people from a number of different areas (museums, shops, tourist authorities, etc.). Integrating so many partners into the LSG would have been counter-productive because it would have been too hard to manage, but it really made sense to get them around a table to talk about a project that touched them all.
Finally, Stoke-on-Trent is a city in which the political leaders are active and very involved. As a municipal agent, I made sure that they were kept regularly informed about our progress. Today, they provide us with critical support when we have to lobby our Managing Authority and get recommendations for public financing. I believe that the politicians have had enough of me, but our efforts paid off.

5 – Where are you in deployment?

Our Local Action Plan was approved in May by the European Commission's DG Regio. We have formalised four recommendations that are being implemented in order of priority. We have already nearly finalised the first recommendation: establishing a Ceramic Development Council made up primarily of influential industrials. This governance structure will both guide our strategy and push us to complete the other recommendations.
The second recommendation, which involves enhancing the touristic value of the ceramic network, is in the process of being deployed. The British government has just granted us financing to develop a ceramic trade show that will take place in October. This event, which aims to be an annual event, will be both a showcase of our know-how and a means to attract potential investors so they can include ceramic in their products.
We are currently looking for funds to finance the training part of this recommendation. The goal is to train people in the tourism sector, such as taxi drivers, hotel receptionists and travel agents, so they become ceramic ambassadors with visitors.
Finally, with certain UNIC partner cities, we are in the process of putting together a shared "Ceramic country" tourism project as part of the Interreg transborder cooperation programme.
During the next twelve months, we will continue to deploy our Local Action Plan, my objective being to secure the financing needed before the end of the UNIC project in June 2011.

6 – What advice can you give to other cities involved in URBACT projects?

• Involve your Managing Authority in the project as closely as possible. It is also essential that the Managing Authority be part of the Local Support Group.
• Get industry as involved as possible. They are the ones who create jobs, they are in the field every day, and they know that better than anyone else how to defend their needs. I made it a point of honour to have a different Stoke-on-Trent industrial present at each of the UNIC partner meetings. For that matter, industrials from the member cities developed excellent relations.
• As part of preparing the Local Action Plan, take the time to consult as many people as you can. As a representative of the municipality, I am only a coordinator. These are the stakeholders in the project who will be in charge of deploying it, so it is essential that they adhere to the recommendations right from the start.
• Listen to your European partners so that you do not make the same mistakes. There is a strong chance that what did not work ten years ago elsewhere will also fail for you. Our Local Action Plan was inspired by action that has worked in other ceramic cities.
• Finally, and this is certainly the basis for a Local Action Plan's success, enjoy working together and trust your project partners.

Watch also Rachel's Interview:

<//embed><//embed><//embed><//embed><//embed> Read more:

• UNIC – Website
• Download UNIC STOKE ON TRENT Local Action Plan (454.03 KB) - PDF