The 2025 Agenda

8:45 - 9:15

Registration

Start your day by signing in and picking up your exclusive Collaboration Pack. This pack includes all the materials you’ll need for an engaging day of learning and networking. Arrive early to ensure you have ample time to get settled and connect with fellow attendees. 

9:15 - 9:20

Editors' Welcome

Start the conference with a warm welcome and an overview of the day’s agenda. Discover what to expect from the workshops, workbook activities, and interactive sessions that will keep you moving and engaged throughout the day. 

 

Speakers:

Jessica Bowie, Editor, Civil Service World

Suzannah Brecknell, Editor, Civil Service World

9:20 - 9:30

Opening Address

Speaker:

Joy Johnston, Prime Minister’s Special Advisor for Faith, Communities and Civil Society

9:30 - 9:50

Keynote Speech: Baroness Louise Casey

Get inspired by our keynote speaker Baroness Casey of Blackstock, who will set the tone for the day. Hear her experiences in collaboration and gain invaluable tips and tricks to ensure everyone’s voice is heard. 

Speaker:

Baroness Louise Casey, Crossbench peer and former head of the cross-government Respect Task Force

9:50 - 10:50

Panel Discussion: Collaborative Success Stories - Insights and Reflections on the Homes for Ukraine Scheme

Dive deep into the challenges and triumphs of collaborative efforts in the Homes for Ukraine Scheme. This session features a 45-minute panel discussion and a 15-minute interactive segment. Explore how different sectors came together, and transitioned from crisis response to long-term strategy, and learn how to apply these insights to your own work.

 

Panel:

Susannah Baker, Co-founder and Director, The Pickwell Foundation; Co-Owner, Pickwell Manor; Chair, The Community Sponsorship Alliance; Co-Chair, The Welcome Coalition; King’s Birthday Honours Recipient

Sally Burlington, Chief Executive, ADASS

Hannah Gregory, Global Director, Knowledge and Sponsorship, Pathways International

Paul Morrison, Chief Executive, Planning Inspectorate

Iryna Terlecky, Chair of the Ukrainian Women’s Association and a Board member of the Association of Ukrainians

Tori Peck, Director, Women2Win

Nicholas Vetch, Chair and Co-founder, Big Yellow Group Plc

10:50 - 11:10

Coffee Break

Recharge with a coffee break and take the opportunity to network with fellow attendees. Share your thoughts on the morning sessions and build connections that could lead to future collaborations. 

11:10 - 12:15

Skills Session: Building Trust for Collaboration

This session will provide valuable insights into the role of trust in collaboration, offering practical strategies to foster trust within networks and with external stakeholders. You will build your understanding of how trust works in humans, and how to build trust outwards across networks. 

After a presentation on trust in the human brain, you will then take part in an interactive challenge where, supported by experienced facilitators, you and your peers will act as a working group tasked with initiating a collaborative process. You will identify key stakeholders, explore trust and distrust from their perspectives, and reflect on how these strategies can be applied to your career. 

Speaker:

Kate Sturdy, Executive Coach and former Senior Civil Servant

12:15 - 13:00

Lunch

Enjoy a delicious lunch while mingling with other conference participants. Use this time to relax, refuel, and continue building valuable connections.

13:00 - 14:05

Skills Session: Systems Thinking for Collaboration

This session will dive into the importance of systems thinking to support collaboration. By exploring the relationships between the parts of a system, it will provide practical techniques and approaches that will enhance your ability to understand the performance of a whole system and thereby work more effectively with its different elements.

Following a presentation on systems thinking, you will then take part in an interactive challenge where, supported by experienced facilitators, you and your peers will work together to apply systems thinking. You will identify different parts of the system, and work to understand how the different parts influence one another.

Speaker:

Simon Newman, Former Senior Civil Servant 

14:05 - 14:25

Coffee Break

Take a short break to recharge and network. Share insights from the skills sessions and prepare for the afternoon panel discussion.

14:25 - 15:25

Cross-Sector Collaboration

Drawing on research carried out by WIG and Blavatnik School of Government this session will explore the core skillset, mindset and capabilities needed to work across the public, private and not-for-profit sectors to deliver meaningful outcomes through cross-sector collaboration. We will address:

  • What the data from leaders shows us about the state of collaboration and where there is scope to further develop and evolve approaches
  • The key considerations when working across the public, private and not-for-profit sectors and what this means in context of mission-driven government
  • Discussion around case studies that demonstrate the opportunities and challenges that come from working across the sectors

Speakers:

Dr Neil Bentley-Gockmann OBE, CEO, WIG

Katy Crothall Head of Talent and Leadership, WIG

15:25 - 15:55

Showcase: Award-Winning Collaboration

To finish the day, hear from the team who scooped the Collaboration Award at 2024’s Civil Service Awards about how they worked across departmental and sectoral boundaries to transform citizens’ lives. The officials behind the Scottish Government’s 4G Infill (S4GI) programme – a £28.75m investment which delivered 4G for the first time to 55 rural and island locations across Scotland – will tell us how collaboration helped deliver life-changing connectivity to areas where industry previously would not invest. Here is your chance to ask them questions about the challenges they faced and successes they achieved. 

Speakers:

Suzannah Brecknell, Editor, Civil Service World

Robert McGhee, Deputy Director, Scottish Government’s Digital Connectivity Division

15:55 - 16:10

Closing Remarks

Reflect on the day’s learnings and key takeaways. Our closing remarks will summarise the highlights and set the stage for continued collaboration beyond the conference. 

16:10 - 17:00

Networking

End the day with a networking session. Join your colleagues from across the UK public sector to compare notes on the day’s discussions, share insights, and get to know our guest speakers and discussion hosts better. This is your chance to forge new connections and explore potential collaborations. 

Facilitating active learning and reflective discussions

Throughout the day, delegates will be supported to develop actionable insights by highly-experienced facilitators from our sister company Dods Training. These colleagues will guide reflective conversations on each table as well as leading a focused policy challenge discussion during our skills sessions - helping delegates explore key challenges, facilitating knowledge exchange, and fostering collaborative innovation across government and industry.

Registration has now closed