Compassionate Cities Conference, Birmingham July 10th and 11th

Hosted by Compassionate Communities UK

An inspiring conference, bringing to light how people undergoing the experiences death, dying, loss and care can be supported as part of our culture, where everyone helps and everyone feels supported. Whilst compassionate cities have been in existence for over 15 years, this is the first conference to be dedicated to the different practices of how this can be implemented. Communities, workplaces, educational institutions, places of worship and other sectors can all come together to provide support and help to all involved. Palliative and end of life care services have an important role integrating with and supporting the development of these initiatives. The conference will highlight a wide array of fantastic practices of how this is done and how it benefits those involved. It will be a conference of inspiring working examples, not focussing on academic evaluation but rather on hearing the many ways in which support can be given. The conference is for those working in the field of palliative and end of life and those with personal experience alike.

Compassionate cities and compassionate communities are the major practice methods of public health palliative care. It can be difficult to see how palliative care practice can truly be for everyone, not excluding people by diagnosis, ethnicity, gender, homelessness, and other forms of structural inequity. The domination of a service provision perspective can inhibit the imagination of what is possible when death, dying, loss and caregiving becomes everyone’s responsibility.

The Compassionate City Conference brings to light what is possible into clear view. The aim of the conference is to demonstrate practice examples of the principles of compassionate cities, seeing how people’s experience of death, loss and care can be transformed through the support from the cities and communities in which they live.

The conference has internationally respected keynote speakers and breakout sessions of workshops and talks. Keynote speakers include Professor Allan Kellehear who started the field of public health palliative care. Always inspiring and fascinating to hear, Allan’s talk sums up the practice of compassionate cities – Everything, Everywhere, All at Once. Christian Ntizimira, a highly respected palliative care physician from Rwanda, will talk about Ubuntu, the African philosophy and practice of ‘a person is a person through others’, and its relationship to compassionate cities. This is particularly timely as Ubuntu features in the recently published The Lancet Commission on The Value of Death. Panels will be held on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, on challenges and successes of compassionate cities and an international panel on global best practices of compassion.

The breakout sessions are packed with extraordinary examples of what is possible. Workshops include community support for grief and loss, the role of creativity, compassionate city programmes and many others.

Imagining support for everyone experiencing death, dying, loss and care can be challenging, but it is possible and transformative when the practice examples are done well. Alongside loss there is love, courage, and the building of friendships that can last for life.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Attendence at the conference is in person. On line attendance is possible and streaming will be from the main room alone.

To book, here.

Dr Julian Abel

Director Compassionate Communities UK and chair of organising committee