Monday, 7 April 2008

The day of Hertfordshire's annual conference on partnership between the statutory and voluntary sectors. As usual this was held at the Fielder Centre in Hatfield. The turnout from local voluntary sector organisations was poor, perhaps because of the late circulation of publicity information. But the actual event was fine with good presentations and good workshops. I was particularly interested in the workshop on participatory budgeting and its implications for the Community Development strategy I have just drafted.

More interesting still, we learned more on the potential for using NI7 within LAA2. The more I view things, the weaker NI6 looks as a measure of voluntary sector activity. NI7 is clearly the indicator we should aim for, but it could be so much better with a bit of tweaking. Hopefully Ann Jansz will be able to convince her LAA colleagues. Good luck Ann!

Recent reading

The Great Arc is John Keay's account of how a vast survey of India helped determine the shape of the earth. George Everest does not emerge as a particularly likeable man - his predecessor William Lambton seems far more attractive and interesting.

I then read Plain Speaking, Merle Miller's "oral biography" of Harry S Truman. I knew Truman mostly for dropping the atomic bombs on Japan, founding the CIA and sending American troops into Korea. But he is a far more interesting character than this suggests. He consistently opposed big business, sought compromise with the Soviet bloc, initiated the Marshall Plan, stood up to McCarthy and the Ku Klux Klan and championed Civil Rights. Fascinating stuff.

I have now started Bertrand Russell's Inquiry into Meaning and Truth. After this I will read something a bit gentler.