Here is the final list of #birminghamthinkers 2013

You can also download a A4 poster celebrating the list  (click on the picture)

Now why this exercise? Well I think there are many issues that face this city both here and now and coming at us fast. This city will have to change more in the next 25 years than it has possibly in the last 50 years. Change is coming and it is better to lead that change,

We face real questions about Birmingham’s economy Plan B and similarly for the nation @dgbailey and @nigel_driffield and how to get us out of this crisis.  We need economic growth @richardkenny9 but we need it to be far more inclusive @tonybovaird and@localisewm . We face huge challenges of unemployment, social inclusion and poverty @David_Urq . We face questions about governance and leadership @louiseteboul ,We need new companies and new products @daviddrprojects . We need new thoughts on public services and localism @paulslatter.  We need to be able to cope with the ageing of our society but also benefit from the city being one of the youngest in Europe (many are involved in this debate). We face huge climate challenges @philbeardmore and need new ways of organising the city @Dr_rick . The era of the freedom of the car is passing and we need to accelerate this change @greenbirmingham   We need to embrace new technologies and big data @UKgav (with obviously controls over its use) and think carefully about our built form @bcualisterscott  We face potential energy and food scarcity @newoptimists  We need insightful and brave politicians (I will leave this one blank).. and we need people who question @politicsinbrum. We need reflective publicists @paulmdale and we need people who look outside of our boundaries @elkeloeffler and we need artists @aerosolali and humour @alistron1 to keep us feeling positive. We need a sense of our collective past  @HistoryNeedsYou . Above all we need a whole collection of expertise.

As David Weinberger in his excellent book Too big Too Know says (and I paraphrase)..the expertise is no longer just in the room (in his case the lecture hall but in our case perhaps we should say in Government/Local Government) but it is out here on the web, on twitter and we need to  find ways @podnosh and @paulineroche to utilise these people  and many others and their skills to move Birmingham Forward.

This list is not perfect and there are many thinkers not on twitter. It is possibly unbalanced politically but it comes largely from suggestions that have emanated from my twitter eco-system.  Shall we do it again next year? Welcome comments/ thoughts etc.