PRS Symposiums

The London Housing Foundation's PRS Symposium programme, which ran from October 2007 to January 2008, explored some of the key issues and themes that surfaced at our Future Search conference in July 2007, the aim of which was "to shape a programme of work to maximise the use of the private rented sector for homeless people".

Each symposium was 'future-oriented', exploring one specific theme in more depth than was possible at the original Future Search Conference. The aim was to bring together groups of the people who had attended the original conference, and other relevant experts, who have an expertise in the symposium's subject to:

• share information on their experiences
• exchange good practice and what has worked well for them
• identify and explore common issues, and if possible to enable and facilitate participants to foster new partnerships and joint-working
• contribute to setting the agenda for the Foundation's future work on the subject.

All of the symposiums lasted for four hours and involved a small group of 8 to 17 people.

All of the symposiums were facilitated jointly by the Foundation and Neadon Consulting, and participants were provided with notes from the sessions and invited to participate in follow-up activities as appropriate.

The symposiums were highly productive, not a ' talking shop'. As such, all participants were expected to be fully involved in the symposiums, and openly share their expertise and ideas, as well as benefit from the expertise of others.