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CABE Space leaders programme

The CABE Space leaders programme was a three day intensive, residential leadership programme designed specifically for current and aspiring green space managers that ran annually for five years.

Between 2006 and 2010 the CABE Space leaders programme attracting a total of 421 delegates from 150 local authorities. In all but one year 100% of delegates rated the programme as good or excellent. In the other year the rating only dropped to 96%.

It is anticipated that these pages will be of interest to past delegates as well as to current green space managers looking for inspiration in planning their career development and employers and training organisations developing new learning opportunities.

The CABE Space leaders programme was developed in response to research that highlighted how green space managers were operating in an increasingly strategic environment. One where they not only needed to be effective managers of day-to-day service delivery but also to keep up with new policy agendas and innovations in community engagement, delivery and funding. At the same time the sector had experienced an extended period of underinvestment in skills, at all levels, and the funding available for leadership and management development in many local authority green space teams remained limited.  

Although the programme inevitably changed over the years, in the topics explored, the weight given to different elements and its contributors, it retained a recognisable core structure. Most days opened with a keynote speaker, addressing the whole group, followed up by a choice of workshops, plenty of networking breaks and focused discussions in mentor groups. This mixture of activities gave the programme both dynamism and flexibility, allowing delegates to tailor learning to their particular interests and needs.

From the outset it also gained a reputation as an event with a special ‘character’, particularly in the attention given to details that ensured delegates quickly settled in to their surroundings and got plenty of opportunities to learn from other delegates. Great credit for this must go to CABE Space’s delivery partners, Pathways Consultancy, and the core team of mentors built up over the course of the programme’s five years.

More detailed information and resources from each of the five programmes can be found in the following pages, along with a short description of the programme’s development.