LIMERICK has been selected as one of 13 international cities to participate in the prestigious Bloomberg Center for Public Innovation at Johns Hopkins University’s 2022 Innovation Training programme.
The programme will provide consulting, training, and networking to address a key issue facing Limerick residents.
A team of Limerick City and County Council staff made up of architects, engineers, planners and experts in business improvement will focus on how innovation can tackle vacancy in Limerick city centre.
The no-cost, year-long programme will aid the innovation team at work in addressing the vacancy issue through case studies, lectures, and hands-on experience. They will also connect with a network of other city teams with successful innovation programmes across the globe.
Mayor Daniel Butler said it was a great honour for Limerick to be selected by the Bloomberg Centre for Public Innovation to be part of this year’s Public Innovation cohort.
“It is an important opportunity for council staff to learn from some of the world’s greatest innovators and leaders so they can come up with real-world solutions and actions to tackle the issue of vacancy.
“This issue is a priority for the Council on both the business and residential front and is one that is being faced by cities across the world, as the idea of what a city centre should be is being redefined.”
Chief executive Pat Daly said then council wanted to be at the leading edge when it comes to providing services to the citizens and businesses across Limerick and to provide practical solutions to issues that we are encountering daily.”
“The team assembled in Limerick for the 2022 Innovation Training programme are being given a huge opportunity to learn from others so that issues can be addressed at home.
The 13 cities selected that will receive comprehensive support are Birmingham, Alabama; Bloomington, Indiana; Calgary, Canada; Charleston, South Carolina; Cincinnati, Ohio; Dublin, Ireland; Fortaleza, Brazil; Kalamazoo, Michigan; Limerick, Ireland; Maceió, Brazil; Orlando, Florida; Pueblo, Colorado and Warsaw, Poland.
