My first FLIPIM: the grassroots regeneration conference

On Thursday I went to FLIPIM, the grassroots regeneration conference, handily hosted in Birkenhead. I didn't really know what to expect, but I felt like my interests were kind of regeneration-adjacent, so it seemed like a good way to find out what's going on locally. Well, it was excellent, and I left with a full brain and feeling much more connected. I met people working on things I'd vaguely heard about or admired from afar (Kitty's Launderette! Metal Culture!) and finally figured out what some things I'd heard about but not really understood were (Kindred). It was a glorious sunny day for wandering between event sites up around Argyle Street, and including Joy which has only just opened. I didn't move back to Liverpool City Region because of the lively social economy, entirely through ignorance. I now feel even more lucky to be here, amidst so much energy and activity (Kindred track more than 1,500 socially-trading organisations).As the event site says, grassroots…