GM=EqAl Conference 2026 Equity By Design: Practice Through Lived Experience

Agenda and schedule will be shared in the month leading up to the Conference

Join us for the GM=EqAl's Conference 2026 for Equity By Design: Practice Through Lived Experience — a full day of earnest joy, reflections and practical learning. We’re bringing together community leaders, lived-experience partners, commissioners and practitioners to explore how we can design more equitable systems with and through lived expertise.

Throughout the day, you’ll have the opportunity to:

• Shape the future of community wellbeing in Greater Manchester by feeding into GM=EqAl’s role in the Live Well: Spaces of Hope and Connection programme.
• Gain practical insights from Year 1 of the Inclusion & Wellbeing Fund — and influence Year 2, funded by the Live Well Community Fund.
• Discover how GM=EqAl can strengthen your work, explore ways to join our Network and Working Group, and connect with others committed to equity and belonging.
• Build your confidence in using Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) tools by learning about the resources currently in development and contributing to the creation of practical, lived‑experience‑informed EIA tools.
• Immerse yourself in a 2‑hour Voice of Lived Experience Seminar, offering space for courageous listening, insight, and applied learning.

We’ll also celebrate community impact with performances and showcases from projects funded by the Inclusion and Wellbeing Fund.

Families are welcome to attend, but childcare is not provided — attendees are responsible for their own childcare. If you need adjustments to participate (BSL, captions, mobility support, quiet space, etc.), please let us know when you register.

This event will include a mix of plenaries, parallel sessions and hands-on design labs. We will capture outputs and named commitments for follow‑up.

Please note:

This event is secular and inclusive. We recognise the venue is a religious venue and are committed to making this a safe, welcoming space for everyone, including LGBTQ+ people and those from diverse faith or non-faith backgrounds. Please tell us any access or safety needs or concerns in advance and we will do our best to support them.

Info: Short case studies and practical learning you can use across race, gender, disability, age and socio-economic lines.

Info: A session on ethical inclusion: learning outcomes, toolkit and an action pledge. Attendance + short reflection required to claim completion certificate.

Info: Help define GM=EqAl’s role, pilots, partners and mitigations. Bring your constraints and ideas.

Info: What worked, what we’ll change, and ways partners can be involved as we head into Year 2 as a distributor of the Live Well Community Fund for Geographically Dispersed communities.

Info: Short update on our work supporting GMCA and partner Q&A. The work brings together community voices, lived experience, and equality insights to help design fairer and more effective diversion pathways.

Info: A short feedback session on recent GM=EqAl working group meetings outcomes, feeding observations into the Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) development. We’ll also open recruitment to the wider GM=EqAl working network for task & finish groups and future commissions

Info: Performers to be confirmed

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

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Host or Publisher Greater Manchester Equality Alliance