Live media coverage during the INSP Conference 2011

For the first time ever, the Street News Service will be covering the INSP Conference LIVE as it happens!

BLOG: In co-operation with a Student Reporter Team from Glasgow Caledonian University, we will run this special INSP Conference blog. To serve member street papers who are unable to attend this year's event, the blog will be updated throughout the conference (19th-22nd July) with daily roundups, pictures and videos. So, watch this space and share the link with your colleagues and friends.

TWITTER: SNS will also be tweeting daily updates via the SNS Twitter: @street_news. We're also encouraging the delegates to tweet during the conference to use the hash tag #insp2011. Tell the homefront to follow the tag for all the latest conference news.

2011 International Street Paper Awards
The 3rd bi-annual International Street Paper Awards will take place on the last day of the conference (Friday 22nd July). This year's call for entries received a record number of entries - over 190 from 49 street papers in 24 different countries! The shortlisting process and final judging have now taken place, supported by a high-profile judging panel chaired by INSP's Honorary President David Schlesinger. The shortlist will be announced soon.

'Eyes of the Street' Photography Project
As part of the conference, INSP is organising a special photography project - Eyes of the Street. INSP has arranged for four international photographers from the non-profit group Photographers for Hope to hold a special photography workshop and exhibition in Glasgow. Led by legendary US photographer David Burnett, these photographers will coach homeless vendors of Scotland’s only street paper, The Big Issue in Scotland, documenting their daily lives through photography and film. The outcome of this week-long collaboration will be exhibited at a public event during the conference (on Thursday 21st July), sponsored by BBC Scotland. The exhibition will continue to raise awareness in the local and national community through an extended exhibit at the Mitchell Library in Glasgow.

Funders and supporters
INSP is very grateful to various supporters and participants for helping to make the various conference events possible. Click here to read more about the event sponsors. To find out how you/your company can support the conference and benefit from a wide range of sponsorship benefits, click here.

Hotel BISS - an update from Hildegard Denninger

The BISS charitable foundation had intended to convert the former Munich women's and juvenile prison - 'Am Neudeck' - into an upscale hotel while protecting its heritage and ancient trees. The idea was to give 40 young people with particular social difficulties the chance to receive comprehensive, first-rate professional training and qualifications. Hotel BISS was to have 72 rooms. The plan also involved 11 flats equipped for the elderly in a separate part of the building, to be rented out within the scope of a concept based on the idea of “bringing different walks of life together“. The experience and professionalism of the elderly would have been actively employed to support the young people to become qualified. The heritage-protected entity of 'Am Neudeck' would have been preserved for all citizens to enjoy.

After the Government representatives (CSU/FDP) in the Budget Committee of the Bavarian State Parliament had voted against selling directly to BISS, a bidding procedure was held. The non-profit foundation of BISS entered a bid of 1.6 million Euros. Our offer was backed by up-to-date financial statements, a selection of letters of recommendation from Munich’s top hotels and from well-respected social projects, as well as a full funding confirmation from our bank. On 19 April we received a letter from the official real estate organisation of Bavaria, “Immobilien Freistaat Bayern”, informing us that the tender had been awarded to an anonymous bidder whose offer was higher than ours.

We were deeply disappointed that the State of Bavaria did not make use of the possibility to give preference to a bidder who serves the common good, an option which is expressly set out in the Bavarian budget law, and we therefore appealed to the CSU/FDP representatives in the Budget Committee to accept the offer from the BISS foundation.

As a last resort, we addressed the Bavarian Minister-President Horst Seehofer directly in an open letter, imploring him, in his position as protector and sovereign of all young people in Bavaria, to support our cause. This letter was published in the internet under www.biss-magazin.de as a petition, which 15,556 people signed within 26 days.

On 24 May 2011, the CSU/FDP representatives in the Budget Committee of the Bavarian State decided with their majority that the former Munich women’s prison would be sold to the commercial real estate investor REC 24 Real Estate AG for a sum of 16 million Euros.

We are extremely sad that this unique social project, with its solid base of funding and the many years of dedicated work and all the commitment, the donations and the enthusiasm so many people have put into it, has been crushed by the very party whose first two letters stand for “Christian” and “social”.

SNS in South Sudan

Photo: Simon Murphy

From 1st - 12th June SNS Editor Danielle Batist was in South Sudan to report on the situation ahead of the country split; after years of bloody civil war, the south gains independence from the north on the 9th July. The trip (part of INSP's EU-funded project in partnership with IPS) was organised in collaboration with Scottish charity SCIAF, who work with local charities in the warn-torn country to help some of its poorest people.

SNS development in 2011

INSP staff have recently re-formed an 'SNS Member Working Group' of eight experienced street paper editors. The group will work with INSP staff throughout 2011 on developing and improving the Street News Service:

The 16th Annual INSP Conference

This year, the INSP conference will be back in INSP's home in Glasgow. The event will take place from the 19th - 22nd July at the Crowne Plaza Hotel (pictured here beside the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre and the River Clyde).  Over 100 street paper delegates from around 25 countries are expected to attend the event, along with high profile workshop leaders and guests from the UK and international media, government and business. The 2011 conference will also incorporate the bi-annual International Street Paper Awards.