Miranda Pearce is Urban Renaissance Manager, South East England Development Agency. Miranda has been with SEEDA since 2001 where she leads the development of regional policy to promote the renaissance of towns and cities across the region, with a particular focus on projects and initiatives that champion a quality design agenda.

Current responsibilities include developing the South East Regional Centre of Excellence for improving high quality cross-disciplinary skills and training in the built environment in the South East region.

Prior to joining SEEDA Miranda spent 7 years developing and managing comprehensive regeneration schemes in South London and in Brighton and Hove. The schemes included projects to enhance the public realm, stimulate the development of cultural industries and use the arts as a means of engaging young people. Miranda's work included supporting the development of a range of partnerships, including strategic and community led partnerships.

Trained as a town planner Miranda worked for the London Borough of Tower Hamlets for 5 years where she was responsible the authority's land use policies dealing with employment, tourism and the arts.

Matt Quayle is Urban Design Director for Golder Associates. His career to date spans more than 12 years and includes work for Roger Evans Associates, Derek Lovejoy Partnerships, RPS Clouston and the University of California, Berkeley.

Matt has extensive experience in the preparation of urban design framework studies for town centres, public realm strategies and the detailed design and construction of streets, squares and public spaces, both in existing towns and cities and for new neighbourhoods throughout the UK and overseas.

Matt has also undertaken a range of public realm and urban design projects in the USA, Norway, Latvia, Spain, Greece, India, Egypt, Lebanon, Turkey and Kyrgyzstan. Matt was appointed to the CABE Space advisory panel in 2003.

Barry Shaw is the founding Chief Executive of the Kent Architecture Centre, which was set up in 1995. The Architecture Centre is a not-for-profit organisation set up by a group of local authorities to provide support in achieving a high quality environment by working closely with the community. It has a full-time staff of experienced professionals and is delivering work from planning for real exercises and architectural competitions to a wide-ranging educational programme and town-wide regeneration strategies.

The Kent Architecture Centre is currently expanding its services and expertise to support the recommendations of the Urban Task Force and Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE). It has launched and now manages the South East Regional Design Panel and is working to set up two further architecture centres in Milton Keynes and the Solent.

Barry has extensive experience of working with local authority, community and business groups on physical, social and economic development, and of design management, competition and tender organisation to achieve design success. In addition, he has specialist knowledge of waterfront planning with direct experience of European and American waterfront regeneration, as well as UK work.

In addition to his work with the Centre, Barry is a member of the English Heritage London Advisory Committee and CABE Regional Committee. Since 1988 he has worked with Harvard University Centre for Urban Development Studies as a visiting professor and advisor. In 1999 he was a member of the committee advising the Department of Culture, Media and Sport on the establishment of CABE, and from 1993 -1996 a member of the Board of the Tower Hamlets Housing Action Trust. Prior to helping set up the Architecture Centre, he was Head of Urban Design for the London Docklands Development Corporation with particular responsibility for the design direction of Greenland Dock, Surrey Quays and Butlers Wharf - projects that have taken some 17 national and international awards.

Councillor Adrian Vinson, a Liberal Democrat, has been the Leader of Southampton City Council since May 2003. He oversees an organisation employing some 8,000 people with an annual budget of some £230m.

Adrian studied history at Cambridge University, where he graduated with First Class Honours and was also the President of the Cambridge Union. On graduation, he was appointed to teach Modern History at Southampton University in 1966, which he did up to his retirement in 2002. He has published articles on the economic and social history of Southampton between the two world wars.

Adrian was first elected as a Hampshire County Councillor for Portswood in 1983. He held several posts on the County Council, including Chairman of the Social Services Committee from 1993 to 1997. He was also a Southampton City Councillor, and remained this after Southampton became a Unitary Authority in 1997. He became leader of the Liberal Democrat group on the Council in 1998.

Adrian believes in Open Government, in which councils should be in tune with, and responsive to, local people. "Politics is the best system we have to address the challenges of our society in a constructive way" he says. "These include creating strong and safe neighbourhoods and communities, and ensuring that public services give value for money".

Annie Atkins, joined ACE-SE at the start of 2004 from the Commission for Architecture & The Built Environment (CABE) where she was Regional Co-ordinator. Part-time at ACE-SE, she also works for the Architecture Centre Network as Project Co-ordinator. Previously she was involved in grant management at the Millennium Commission and the Museums & Galleries Commission.

With a BA in Combined Arts from Liverpool and a MA in Computer Applications for the History of Art from London University, Annie's interest in architecture involves her as a committee member of the 20th Century Society and guide for the National Trust at their two modern movement properties, 2 Willow Rd Hampstead and The Homewood, Esher.

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Judith studied English and History at Bath and post graduate English and Drama at Goldsmiths. She spent two years teaching English and Drama at a secondary school in Bedfordshire, following on from which she became Education Officer for Battersea Arts Centre, where she ran the National Young Director's award.

Judith was then invited by Royal National Theatre and the London International Festival of Theatre (LIFT), as one of ten theatre practitioners across the country, to carry out an exchange programme with Romania. As a result, Judith programmed and produced the first British theatre festival in Romania. Judith then moved to Watermans where she was responsible for running the theatre and produced large scale outdoor work and international work.

Judith joined Arts Council England, South East five years ago where she is Senior Performing Arts Officer responsible for the National Touring Programme.

Phil originally trained as a painter, completing his BA (Hons) in Fine Art in 1979. He helped establish Artspace Studios and Aspex Gallery in Portsmouth and subsequently embarked on post-graduate teacher training.

A period of work in museum education led to ten years in the advertising industry, initially as a technician and then as a photographer and studio manager. During this time Phil continued his involvement in education via part-time teaching in secondary schools and further education.

In 1993 Phil took up the post of education officer at f.Stop, a photographic gallery and public access darkrooms in Bath. He became acting director of f.Stop in 1994 and was appointed as visual arts and new media officer at Southern Arts (RAB for southern England) in 1996, which involved working with a broad range of individual artists, galleries and museums.

Throughout his career, Phil has continued practicing as a photographer and musician with a particular interest in digital technology.

Richard is Director, External Relations & Development at Arts Council England, South East, and has held this post since January 2003. In this role he is a member of the regional management team for the Arts Council and is leading a number of regional and national projects, including the Arts Council's flagship project Creative Partnerships.

The External Relations and Development team comprises a number of specialist officers with responsibility for creating wider access to the arts, developing more resources to support the arts, and communications. He is also a board member for the Brighton & Hove Regeneration Partnership, Wealden & Rother Rural Renewal Partnership, Southampton Cultural Consortium and a policy advisor to the South East England Regional Assembly on cultural issues.

Prior to this, Richard has held senior posts in a range of arts organisations and funding agencies including Southern Arts, Cleveland Arts, Birmingham City Council, and a number of arts centres throughout England. He is a trained musician, and has a degree in Music and Geography from the University of Keele. He is committed to supporting the development of the arts, and to provide increased access to the arts. He has experience of leading cultural regeneration programmes in Middlesbrough and Birmingham.