Richard is the Strategic Director – Sport and Place Partnerships - at Greater Manchester Moving, the Active Partnership for Greater Manchester. With a career spanning over 25 years in sport, physical activity, and health development working in Local Government, national organisations and Public Health, Richard brings extensive experience to his role. For the last 6 years, Richard has led the Place Partnership approach and investment in Greater Manchester working alongside a range of partners to bring transformational change, focusing on reducing inactivity and promoting sustainable engagement in physical activity and sport. His approach emphasizes insight-driven, person-centred engagement, behaviour change, and whole-system strategies.

James Mant MPIA is a Melbourne-based town planner and CEO of Spero-ai, an AI-native platform helping councils, consultants and developers modernise the end-to-end planning and development workflow. With more than 20 years’ experience across Victorian government and private practice, James previously led the 20-Minute Neighbourhoods policy, connecting land use, transport and place design to healthier, more active daily lives. At Spero-ai he focuses on practical, secure and auditable AI that reduces rework, improves consistency, and frees teams to spend more time on design quality and community outcomes—including walkability, access to sport and recreation, and inclusive public space. James hosts the City People podcast and speaks nationally on healthy cities and planning innovation.