The Solent Metropolitan was founded by me, Rob Davis.

It was borne out of a love for both Solent cities, Southampton and Portsmouth, and the areas around them. I have roots in both, from growing up, working, living, studying and playing across the region.

This one-off, long-term project is a reincarnation of my previous community media life: I presented and produced speech radio shows about volunteering and community across the Solent, on Unity 101.1 FM in Southampton, Skyline 102.5 FM in Hedge End and 93.7 Express FM in Portsmouth.

Professionally, I build online digital experiences and collaboration platforms with Drupal — most recently for the United Nations, and before that for the region's universities, the Natural History Museum, government and public sector websites, and charities and social purpose campaigns including Kew, Anthony Nolan, End Child Food Poverty and The Elders.

The Solent Metropolitan brings those strands together. Its main drive is to curate and surface events and create the spaces around them; alongside that it's a think tank for grand ideas about the region, particularly transport and the public infrastructure and hubs that would uplift the great things already going on. Those may be a while coming, so in the meantime this is a virtual platform connecting people, ideas and events across the Solent.

Are we yet another account documenting the region? There's room for several platforms, and we're not here to compete or step on anyone's toes, but we do feel we have a unique offer. The project is open to collaboration with anyone who has an affinity for the region: being local has no minimum length of stay, and fresh perspectives are as welcome as deep roots. Get in touch.