Thriving too

Lewisham Muse

So y'all could be forgiven for thinking all I do is eat my way round London, but here we go again... This evening was a civilised affair at the Deptford Muse - a series of simple meals designed to foster conversations between people who might otherwise never cross paths. Informed by the work of Theodore Zeldin,(founder of the Oxford Muse) and produced along with the Lewisham Young Mayor and advisors, it was designed to support young people in developing their creative and personal potential. The conversations were themed around "Inventing new kinds of work".

To help things along, there was a menu of questions for diners to pick from as conversation starters. I was on a table with Reece (18) and Rochelle (16), and Jono (of indeterminate age) who paints and teaches. We had a great debate about how the world of work generally doesn't currently allow you to be very creative, or flexible, and that it's too based around money rather than what makes you happy. And that the education system isn't really geared for helping young people get ready for the world - just for exam results.

On a positive note, the young people there were bright, articulate, compassionate and all round very impressive! I asked if their generation were the ones that would turn it around. It was 50/50 tipping point whether they'd all be living The Good Life, or turn into blobs with robots doing everything from us like WallE. Hmm... I know which one I'm rooting for!

The Muse makes a come back on 9 July as part of Lewisham People's Day

Art Begins At Home

This weekend I went to the AAH open house weekend (Artists at Home). in west London, and wandered around some stranger's houses...

House one belongs to Jonathan Mercer from Starch Green - a wood engraver with an impressive handlebar moustache and a tiny garden shed with a 150 year old printing press. He is sprinkling talcum powder on a wood carving to show up the intricate hand carved design.

He told us that when making the large wood carved illustrations in early newspapers, the image would be sketched out on lots of little blocks bolted together. These were then unbolted, shared among the young boys who had a day to complete their section. At the end of the day, they were bolted back together and the master engraver ensured the parts matched, ready to be sent to the paper press for the next day's news. As Jonathan notes, an early example of the hive mind...

House two belongs to Sandi Friend - a photographer who decided to show the visual story of her street over a week in April. There are portrait images of her neighbours up on nearly all the walls in the house, and she had invited them all round to see their photos the night before.

As we turn up, one of the models (from up the road) was seeing her photo for the first time. The conversation went something like "and that's so and so, from just up the road, they are the couple opposite you..."

It was fascinating to be let into someone's home and share what they do. It's somewhere we normally keep private, and it built a level of trust and intimacy to break that convention and be welcomed in.

the subversive interim

Two things I read while on the train to localgovcamp in Birmingham, prompted me to write this blog and take a book I read a couple of months ago off the shelf. First was this tweet by Richard from www.guerrillagardening.org who wrote: “I see there’s no crime of ‘subversion’ in the UK J Preparing for my speech at RIBA on subversion in public space”

The second was an invitation to a meeting under the title: Pecha Kulcha Night Rotterdam: Space in the Interim.

Many of our cities are filled with vacant building sites and buildings, some of which stand empty and undeveloped for years, while construction projects are being delayed or even abandoned completely. Standard approaches to urban development, which still often concentrate on the envisaged end results, need to be radically re-examined. We must reflect on what can be achieved en route, rather than focusing solely on the lure of distant promises. This perspective repositions the interim as a phase with scope for experimentation and the creation of new values.

The two things fit nicely with my recent posts on interim-space or the in between (I know I still have to make up for my promise of writing a blog on inter-persons). Where I see the different examples I talk about as interesting, positive, social experiments, you could also see them as subversive practices. Once you start looking at them in this way, it brings back the political and social dimensions Richard (and I) have mostly refrained from inserting into this conversation. But actually picking this dimension up, might be helpful to explore what’s going on when we start occupying public space. Helpful, because it can help us better understand the anxiety (a quick aside: for an interesting discussion on anxiety, see the latest RSA animate by Renate Salecl on choice) and difficulties people run into when they occupy start working on and in these interim spaces.

Reading both thing closely after another, I immediately saw a link and made me remember a book I reviewed a while ago, titled ‘Subversive Citizens. Power, agency and resistance in public services’ edited by  Marian Barnes and David Prior. I won’t put the review up here (don’t know if I’m actually allowed, hmm, not very subversive myself), but will draw from bits I wrote there. However I urge people who are into this to read this book.

In this book they develop the concept of subversion as an analytic category to analyze: “transformations in the institutional structure and organizational practices of public services and the creation of new spaces of engagement where public officials, professionals and citizens come together to develop and implement public policies (p. 10)”. Using such different conceptual frameworks as the notion of governmentality, social movements, neighborhood policy, assemblages and citizenship, the different authors try to spell out both what subversion is (‘alternative expressions of agency (4)’, that ‘obstruct, deflect or subvert desired policy outcomes (8)’ thus exposing the’ ambiguities, contradictions and tensions that exist within public policy’ (200) and ‘bringing into view – rendering visible and uncomfortable – the network of assumptions that sustains and supports the existing field of distinctions, regulations and practices’ (76))the different forms subversive strategies take (collective resistance, exit strategies, ignoring or bending the rules, declining to take the expected or allocated roles, acts of disruption, sabotage, and non-compliance and the , renegotiation of identities, rules of conduct and roles within forums and other arenas) and the potential sources of subversion in the field of public policy (contingency and situated judgment; internal negotiations and competing interpretation of policies goals and aims; new assemblages of power, resources, ideas, interest and agents). Given these dimensions of subversion it would be interesting to see what this would make visible with regard to the practice of occupying public space, occupying the interim and what the reactions, etc tell us about the network of assumptions in which we live.

Given that this particular angle only just occurred to me, I have not yet used this particular angle to think about what it can help us reveal when trying to understand these interim space. This is going to be one of those summer projects, which will have to wait for autumn to actually materialize. But just as I promise with regard to my blog on inter-persons, I will come back to the notion of subversion in relation to the interim.

One final element which I don’t want to keep from you. As most authors in the book, I intend to use the concept of ‘subversion’ as an analytical concept with which to analyze the political, social, hell maybe even the economical dimension of taking up public space/interim space by residents and see how it challenges or makes visible this network of assumptions under which we live. However, ‘subversion’ is not the prerogative of citizens only, as John Flint reminds us. The concept of subversion is also used in policy documents to create the grounds for specific policies. Being deemed subversive then gives the government a reason to intervene. ‘Subversion in this sense represents a process whereby an individual or population is viewed as challenging, reinterpreting, realigning or redirecting the perceived ‘original’ purpose of social policy or the ‘traditional’ settlement between citizens and the state (Flint, 2009, 83). He then goes on to point out how four kinds of citizens are being treated in this manner by the UK government: antisocial’s, the workless, immigrants and Muslims. Just something to keep in mind!

ps: after I finished this post on the airport, I read this post by David Barrie titled Tahrir, cities and a new enterprise of public place, which links up nicely with the more political and social discussion the notion of subversion helps us see.

 

Social Spaces: Place and Space, Humans and Relationships

 

I have been reading a bit of Yi-Fu Tuan's Space and Place - The Perspective of Experience.  Yi-Fu Tuan is a rather inspiring geographer who writes some very interesting things about human relationships:

"Human geography studies human relationships. Human geography's optimism lies in its belief that asymmetrical relationships and exploitation can be removed, or reversed. What human geography does not consider, and what humanistic geography does, is the role [relationships] play in nearly all human contacts and exchanges. If we examine them conscientiously, no one will feel comfortable throwing the first stone. As for deception, significantly, only Zoroastrianism among the great religions has the command, "Thou shalt not lie." After all, deception and lying are necessary to smoothing the ways of social life. From this, I conclude that humanistic geography is neglected because it is too hard. Nevertheless, it should attract the tough-minded and idealistic, for it rests ultimately on the belief that we humans can face the most unpleasant facts, and even do something about them, without despair."

Image from Christine Wong Yap, Positive Sign #28 (Space and Place), 2011

Social Spaces: Liberating new Forms of Conversation

A near perfect publication!  This booklet, the NY Guide to Liberating New Forms of Conversation, which you can read below, contains all the my favourite key elements: social geekery and design geekery all in one!

Above is a pic showing how to layout a room for different social events ... and below is a pic showing the beautiful icons they have designed to represent different types of social gathering...

Open publication

Posted by Tessy in Communication, Community, Design, Geeky Stuff, Inspiration, Lovely things, Social Spaces | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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This evening I was at the ELBA summer reception on the rooftop of Nomura - a rather smart investment bank in the city with their very own sushi chef. The East London Business Alliance work to create opportunities in East London, by ensuring community investment is well directed and managed.

It was a fantastic evening - and not just because of the bravery and team work of the Eagles throwing each other several feet into the air. I undertook the 'Extreme Interview Challenge' which consisted of an interview role play, attempting to answer questions while someone whispered negative messages in the other ear "what you're saying isn't interesting... you can't really do that...". A powerful way to convey the barriers to employment facing some people.

And I did the tombola and won a tennis ball when I really wanted the trilby hat. But the clever part was that your ticket also had a question to ask the young people running the stall. Mine was 'what is the biggest issue facing young people today?', and the opinion from the year 10's was stereotyping and demonising of young people as a group, and assuming they are all the same.

It was also very interesting speaking to someone in corporate CSR express frustration at the government cutting so many services, organisations or programmes that once helped identify and nurture talent from a variety of backgrounds, and bridge the economic and cultural gap that enabled their business programmes to create routes out of poverty and into employment in the areas that need it most.

But the room was also full of people with energy and ideas, determined to make things work! Including the Ministry of Stories, who gifted me the monster name 'Professor Pointy-Toes' and offered jars of thick snot (aka lemon curd). I think you might need to see to believe...

I love a good manifesto.  They are often spirited and insightful, and at their finest also inspiring.  Non more so than Benjamin Ramm's  'Citizens: A Manifesto'.

Not to distract from the ideas expressed, I have found this work beautifully written.  Ramm begins:

"Democracy lies dormant, yet even in slumber the term ‘citizen’ retains a sense of wonder. To act as a citizen is to give expression to an egalitarian ideal; to be civic-minded is to be conscious of the influence of individual action."

and goes on to articulate very many thoughts and ideals that really resonated for me.  Below are a sample of some of the points from the Manifesto that I particularly liked.

• A citizen has power. He exercises it every day, actively by choice and passively by neglect. A citizen considers how this power affects others, and does not abuse it: he respects his power and that of his fellow citizens.

• A citizen evolves, and in the process enriches his society. His citizenship is never static but is realised in each action and interaction. A citizen renews his citizenship every day.

• A citizen is not a cynic. Cynicism is the refuge of the powerless.

• A citizen promotes democracy in the workplace, advancing collaborative models such as cooperatives and mutuals. Citizens support mechanisms that place them at the heart of decision-making, such as participatory budgeting and citizens’ juries, and champion sortition as a means of developing an engaged and knowledgeable citizenry.

• A citizen is present, not represented; and in attendance by consent.

• A citizen challenges a culture of low expectations. Citizens are ambitious – for their personal growth, for the welfare of their community, and for the development of their society.

• A citizen does not treat all activity as a transaction. He knows that what is valuable cannot always be understood in terms of what is useful, and that many profitable pursuits render no material gain.

There is a great deal in this manifesto which speaks to citizens taking back what is theirs in terms not only of their rights... but also their responsibilities and creative capacities.  One of the things that Ramm does so well is to describe the citizen with the most thoughtful and positive human characteristics.  The potential of the citizen lies in individuals exercising their capacities - but Ramm also cleared points to the fact that these skills are learned through practice and engagement. 

• A citizen nurtures the spirit of citizenship. He understands that the exercise of civic virtue is habitual, and that fluency comes with practice.

The manifesto makes a huge contribution to the emergent school of thought about assets, human strengths and the desired switch from consumer to citizen, and from David Gauntlett's Making is Connecting, where he reflects:

"Rather, the point is that doing things for yourself, and making things with others - making the world your own, and making your mark on the world, rather than merely receiving a manufactured environment assembled by external others - is absolutely central to our health and wellbeing, as individuals, as families, and as a society."

As Ramm himself describes:

"The evolution of a civic consciousness calls for a transition from consumer democracy to civic democracy, from an approach that mimics the market to one that places choice in an ethical framework. At present, individuals are consumers of public policy, not participants in shaping it..."

Well done to Benjamin Ramm for a beautiful piece of work!

And if you are in the mood for manifestos here are a couple of my favourites from very simple and another from the DAAC 

Today ladies and gentlemen, I ventured south... From Whitechapel to North Lambeth via West Norwood. And had a lovely day at two amazing gatherings.

Stop One - West Norwood Feast (below) brought to you by Spacemakers and the lovely people of Norwood. Sprinkled along the length of Knight's Hill and Norwood Road and taking in the St Lukes garden and other hubs - there is capoiera on the lawn and flamenco in the library; food stalls, an arts market, and gardening corner is full of plants to sell or swap. And cafes and shops along the way are decorated with bunting and posters.

Stop Two - Pearman Street Big Lunch (above)

I don't know if it's cheating to go to someone elses Big Lunch but it was organised by my friend Claire and it was her birthday (which her neighbours marked with a lovely cake). The street was decorated all the way up with balloons and ribbons, and there was a potluck feast and bbq with contributions from everyone. And we braved out the rain!

So it got me to thinking. What both of these events had done successfully is string together islands of people and activity. They stopped the streets feeling like a thoroughfare you would rush along with your head down, and gave them a new purpose. An end in themselves, not just a means to another destination. And despite getting utterly soaked in the downpour, there was a very warm welcome.

>

The Burning House is a fascinating and beautiful blog were people submit what they would save from their home in case of a fire. 

Last October Sheffield was the first Travelling Pantry workshop and I was delighted to hear that some of the particpants connected to St Mary's church had been so inspired by Pie Lab in Alabama that they have opened The Sharrow Pie Experiment, which will run until September.  The point of the first PieLab was that it was designed to create a space for conversation, with no commercial ambitions at all.  You can read their full story in the Chapter of Hand Made below.

What they are doing in Sheffield is equally marvellous... as Supervisor Amanda Ganley said to the BBC a couple of days ago:

"Hopefully people will get a bit of inspiration to think about what they would like to change or see in their community and maybe make connections with other people who want the same thing. And then could set a spark going and it could spread."

A couple of weeks ago The Star described the project

"Locals are encouraged to come to this small shop/cafe/grandma’s front room for free pie and tea. Once there, they are invited to sit down with their slice and chat to the person next to them. Through talking, networks are established, ideas are generated, projects are born and people are inspired to improve the area in which they live. Through that empowerment and relationship-building, social cohesion is increased, vibrancy created and local knowledge boosted, thus creating the perfect conditions for happiness, health and safety." 

They even got onto Radio Sheffield yesterday! 

It isn't just about pie, these projects are examples of new creative activism... something which is emerging around the world.  And it is certainly part of the bigger discussion about how to effect positive change - through power dynamics or creative human-centred means?

 Congratulations to all the team from St Mary's involved in the project - I hope that some great ideas and relationships emerge!

 

Open publication - Free publishing - More community

 

Bridging the Gap

This evening I was at the ELBA summer reception on the rooftop of Nomura - a rather smart investment bank in the city with their very own sushi chef. The East London Business Alliance work to create opportunities in East London, by ensuring community investment is well directed and managed.

It was a fantastic evening - and not just because of the bravery and team work of the Eagles throwing each other several feet into the air. I undertook the 'Extreme Interview Challenge' which consisted of an interview role play, attempting to answer questions while someone whispered negative messages in the other ear "what you're saying isn't interesting... you can't really do that...". A powerful way to convey the barriers to employment facing some people.

And I did the tombola and won a tennis ball when I really wanted the trilby hat. But the clever part was that your ticket also had a question to ask the young people running the stall. Mine was 'what is the biggest issue facing young people today?', and the opinion from the year 10's was stereotyping and demonising of young people as a group, and assuming they are all the same.

It was also very interesting speaking to someone in corporate CSR express frustration at the government cutting so many services, organisations or programmes that once helped identify and nurture talent from a variety of backgrounds, and bridge the economic and cultural gap that enabled their business programmes to create routes out of poverty and into employment in the areas that need it most.

But the room was also full of people with energy and ideas, determined to make things work! Including the Ministry of Stories, who gifted me the monster name 'Professor Pointy-Toes' and offered jars of thick snot (aka lemon curd). I think you might need to see to believe...

Social Spaces: Citizens: A Manifesto

I love a good manifesto.  They are often spirited and insightful, and at their finest also inspiring.  Non more so than Benjamin Ramm's  'Citizens: A Manifesto'.

Not to distract from the ideas expressed, I have found this work beautifully written.  Ramm begins:

"Democracy lies dormant, yet even in slumber the term ‘citizen’ retains a sense of wonder. To act as a citizen is to give expression to an egalitarian ideal; to be civic-minded is to be conscious of the influence of individual action."

and goes on to articulate very many thoughts and ideals that really resonated for me.  Below are a sample of some of the points from the Manifesto that I particularly liked.

• A citizen has power. He exercises it every day, actively by choice and passively by neglect. A citizen considers how this power affects others, and does not abuse it: he respects his power and that of his fellow citizens.

• A citizen evolves, and in the process enriches his society. His citizenship is never static but is realised in each action and interaction. A citizen renews his citizenship every day.

• A citizen is not a cynic. Cynicism is the refuge of the powerless.

• A citizen promotes democracy in the workplace, advancing collaborative models such as cooperatives and mutuals. Citizens support mechanisms that place them at the heart of decision-making, such as participatory budgeting and citizens’ juries, and champion sortition as a means of developing an engaged and knowledgeable citizenry.

• A citizen is present, not represented; and in attendance by consent.

• A citizen challenges a culture of low expectations. Citizens are ambitious – for their personal growth, for the welfare of their community, and for the development of their society.

• A citizen does not treat all activity as a transaction. He knows that what is valuable cannot always be understood in terms of what is useful, and that many profitable pursuits render no material gain.

There is a great deal in this manifesto which speaks to citizens taking back what is theirs in terms not only of their rights... but also their responsibilities and creative capacities.  One of the things that Ramm does so well is to describe the citizen with the most thoughtful and positive human characteristics.  The potential of the citizen lies in individuals exercising their capacities - but Ramm also cleared points to the fact that these skills are learned through practice and engagement. 

• A citizen nurtures the spirit of citizenship. He understands that the exercise of civic virtue is habitual, and that fluency comes with practice.

The manifesto makes a huge contribution to the emergent school of thought about assets, human strengths and the desired switch from consumer to citizen, and from David Gauntlett's Making is Connecting, where he reflects:

"Rather, the point is that doing things for yourself, and making things with others - making the world your own, and making your mark on the world, rather than merely receiving a manufactured environment assembled by external others - is absolutely central to our health and wellbeing, as individuals, as families, and as a society."

As Ramm himself describes:

"The evolution of a civic consciousness calls for a transition from consumer democracy to civic democracy, from an approach that mimics the market to one that places choice in an ethical framework. At present, individuals are consumers of public policy, not participants in shaping it..."

Well done to Benjamin Ramm for a beautiful piece of work!

And if you are in the mood for manifestos here are a couple of my favourites from very simple and another from the DAAC 

Tour du Sud

Today ladies and gentlemen, I ventured south... From Whitechapel to North Lambeth via West Norwood. And had a lovely day at two amazing gatherings.

Stop One - West Norwood Feast (below) brought to you by Spacemakers and the lovely people of Norwood. Sprinkled along the length of Knight's Hill and Norwood Road and taking in the St Lukes garden and other hubs - there is capoiera on the lawn and flamenco in the library; food stalls, an arts market, and gardening corner is full of plants to sell or swap. And cafes and shops along the way are decorated with bunting and posters.

Stop Two - Pearman Street Big Lunch (above)

I don't know if it's cheating to go to someone elses Big Lunch but it was organised by my friend Claire and it was her birthday (which her neighbours marked with a lovely cake). The street was decorated all the way up with balloons and ribbons, and there was a potluck feast and bbq with contributions from everyone. And we braved out the rain!

So it got me to thinking. What both of these events had done successfully is string together islands of people and activity. They stopped the streets feeling like a thoroughfare you would rush along with your head down, and gave them a new purpose. An end in themselves, not just a means to another destination. And despite getting utterly soaked in the downpour, there was a very warm welcome.

>

The Burning House

The Burning House is a fascinating and beautiful blog were people submit what they would save from their home in case of a fire. 

Social Spaces: The Sharrow Pie Experiment

Last October Sheffield was the first Travelling Pantry workshop and I was delighted to hear that some of the particpants connected to St Mary's church had been so inspired by Pie Lab in Alabama that they have opened The Sharrow Pie Experiment, which will run until September.  The point of the first PieLab was that it was designed to create a space for conversation, with no commercial ambitions at all.  You can read their full story in the Chapter of Hand Made below.

What they are doing in Sheffield is equally marvellous... as Supervisor Amanda Ganley said to the BBC a couple of days ago:

"Hopefully people will get a bit of inspiration to think about what they would like to change or see in their community and maybe make connections with other people who want the same thing. And then could set a spark going and it could spread."

A couple of weeks ago The Star described the project

"Locals are encouraged to come to this small shop/cafe/grandma’s front room for free pie and tea. Once there, they are invited to sit down with their slice and chat to the person next to them. Through talking, networks are established, ideas are generated, projects are born and people are inspired to improve the area in which they live. Through that empowerment and relationship-building, social cohesion is increased, vibrancy created and local knowledge boosted, thus creating the perfect conditions for happiness, health and safety." 

They even got onto Radio Sheffield yesterday! 

It isn't just about pie, these projects are examples of new creative activism... something which is emerging around the world.  And it is certainly part of the bigger discussion about how to effect positive change - through power dynamics or creative human-centred means?

 Congratulations to all the team from St Mary's involved in the project - I hope that some great ideas and relationships emerge!

 

Open publication - Free publishing - More community