Thriving too

Blogs from the street

I really like this blog, Urban Weeds.  It is a daily street style blog from Portland, where everyone seems pretty amazing.  It is a collaboration between photographer Lisa Warninger and blogger/stylist Chelsea Fuss.

Mess Hall

Mess Hall is an experimental cultural center in Chicago. It is a place where visual art, radical politics, creative urban planning, applied ecological design and other things intersect and inform each other. They host exhibitions, discussions, film screenings, brunchlucks (brunch + potluck), workshops, concerts, campaigns, meetings (both closed and open) and more. They do everything for free - from food and drinks to workshops and events There is an interesting article on Experimental Cultural Centers here. I am not sure if In The Field started Mess Hall, but they are also involved in imaginative uses of space. They describe their work:

"In the Field's work begins by looking at, listening to, and learning from how people transform the spaces they inherit and build new spaces based on their needs and desires. We seek out and celebrate the enormous creativity of these ordinary actions. Whether appearing as a spontaneously generated public space, in modifications to existing spaces, or in an example of self-housing or community generated urban planning, we take these hyper-local articulations as a rich entry point into understanding the complex ways in which the built environment is shaped."

A Visit to The Community Design Collaborative

While I was in Philadelphia last week I had the great pleasure to pop in the Community Design Collaborative based in the AIA offices in the centre of town.  I had a chat with Haley Loram (right above) who has been working for the CDC for the past year as a Philly Fellow, a graduate scheme which sponsors individuals to work for non-profit organisations for a year.  We met at the Reading Terminal Market - a wonderful place where an incredibly wide range of food is on offer.  Haley told me that it was named the Philadelphia 'Sacred Space' by Professor Elijah Anderson because there is no dominant ethnic group.

So what does the Community Design Collaborative do and how did it start?  It started when a group of young architects decided that they would like to use their skills to help local community projects.  The idea also meant that young interns could gain valuable experience - often dealing directly with client groups - that they would find hard to get in the lower level positions they held within design firms as interns.

The Collaborative bounced along happily with a part-time staff (and an office set up in a former storage room!) until Beth Miller joined in 2001 as the full-time Executive Director and the Collaborative was put on a more formal footing, seeking funding and being given office space from which to work.  The Collaborative takes on about 30 - 35 new projects each year.  The non-profit puts in $1500 to start the project, but is expected to benefit from about $20,000 worth of design work during the project.  All the work is done by volunteer designers and architects - the number of volunteers has risen substantially in the last quarter. The current number of volunteers registered with the Collaborative is about 500.  All project working groups consist carefully selected individuals whose experience levels range from 30 years experience to fresh out of university.

There is a very careful screening process for accepting projects, as Linda Dotter (left above), explained to me. Linda was part of the very original group who started the Collaborative and now works full time as the Programme Manager. She explained that only projects where the non-profit would have no chance of employing a designer are considered.  The projects are selected based on several factors— including the capacity and commitment of the organisation they would be collaborating with, the potential to benefit or bring something innovative to an underserved community, and the potential to further neighborhood plans, investment, and projects.

 

When I asked Linda what she thought the volunteers got out of working for them she thought the primary reason for volunteering with the Collaborative is that it is a way for designers to get out and apply their skills in service of neighborhoods.

The Community Design Collaborative is also involved in a very interesting project which looks at small vacant plots of land in and and around the city and looks for ways of making them interesting development propositions for developers.  The Infill Philadelphia project has also been involved in helping local community co-operatives open and run their own local food stores.  In the UK there is a great deal of interest in this at the moment, particularly looking at reduced food miles and more community engaging projects.

I loved talking to Haley and Linda about their inspiring work so much!

The Big Lunch

If you haven't registered for The Big Lunch yet you need to get going.  It is the idea fresh out of the Eden Project and it invites everyone to organise or attend a local Big Lunch on the 19th July. 

"Most of us are shy, many of us lead single lives and even when we are together often go our own way. We all know about the problems in our society and don't need to be preached at about them. But inside almost everyone there is a notion that despite our differences, the ties that bind us are important"

Space Makers Network

Dougald Hine has just set up a new ning looking at all the different projects springing up looking to make use of empty shops and other wasted space for community projects.

Dougald writes:

"My interest is in drawing out the common themes and the knowledge built up by people setting up and running spaces like this - and helping build networks that enable this knowledge to be shared.

I am looking for ways to help communicate the amount of activity going on around these spaces in ways that get the attention of decision-makers.

I'm always looking for examples of successful projects. (Also, lessons learned from projects that didn't succeed!).  Keen to meet people interested in collaborating on building networks and writing (or speaking) about these spaces."

Snail trails

Been rushing between home and work like a headless chicken? Leaving random lost items strewn across the city in haste? Barging through crowds like your journey is the most important on the street? Forgetting what a lovely place London can be if you take the time to look?

Well for heavens sake sloooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow down!

Slow Down London - events and ideas to get Londoners to take things at a more sedate pace

Design in alternative futures

Will the downturn compel us to turn inwards, to become a nation of close knit families driven by individual needs? Or will it force unprecedented collaboration, creating a Britain that is focused upon the common good?

Dr Alex King, project leader at the governments Horizon Scanning Centre, will be presenting Economy and Society 2030 – a series of potential scenarios illustrating different versions of the future for Britain. Join the debate about role of the designer in these different futures for Britain and explore their position in helping shape the future of how government can deliver public services during global economic and societal change.

Date:  Thursday 23rd April

Time:  18.00pm - 20.30pm

Venue:  Design Council, 34 Bow Street, London WC2E 7DL

Wasted Spaces

I love this Wasted Spaces project!

"Wasted Spaces is an international non-profit organisation, transforming empty and unloved spaces into exciting art experiences. Vacant shop fronts and commercial windows become a platform for young and emerging artists to showcase their work. By making use of discarded space, art is presented and appreciated by an entirely new public who would not normally experience works of this kind, and the traditional barriers between art and the audience begin to be broken."

Via: RSA Arts and Ecology Blog  

Are humans kind?

Kacie Kinzer created a cute robot and let it loose in Washington Square Park, it's mission: to get from the Northeast to the Southwest Corner of the Park (see map).  All it has is a little 'help me' flag.

Throughout numerous missions, the Tweenbots were successful in rolling from their start point to their far-away destination assisted only by strangers. Every time the robot got caught under a park bench, ground futilely against a curb, or became trapped in a pothole, some passerby would always rescue it and send it toward its goal. Never once was a Tweenbot lost or damaged.

Kacie writes:

"...of more interest to me was the fact that this ad-hoc crowdsourcing was driven primarily by human empathy for an anthropomorphized object. The journey the Tweenbots take each time they are released in the city becomes a story of people's willingness to engage with a creature that mirrors human characteristics of vulnerability, of being lost, and of having intention without the means of achieving its goal alone."

Building a Biker Community

Developed by Brooklyn-based Studio Gelardi, Contrail was a finalist in last year's Design21 "Power to the Pedal" Design Competition.

"Contrail is a tool for developing bicycle communities. As you ride, contrail leaves a faint chalk line behind your bike. The goal is to encourage a new cycle of biking participation by allowing the biking community to leave a unique mark on the road and to reclaim this crucial shared space."

Via: Colour Lovers

Community through Art

Artiscycle is a project to further an understanding of the role of art in building community, creative problem solving and situated learning. 

The Artiscycle project is collecting stories, ideas and tools from artists, designers and citizens at the forefront of collaborative and interdisciplinary art practice. 

There is a really interesting interview on the site with Eve Mosher who does some amazing public projects, such as Seeding the City.

The Reverse Ark

 

The San Francisco-based interdisciplinary artists collective Futurefarmers presents The Reverse Ark: In the Wake at the Contemporary Museum, starting March 28. 

Part art installation, part community project, part learning platform developed around the concept of an “ark” as a site for preserving, exploring, and learning, The Reverse Ark will stock an inventory of recycled materials for its own building.

". . . .a living laboratory will emerge – a vessel for inquiry and improvisation including workshops, lectures, video screenings and frameworks for reflection. Together we will build The Reverse Ark."

 

Through a series of free-school inspired workshops, Futurefarmers will generate shared inquiry centered around such diverse topics as puppetry, and clothing. Outside the museum, Futurefarmers teams up with the City From Below conference with Walk/Gambling/Play on Stoops, and for a conference presentation on Gardening the City.

Via: Groundswell Collective

Vote for a One Flag

Simon has written to remind us that the One Flag Poster Competition, currently being run by Adbusters, is open for voting.  A sample below.  

Original post: The One Flag

   

Communities, Google and young people

"At Google, we like to reflect the ever changing world of our users through the logo designs on our homepage. The 'Doodle 4 Google' competition asks young people across the UK to design their own 'Google Doodle' and the winning entry will be used on the Google homepage in the UK on 1st October"

5 year old Tommy Fosbery:
"My Community is Camborne it has alot of trains especially steam trains on Trevithick Day. I have doodled a steam engine built by Richard Trevithick because he was important to Camborne and he made engines so that we can drive vehicles now."

Via Steel and Stevens

Winners of the ♥ I Love Thriving Competition ♥

We had such lovely entries - thank you everyone!  

First Prize goes to Steve Bridger  who wrote:

Second Prize goes to Kimberley Crofts who wrote:

"I love Thriving Too because their positive framing of issues helps me to not feel so hopeless about the world; their diverse collection of resources lets me know how others are actively tackling social problems and this encourages me to keep trying; and they just seem like awfully nice people."

Thank you again to everyone who entered - your kind words and encouragement are so appreciated.  I will be posting them all over time.... and the jelly beans and cards will be in the post very soon!

Douceurs and Red Balloons!

 

As part of her undergraduate project Douceurs, post graduate service designer Lauren Currie (a.k.a RedJotter) took a dozen red balloons to a park in Edinburgh and asked people she met to tie them to their favourite thing. How beautiful! 

Start a Commune?

Do you live on a cul-de-sac? Or a dead-end road? Or an apartment building (or condo) with an interior courtyard? Why not come together with your neighbors and share resources? Create a shared compost pile, gather weekly for potlucks and friendship, start a recycling program, barter services, share childcare, or anything else that you cook up.

Take a look at more ideas from Wanna Start a Commune and Culdesac Commune

Good: Get your volunteer on

A great video from one of my favourite publications,Good Magazine which shows the impact of volunteerism - based on US stats but meaningful where ever you live....

An Amazing Woman for Peace Town

Youth worker Nelsa Libertad Curbelo Cora describes the inspiration behind Barrio de Paz (Peace Town), a non-violent youth movement in Guyaquil, Ecuador. Barrio de Paz brings together street gangs to provide services to the struggling community. Gang members band together out of a need for unity, structure, and love when their social fabric has been torn apart. Mirroring the society that marginalizes them, gangs use this unity for domination and aggression. Nelsa shows how this instinct toward oneness can be transformed into a power of service, life, and love.

Pimp my riot van

MTV, the Metropolitan Police and Urban Youth Charity XLP have got together to 'pimp' a Police riot van and turn it into a mobile community music unit.

Reported on by the excellent Sense Media, a youth led social enterprise run by volunteers.

Learning Dreams in London

Dr Jerry Stein is coming to London and is holding a half day seminar on the 14th November. Dr Stein who is based at the University of Minnesota's School of Social Work, has developed the wonderful Learning Dreams project.

This inspiring project builds social connection through learning, inviting everyone in the community to participate in both formal and informal learning.

Learning Dreams has resulted in many significant outcomes, and the project is being replicated in several other communities.

- Increased parent and child participation in learning
- Better school outcomes
- Increased social capital
- Increased community capacity to support learning
- Increased participation in learning by other members of the community

"Learning Dreams is not about activism and protest, it's about applying tools, strategies and new forms of power"

This seminar will be really fascinating if you are interested in social innovation, networks, social capital, community facilitation, life-long learning, participation, young people ...... and would like an entirely new perspective.

To reserve your place on the 13th November please send me an email

Love: Hello Neighbor

The pic pretty much speaks for itself? Students from ten middle schools across Portland and Central Oregon are participating in Caldera's Hello Neighbor project. Along with photographer Julie Keefe, the students have begun to identify, interview and photograph diverse people of all ages in their neighborhoods.

From their work, the Caldera students will create photo-and-word portraits to be displayed on large, 7 foot by 5 foot banners throughout their communities.

Thanks for the link David Barrie. We love this kind of stuff :)

How to Turn the City into a Playground for Grown-ups (and others, too!)

Bruno Taylor has a few good ideas about reclaiming public space for play.  He writes:

71% of adults used to play on the streets when they were young. 21% of children do so now. Are we designing children and play out of the public realm?

Play equipment, as we commonly think of it, dictates the user - playgrounds full of bright colors and thick plastic are for children, not adults, and this unspoken rule is a maxim we adults don't frequently break.  But should public space - the places where we all gather, and where so much social interaction happens - be devoid of play?  Bruno thought not, and took direct action.

Above: Bruno Taylor's installation of a swing in a London bus stop. Photo source.

He has just completed a Masters in Industrial Design at Central Saint Martin, and has designed both the swing set above, and a rocking bench for the reclamation of public space for play.  You can find more pictures and details at Pixelsumo.

Oneness Project

The Global Oneness Project is a wonderful web-based video initiative exploring how the simple notion of oneness can be lived in our increasingly complex world.

They are traveling the globe interviewing creative and courageous people who base their lives and work on the fundamental understanding that we are all connected and thus bear great responsibility for each other and our shared world. Our living library of films is available for free from our website or on DVD for events and educational use.

How fantastic!

Share and share alike

Here's an idea. How about we all help each other out for the love of it. For the feeling of doing something positive. For the buzz of knowing you've made a difference. For the friendships that develop through sharing an experience. For learning a new skill and teaching others something new.

How about we all join the Freeconomy and do what communities are supposed to do.