Posted on April 22nd, 2010 by Sarah Miller in Project news
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In Suffolk, I ran two workshops with two different groups of local residents (and participants in local activities). The purpose of the workshops was to create visual maps of where participation happens – and the forms it takes – in the fieldwork area. The conversations following the mapping exercise allowed the groups to go beyond the geographic aspects of local participation, and discuss things like who participates in different spaces, and how opportunities for participation get promoted.    

The success of the workshops went beyond their original aims. People made new contacts, exchanged phone numbers, and made plans to share knowledge and resources in the future. Many left having learned about local groups and activities that they weren’t aware of before.

One thing I particularly enjoyed about the workshops was that they attracted both longstanding residents and newcomers to the communities. One participant had lived in the village his entire life, and was able to pinpoint where he was born on the map his group created. Another was quite new to the area and was drawn to the workshop to learn more about opportunities to get involved and meet other residents. There was also a nice element of storytelling and oral history in the workshops, with some of the longstanding residents sharing stories about how participation in the communities has changed over the years, and all sharing personal experiences of participation.

You can find out more about the session in Leeds here, and the Enfield workshop here.

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