New ways to share ideas and resources are developing rapidly within communities. This event, reflecting on the strengths and limitations of current innovation, is aimed at expert practitioners, service leaders and actively involved citizens.
Working with Wiltshire Council
For places to thrive, councils and other public bodies need to be better at generating value from the assets that are already within their communities – the knowledge, skills, networks and passions of the people who live and work there. Yet too many of our civic structures and working cultures are still based on reporting and challenge, advocacy and response.Many people from a variety of sectors and professional backgrounds are working to develop better spaces, forums or platforms through which public services and communities can interact in more creative ways.
With the support of Wiltshire Council, the RSA has been developing an arts-informed approach to place based reflection and decision making. Building on a model used in Peterborough, our ‘Creative Gatherings’ drew together people from all parts of a place to connect in unexpected ways to share ideas and resources. Creative Gatherings are just one way of bringing people together differently. New practice is developing rapidly within cultural communities, health, education, community development, local democratic services, often drawing on and including skills and stakeholders from social enterprise and business.
We would be delighted if you could join us for an event that considers the commonalities and varieties of these collaborative platforms. Aimed at expert practitioners, service leaders and actively involved citizens, we will reflect on the strengths and limitations of current innovations.
- What are platforms of collaboration?
- What are they there to achieve?
- How are these different to familiar techniques such as world café, Town Halls, or open space technology?
- How do they work across communities?
Our discussions will be supported by an opportunity to experience what some of these involve. The following experienced practitioners will invite us to participate in their approaches:
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Gavin Porter, National Theatre Wales (The Big Democracy Project)
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Clive Mitchell, INVOLVE (NHS Citizen)
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Jocelyn Cunningham, RSA Associate and Founder Arts and Society (Creative Gatherings)
Discussion facilitators will be:
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Sean Hanson, Managing Director, SERCO
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Dr Julie Grain, Chief Executive, British BIDs
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Steve Milton, Head of Communities: Engagement and Governance, Wiltshire Council
The event will inform the publication of a resource to support public sector organisations and civic groups to introduce new collaborative platforms that can help shared problem solving in their areas.
Places are limited, so if you would like to attend, please confirm your attendance as soon as possible.
We are looking forward to meeting you at the RSA.
