Artist Emma Smith and landscape architect Sadie Stowell begun an ongoing creative investigation into how the rural landscape is perceived and how these perceptions can be recreated or simulated within inner city environments.
Over a year Emma and Sadie conducted workshops with both children and adults in the urban context of the London Borough of Lambeth, and the distinctly rural context of Hertfordshire and also consulted with behavioural science professionals to conclude what mental triggers and associations can specifically evoke an essence of ‘the rural’, and use this to enhance well being.
Artists Terry Orchard and Simon Lee Dicker developed a participatory arts project aimed at improving access to open spaces for the young people with special needs highlighting issues of navigation, accessibility, choice and interpretation. Terry and Simon are developing new activities using video and GPS technology to highlight issues of navigation, accessibility, choice and interpretation. These participatory activities with the students, their parents and carers are focusing on ‘movement through space’ and will take place at Pioneer School and other open space locations around Essex. Ultimately, the aim is to integrate open space design interventions encouraging the creation of more accessible and democratically used spaces.
A Pilot Publishing project commissioned by Haring Woods at Gunpowder Park to reinvigorate the park with a feeling of the original 'commons'; where land was used as a resource for all. The artists worked with ecologists, permaculture specialists and thto experiment with sustainable ways of cooking, involving people both locally and further afield in community-led activity in the park. Workshops, events, and online blogging complemented the construction an off grid kitchen which developed organically, through people's involvement.
Energy Cafe had enormous success in engaging people, both local to the park and further afield in their work, drawing new visitors and instigating new community-led activity in the park. One of the highlights of the project was a Spring Banquet with a wide range of community-led activities, including performances by local musicans on a self-built, solar/bike powered stage.
IJburg is a major new urban district being developed on a cluster of man-made islands to the east of Amsterdam city centre. Part of the development in Haveneiland (‘Harbour Island’), is known as 'Block 35' , where housing units are situated around a communal courtyard, which has a cobalt blue townhouse in the middle. ‘The Blue House’ as it is called, has been withdrawn from the housing market from 2005 to 2009 on the initiative of artist Jeanne van Heeswijk. For this period it will act as a centre for artistic and cultural production and research into what happens when such a radical approach to urban planning and community development is employed. The Blue House has already hosted many residencies by artists and creative thinkers, representing a wide range of practices and disciplines.
An architects practice specialising in designing social public spaces and green spaces with great importance given to community consultation. They offer an alternative vision to community consultation by enabling the community to lead the design process by their own experiences and from their position as lay people.
A partnership between Burnley Borough Council, artist team Co Lab Project and Civic Architects to develop public art proposals for a Housing Market Renewal scheme. This scheme is tackling the housing market failure in the Northwest of England and used participatory community engagement to inform their proposals. The piece Peer Plaques are several commemorative plaques been spread-out around the area with quotes from the local inhabitant’s answers to the question"What is your first thought when you think about your neighborhood?"
Sit Down! was a regeneration project in a multicultural district of Copenhagen. It was financed by the City of Copenhagen and Realdania – a foundation that supports projects in the built environment. Six temporary interventions were delivered by artist collective Publik that engaged the local community in the improvement of the area.
This is an artist lead participatory project initiated by the Aberdeenshire Council to regenerate the remote town of Peterhead in Scotland. The artists Sans Façon worked with DEF Landscapes initiatives to create a regeneration plan for the town. Through organising a conference, creating a history map and curating 3 artistic interventions in the town, Sans Façon generated engagement form the local inhabitants in the visioning of the future of the location.
Cherokee Gives Back is an investment firm specializing in the acquisition, regeneration and sustainable redevelopment of contaminated real estate. They have a strong commitment to non-profit initiatives, community involvement and public service. Unlike other similar property developers, they exercise collaborative decision making with local authorities, community groups and residents.
Rural Studios is an alternative academic centre that also holds exhibits, building projects and research programmes from both Auburn and international students. Their mission is to enable students to use their skills in the building of their environment through participation and human contact. Rural studios promotes educative schemes that influence individuals to become overall political, social and environmentally engaged citizens.
