Street Space

Ever wondered how to cultivate municipal imagination in your town centre? How might we support people to reimagine how a public space works, who can use it and what happens there? How do our town centres work from a viewing height of 95cm (average height of a 3 year old)? How can we measure the joy of play and the ripple effect benefits for others who don't have young children? We've been on a learning journey at Street Space over the last few months, (inspired by our in house toddler 😂) hosting a huddle of #collectiveimagination peers focussed on reimagining town centres (more on this here: https://lnkd.in/dsgnApjY) which then led to our own seed funding from the Collective Imagination Practice to explore & test how we might put toddlers at the heart of our town centres through activation of under-used, pedestrianised space in our town. We wanted to explore what would happen if we hacked and edited our existing public realm to see how we could centre little one's play, learning & curiosity..! Here's some reflections on what we did and what we learnt: https://lnkd.in/dKeSkf8G #publicspace #play #activation #childfriendly #95cm #towncentres #publicrealm #collectiveimagination

Between January & March this year we were commissioned by the University of Leeds' Cultural Institute to listen to community members in & around Woodhouse Moor to explore perceptions and experiences of the historically rich but at times reputational-ly challenged 'Green Lungs of Leeds'. We hired a locally rooted engagement lead, listened to locals and organisations through pop ups, digital survey, walk & talks in the park and protected events with pre-existing groups who might not access or use the park often. We also convened a group of 12 locals of all ages who were reimbursed for their time & worked with us over three sessions to collaboratively design ideas and interventions that will be tested over the summer to explore the impacts in terms of making the Moor feel safer and more welcoming for everyone. You can catch up with our latest newsletter sharing what we heard as well as some of the emerging ideas here: https://lnkd.in/efnsSF8U We can't wait to see how the project develops! Big thanks to Emma Bentley-Fox for leading our engagement, the fab team at The Cultural Institute; Emma, Grace & Wieke Eringa and stella project partners Anna Barker Emma Trickett Helen Forman Ben Walmsley #listening #engagement #leeds #collaboration #codesign #localknowledge #innovation #perceptionsofsafety #greenspace

Yesterday we launched 🚀 our Pathways to Nature: Neighbourhood Green Mile route & signage in Frizinghall 🎉 It's been a whirlwind few months... (whilst many species were wintering) we were busy exploring with community members locally 'Who else lives here?' 🐝 🐞 🌳 🦇 From creating Species Superheros Top Trumps (did you know Swifts can go 70mph?) with Frizinghall School Council, to litter picks with the local mosques, torch walk with local families & design workshops with young people, we created a vision to revitalise unloved snickets and connect wild, green spaces together. But we didn't want to stop at vision.. we wanted to bring the idea to life and test it. So we designed & installed a mile long, signed route connecting where people live to the Greenway & Heaton Woods via a long & neglected traffic free 'Firth Carr' snicket. It's been a privilege to attempt to breathe new life into this old pathway which has been used by locals for well over 100 years but fallen into disrepair over the last few decades with many people not daring to venture up and not knowing where it leads to. The eye catching (& locally manufactured) signage hopes to re-ignite a spirit of discovery, play and nature connection locally and charts your progress up the 80 metre hill climb against the backdrop of the Lister Mill's chimney of the same height! Big thanks to our funders Natural England, collaborators at BRADFORD METROPOLITAN DISTRICT COUNCIL, our talented team and all the local community organisations who've supported us to help make this happen! Download your route map here: https://lnkd.in/eikzzUP3

Fab to launch our 🦉 🐞 Neighbourhood Green Mile 🌳 🐝 route this morning in Frizinghall with support from Natural England, BRADFORD METROPOLITAN DISTRICT COUNCIL & a whole host of fantastic community organisations. The culmination of 5 months of community engagement with community members to explore opportunities to connect and activate traffic free paths linking local wild & green spaces together through co-designed signage and activation. There is so much potential in Bradford to blur the boundaries between the urban & rural, enhancing opportunities for nature connection, play & active journeys. The mile long route embedded within a dense residential neighbourhood climbs over 80 metres - the same height as Lister Mills' chimney.. the kite inspired way - markers along the route help to celebrate your progress up the chimney! More photos to come very soon! 👀 #engagement #community #creative #codesign

What do farmers & landowners really think about supporting nature? Since November we've been searching out, engaging with & listening to farmers and those connected to this sector across West Yorkshire. It's been a fascinating and enriching experience getting to grips with complex, deeply rooted value systems and diverse perspectives on the future of land & the livelihoods intrinsically linked to it. This initial listening project, commissioned by West Yorkshire Combined Authority in order to shape our Local Nature Recovery Strategy, is culminating in the sharing of what we've heard and insights into the possible ways we can all come together to support nature across the region. Are you interested in hearing more about what farmers and landowners really think about supporting nature? Have a stake in West Yorkshire's Local Nature Recovery Strategy? Please do join us online this Thursday evening at 7pm, you can reserve your spot here: https://lnkd.in/eTQtcPTV Big up to Sophie Hardcastle & Nathan Greenwood who've led this work, supported by Jen & Clare of Nifty Sustainability in partnership with the insightful Tamsin Constable & team 🙏 #listening #farming #nature #landownership #morethanhuman #future #bng #lnrs #westyorkshire

Do you feel you have permission to dream about our shared futures in a place? Last year our Phillippa Banister hosted a #CollectiveImagination Huddle bringing peers together from across the country to take a learning journey together focussed on place based collective imagination practice. What are the conditions to foster this? How can we enable more of it? Where is it bursting to get out? You can read all about what bubbled up from the unique Huddle process here https://lnkd.in/eTW9eMFq generously supported & stewarded by Huddlecraft, Canopy - A Social Imagination Project, Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) Emerging Futures and Centre for Public Impact With seed funding from the Collective Imagination Practice community we're super excited to be gathering together parents (+ toddlers), play practitioners, policy-makers and creatives to start a rich conversation (& action) in our local neighbourhood about how we put #toddlers at the heart of our public realm. And what might happen when we do? If you share our passion for meaningful engagement to shape both short and long term change in our streets and public spaces and are local to the Bradford & beyond area, do feel free to join us next Friday in Shipley. All welcome! #community #placeshaping #childfriendly #placebased #participation #builtenvironment #urban95

We're so delighted to be collaborating on this exciting and purposeful project, kicking off engagement conversations this week we've been so heartened by the care, passion & creativity ready to be unleashed for Woodhouse Moor! We'll be leading conversations & a collaborative design process with local people to design interventions to make the park feel safer and more welcoming. If you're local, stay tuned to share your thoughts via our survey and come & chat to us in the park at one of our upcoming pop ups... 💬 #engagement #listening #care #connection #greenspace #codesign #community #nature

Our annual newsletter has dropped.. we initially planned to do these every quarter but things have been busy and it's turned into an annual December edition. Do people read newsletters? Are they effective? What's their purpose? Just some of the questions we're currently pondering. One of the reasons it feels difficult to put these together is because it's far from a meaningful conversation, (what we at Street Space love)... instead it's pushing out into the world how we see the world, what matters to us. But is that important? It feels we're bombarded on a daily basis by people telling us what they want us to see, what they've achieved... But perhaps more of what's needed is space, silence and listening as an antidote to all the noise. Here's hoping you find some time to breathe deep over the holidays with those closest to you. We're looking forward to more collaboration and meaningful conversation in 2024. Oh and here's our newsletter in case you're interested 🤣 https://lnkd.in/eYWMXWWz

Our annual newsletter has dropped.. we initially planned to do these every quarter but things have been busy and it's turned into an annual December edition. Do people read newsletters? Are they effective? What's their purpose? Just some of the questions we're currently pondering. One of the reasons it feels difficult to put these together is because it's far from a meaningful conversation, (what we at Street Space love)... instead it's pushing out into the world how we see the world, what matters to us. But is that important? It feels we're bombarded on a daily basis by people telling us what they want us to see, what they've achieved... But perhaps more of what's needed is space, silence and listening as an antidote to all the noise. Here's hoping you find some time to breathe deep over the holidays with those closest to you. We're looking forward to more collaboration and meaningful conversation in 2024. Oh and here's our newsletter in case you're interested 🤣 https://lnkd.in/eYWMXWWz

We're hiring an Engagement Lead in Leeds 📍 This is a fantastic opportunity for a mid level Engagement Lead to lead an inclusive listening & collaborative design process centering the experiences of women and girls in and around Woodhouse Moor Park, Leeds. This engagement will lead to a series of creative interventions in the park to explore & test how we can improve safety & perceptions of safety for key local audiences. If you're a hands on, creative, organised, people focussed person who knows how to listen and hold space for people to explore sensitive topics that can lead to ideas and new collaborations then this could be the role for you! Check out all the details ⬇ and apply by 30th November - please share with your Leeds networks! https://lnkd.in/eC8vkXqg #leeds #creativejob #design #contract #freelance #communityengagementjob #safety