Between October 2010 and March 2011, Tessy Britton (and sometimes friends) will be travelling around the country giving free Travelling Pantry workshops to anyone that wants one.
The workshops will be aimed at helping stimulate new and interesting local projects in line with the Social Spaces thinking of Learning, Sharing and Making.
The workshops will draw together inspiration from existing new projects and new methodologies ... as well as spreading traditional positive community building know-how.
A map of current dates and places the Travelling Pantry will be visiting.
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Why give free workshops?
We have been researching Social Spaces for nearly 2 years and are ready to test some of our ideas.
We are also action researchers - which means that learning doesn't take place in a laboratory - in this case it happens where people are doing things - its a two-way process and we need participants and activity to understand the underlying dynamics. Essentially we are a project in 'beta'.
We have experience, knowledge, skills and ideas and we are putting them together in an unique way - inspired by projects that encourage Learning, Sharing and Making.
Now it is time to test those theories and ideas 'in the wild' with as many different groups of people as possible - from 2 or 3 people round a kitchen table with an urge to make new things in their local community - to existing groups looking for 'a little something' to enliven or bring fresh perspectives on their existing activities.
We hope that the workshops will result in an exciting Community of Practice to share ideas and experiences about how to make things happen in less traditional ways, and lots of new projects made by our workshop participants, however tiny.
REQUEST A TRAVELLING PANTRY WORKSHOP
What type of things are included in the workshops?
1. Inspiration Exploring new projects and case studies.
2. Idea Generation Co-design methods to help develop ideas from within the community.
3. Strategic mapping Methods to analyse your local social network to help develop your project idea with individuals and organisations.
4. Social Media An introduction into how to engage, connect and communicate using social media.
5. New meeting hosting methodologies Looking at new formats to encourage productive and enjoyable events or meetings.
6. Community building strategies Asset-based community development, including inventories to reveal existing capacities in the community, including skills, spaces and materials.
Workshops suitable for everybody!
School groups
Community groups
Local societies
Youth groups
Pensioner's Club
Girl Guides
Scouts
Women's institutes
Citizenship groups
Charities
In fact, any individuals and organisations of any size or shape!!
What we support or encourage
Inclusivity: We support projects which unite communities, bridging as many artificial demographic divisions as possible.
Creative Activism: We support creative activism which we believe is very different from political activism.
Revealing Capacity: We think that all the capacity already exists, but sometimes we need a little new knowhow to join it all together.
Why is it called a 'pantry'?
We love the cooking metaphor for community projects. But the communities need to do the cooking themselves.
By referring to ourselves as the 'pantry' we are ensuring that everyone clearly understands that we can bring some fresh ingredients and tools - but it is up to the group to decide how to blend them with the human and material resources that already exist in their own community.
*SPONSORSHIP*
If you are interested in sponsoring the Travelling Pantry please contact Tessy
REQUEST A TRAVELLING PANTRY WORKSHOP
