Hello, and welcome to the Abundance Project blog. We will be using this platform to share project news, updates, reflections, images and research outputs.
Over the first months of the project, we have had the pleasure of getting to know the Community Co-Investigators and Community Voice Champions co-leading the project. We have also got to know a bit more about the vital work the Community Research Hubs are doing for their communities in their boroughs and beyond, with the team attending a number of community events, such as the ARCC’s Coffee Mornings or KVA’s 56th anniversary celebration at the FUSEBOX in Kingston. We have met so many wonderful people, and witnessed the passion, resourcefulness and determination of community leaders demanding better from a political climate of funding cuts, rising xenophobia and a cost of living crisis. It is a privilege to be so warmly welcomed into their spaces.
ARCC’s monthly Coffee Morning, September 2024. ‘We Are Croydonian’. Images by Nayim Chowdhury.
In addition to these community events, it has been a pleasure to work together on the first two work packages. Work Package 1, led by Dr Meg Jensen (Co-Investigator, Kingston University) invited Community Voice Champions (lived experience experts) to reflect on their relationship with nature and culture, and how this impacts on wellbeing, using writing and poetry prompts, drawings and Post-It notes to start conversations about belonging, identity, safety, sanctuary and home; the stories shared by the Community Voice Champions were numerous, diverse and moving. We also delivered training for Community Voice Champions on gathering more stories from members of their community. These ‘snapshot stories’ provided vital insights for our researchers to better understand the breadth of feelings and experiences associated with these topics.
Work Package 2, led by Dr Pete Garside (Co-Investigator, Kingston University), focused on the accessibility, quality and impact of information about local cultural and green community assets (CGCAs). We organised community walks to a local CGCA chosen by Community Voice Champions – parks, a town hall, running tracks, a shopping high street, the riverside, a bike path – and talked along the way about why visiting this particular space felt important. These walks were also a way for other Community Voice Champions to learn about new CGCAs in their local area; it was wonderful to see how this sharing of knowledge led to community members feeling excited and empowered to benefit from their local green and cultural spaces.
We are now gearing up to start Work Package 3, led by Professor Tushna Vandrevala (Co-Principal Investigator, Kingston University) after delivering a mid-point feedback and networking session on 9 May. This celebratory event at Kingston University brought together the academic team, Community Co-Investigators and Community Voice Champions for the first time, to sense check research findings to date, identify any gaps, elaborate on existing data and reflect on the research process as a whole.
Read more about our 9 May event.
As the summer approaches, the Abundance Project research team are looking forward to sharing initital findings here on the blog, and at conferences, seminars and community events.
This post was written by Anna Busuttil, Community Engagement Officer for the Abundance Project.