The Festival for Community Organising
Camberwell College of Arts became a member of Southwark Citizens UK in 2022, joining the alliance of diverse local communities working together for change. In February, we launched the Festival for Community Organising.
Every Citizens UK action starts with a listening campaign. This is a period of intense listening within communities, carried out through relational 1-1s and house group meetings (a form of listening circle). Saul Alinsky was the founder of broad-based / modern community organising, which has 11 rules. Rules 2 and 3 outline the importance of working inside the tradition and expertise of your people, but outside that of decision-makers.
Acting on this, we decided to bring together the traditional community organising listening campaign with our expertise in participatory and creative workshop methods. Through creative inputs, Camberwell UAL, an institute based in Southwark, can help address equity in the future, to help communities heal from discrimination and trauma, and aid community cohesion. Camberwell College Citizens recognise that we can use our expertise to facilitate creative power for Southwark.
The Festival for Community Organising aimed to use creativity to facilitate a participatory listening campaign asking: ‘What is impacting your wellbeing and the wellbeing of those in your community?’ Over the 2 week festival programme, there were 11 workshops across Camberwell College of Arts and The Hub at Eagle Wharf, 200 participants and 16 Southwark based partner organisations.
The ‘How do you take your tea?’ workshop sat within the festival, working with Southwark English for Action (EfA) students and Parents and Communities Together’s (P.A.C.T) Mindful Mummys group.
“It was an unobtrusive way to bring out those very ordinary but so meaningful and affirming cultural practices like drinking tea and coffee that students inevitably carry with them when they come to the UK.”
- Anne McConnell, English for Action
“It was an unobtrusive way to bring out those very ordinary but so meaningful and affirming cultural practices like drinking tea and coffee that students inevitably carry with them when they come to the UK.”
- Anne McConnell, English for Action
The festival showed us the power of community organising, highlighting the strengths of creatively facilitated listening. The young leaders at Notre Dame Girls School embraced the Coup de Cake listening workshop and it has functioned as a key step to them taking action at Southwark Town Hall, as part of Southwark & Peckham Citizens.
One of the highlights of the festival was curating the workshop artworks and listening outcomes in a week-long exhibition that fostered a sense of belonging, provided platforms for underrepresented voices to be heard and promoted wider participation across UAL.
One of the highlights of the festival was curating the workshop artworks and listening outcomes in a week-long exhibition that fostered a sense of belonging, provided platforms for underrepresented voices to be heard and promoted wider participation across UAL.
“As a community organiser, I learnt a lot about creative methods of facilitation, how they can aid listening workshops and build relationships and solidarity between diverse participants. I have been sharing this with my broader team and organisation, so an impact on the community organising community too!”
- Albinia Stanley, Citizens UK Community Organiser
Photos by Disha Kulkarni