Published inStreet Space·Oct 2The Nature of thingsEver since locating Street Space to Bradford it’s been fascinating to notice an important actor making her way into all of our projects, quite by stealth: Nature. Now, I’ve never been a big ‘nature’ person, probably guilty of being one of those people who enjoys ‘doing things in nature’ rather…Nature4 min readNature4 min read
Aug 16Born StorytellersMy little girl’s words are developing. The joy on her face as she hangs the words together to share meaning, communicate a memory or to ask for what she needs. It’s such a privilege to journey along this path with her. She recently told her first discernible story. To a…Listening2 min readListening2 min read
Published inStreet Space·Jul 19On new shoots of growth…Recent opportunities to speak at both the RSA’s Northern Forum event on Placemaking and at UCL’s Institute for Global Prosperity have provided some space for me to reflect on our change and growth over the last few years. I’m on a definite journey with public speaking. Despite my drama background…Speaking5 min readSpeaking5 min read
Published inCollective Imagination Practice·Jun 9Collective Imagination Huddle: Your Town JamJoin this 3 month hybrid learning journey to collectively reimagine the future of your town, by growing & testing your ideas in real life. Towns are places we buy and sell in, live in and move through, play and work in. What might happen if we put relationships at their…Imagination6 min readImagination6 min read
Published inStreet Space·Apr 1The joy of… co-designThere’s been an explosion in the desire to evoke ‘joy’ in our public spaces over the last few years. I’m not sure where it’s come from but it’s certainly needed. The drab, grey spaces most of us live in and move through as part of our day to day routines…Codesign4 min readCodesign4 min read
Published inStreet Space·Nov 30, 2022A radical shift in how (I -we) see the worldI’ve had the privilege of co-facilitating a citizens jury on climate change over the last 8 weeks. It’s been a fascinating process. Commissioned by a recently formed Shipley Town Council the instigator Town Councillor Paul McHugh has been clear on the vision from the start: To create a mandate to…Deliberative Democracy5 min readDeliberative Democracy5 min read
Published inStreet Space·Nov 9, 2022Working alongside someone else’s conflictBy Sophie Hardcastle This year Street Space have supported me to become a qualified mediator and although my heart isn’t set on becoming a mediator in the traditional contexts, in-line or precursing legal disputes — I am, ever enchanted by the principles of mediation, moving people through conflict to a…Conflict6 min readConflict6 min read
Aug 31, 2022On learning to stand on two feetMy daughter is almost 11 months old. People ask if she’s crawling or walking, it’s very touching people are interested in her development but these broad terms don’t really cover it. She has, in her own way, begun to move. In a variety of yoga inspired moves (yoga started with…Leadership4 min readLeadership4 min read
May 27, 2022The Cat who stopped trying to chase its TailSpoiler: Street Space will now be focussing our energy up North! I’ve worked in Barking and Dagenham for 10 years…the social enterprise I set up four years ago, Street Space has grown to a team of four, plus a number of associates. We’ve worked on over 18 projects with hundreds…Leadership5 min readLeadership5 min read
Published inStreet Space·May 12, 2022What does a genuinely collaborative street naming process look like?In recent years, the calls across the globe for renaming streets and removing statues can be heard more loudly and passionately than ever. …Stories6 min readStories6 min read
