Abstract

Report on the workshop event to Dave Hockham: Executive summary. On 15th June 2022 a Practice as Research Knowledge Exchange (PARKE) Workshop was held at the Bathway Theatre to explore the question: “How can we learn to love being with less?” This project explored the UN Sustainability Development Goal 11: sustainable cities and communities using a somatic co-production approach which was based on movement to music combined with the chormmunity methodology (Loper 2000) involving movement, images, and words to express feelings and thoughts. 15 participants, specifically selected from a range of backgrounds and ages, took part in the workshop. Some of the participants were community group leaders, whom we intentionally invited so they could apply any learning for their own practice working with community members. The aim of the workshop was two-fold: 1. Participants explored the key question and were asked to reflect on what they can take home from the workshop to make changes in their own life (personal impact). 2. Participants were asked to provide feedback on participating in a co-creation workshop with an intergenerational and diverse group and what they could learn from this for their own current work or future work with community groups. Outcomes of the knowledge exchange (KE) workshop At the end of the workshop all participants reported to feel positive about the day and all stated they could take home from the day something ‘valuable’ (e.g. a new perspective or approach). However, one person, who is active in the sustainability movement openly questioned the value of a workshop like this in the face of a global climate crisis, yet he did agree on the workshop bringing value in questioning representations, active listening and by exploring different forms of expressions. Participants further reported on ideas on changes in their behaviour such as worrying less about technology (emails), but to experience life more physically, to pay more attention when listening and to incorporate different forms of expression when working with members of the community. The diversity of the group was perceived as a beneficial vehicle for participants to learn about new perspectives and to exchange more freely.