What is more possible now? #2

Note 2 of 5 in a mini series of findings from a shared enquiry: Revealing Potential

As part of the shared enquiry process team member Holly has created joyful petals of possibilities visuals to help convey the many layers of possibilities that are emerging from experiments

But firstly some context …

During the Spring and Summer of 2022 the CoLab Dudley team and a constellation of Time Rebels have engaged in a shared enquiry through a range of joyful and searching collective reflection and sensemaking moments. In June 2022 we will reach the end of four years of Reaching Communities National Lottery investment in lab work on Dudley High Street, and we wanted to mark this milestone in our journey so far by asking ‘What is more possible now?’

Zones of Possibility canvas co-designed to support this sense-making process

Not only was this process co-designed with the intention of surfacing, weaving together and celebrating ‘What is more possible now?’ insights, critically, it was also designed to create spaces for Time Rebel collaboration and collective dreaming about the practical next steps for their What If experiments. The whole shared enquiry period has been intentionally framed in active hope.

The shared enquiry process has included:

• group drawing and mapping deep timelines, ripple lakes and possibility points;
• quiet reflection time guided by the Zones of Possibility canvas to enable Time Rebels to dig into what is more possible at a range of levels including self, experiment and place;
• dedicated time with Time Rebel peers exploring reflections to help articulate practical What Next? steps;
• finally, on the 9th June we will all come back together in the lab on Dudley High Street to share insights, express challenges faced, and weave together dreams for the future by further integrating the stories of our individual What Ifs. Part of the purpose of the lab infrastructure is to ensure What If experiments don’t exist in isolation, rather they co-evolve and spark off each other in place.

Deep timeline co-creation as part of the sense-making process

In this brief series of lab notes we will share straight forward summaries drawn from this collective sensemaking process broken down into sections about:

• Revisiting our Why and What Next?
• Revealing potential (below)
• Network vital signs
• Learning and doing ripples
• Navigating challenges

The main messages and wisdom captured during this sensemaking and shared learning process will be available at the 9th June celebration in the form of our very own ‘What is more possible now?’ zine. Let us know if you would prefer getting to know the insights shared here in zine form and we will pop one in the post to you. Or if you are around Dudley High street and want to visit the magical displays and visual creations that bring these insights to life in full colour then you are most welcome to visit our What Is More Possible Now exhibition at the lab and chat with us over a brew. Pop along between 12pm and 2pm on Thursday 16 June or Thursday 30 June, or get in touch to arrange another time: colabdudley@gmail.com — we’d love to spend time with you.

Lab note 2 of 5 - Revealing Potential

A step in the mapping process as we explored what is more possible now due to each experiment, the tools used in co-creating the experiments, and the lab practices that supported the emergence of those experiments

During this lab phase there has been a focus upon revealing the unique potential of Dudley in part through working together to enable a kinder, more creative and connected Dudley High Street.

The focus upon unique potential has shifted the experiment lens of Dudley Time Rebels from a traditional focus upon seeking solutions to challenges, to instead, opening pathways to new possibilities and alternative futures.

Through the work of the lab and Time Rebels new possibilities have emerged at a range of levels of change from the personal, to the group / experiment level, to the town / borough level, as well as more regional level possibilities.

At a personal level

Time Rebels have noticed a growth in their creative confidence, an opening up to ideas around long term thinking and how to be a good ancestor, an expansion of their creative, design and convening practices through learning and doing together, the building of meaningful connection to new creative networks, and an increased agency to act upon their dreams for alternative futures.

At an experiment level

Time Rebels have illustrated new possibilities with their group and place of experimentation in terms of acts of co-creation and collaboration that shape new Dudley narratives. These narratives explore the interaction of the past, present and future of Dudley, and embrace a more entangled relationship with nature and the more-than-human. These experiments are stewarding cultural heritage, growing capacity for collective dreaming, creative action and cultural ecologies, as well as encouraging shared learning and discovery through sensing and sense making experiences.

At a borough and regional level

Possibilities have emerged through the intentional building of relationships and peer learning networks between local experiments and macro movements for change in relation to the climate emergency, or absence of cultural democracy. Being part of something bigger has encouraged active hope in Time Rebels. This has manifest in them sparking creative action by local people rooted in futures defined by regenerative ways of relating to each other and the world. This creative action is more possible through the alchemy of collective imagination, shared learning and discovery and creative experiments. These experiments are supported by lab regenerative design tools and social infrastructuring practices. The intentional shared learning across the different levels helps deepen the impact of these possibilities, as well as highlighting further connections and ripples that need caring for and cultivating.

At all levels of change

We have found that the unique potential in Dudley has often emerged through local people connecting to and exploring place based knowledge. Time Rebels have been testing out curiosity sparking methods of revealing place based knowledge by surfacing and sharing untold stories through oral histories, creative arts and crafts, locative/ place specific collage, creative writing, illustration, poetry, soundscapes, photography, archiving, site specific dance, counter-mapping, observing, listening and more broadly sensing in place. These stories of place are made up of more than words, they are often embodied and tacit knowledge rooted in memories, language, geology, ecology, weather systems, the built environment, new and old cultural artefacts, food, and much more besides. They inform the patterns of life in present day Dudley, as well as holding insights into the future potential of this place.

Time Rebel experiments have not only revealed potential linked to place based knowledge, but are also caring for and sustaining that potential through finding collaborative and democratising ways of making that knowledge accessible for many more local people and for future generations.

Through practices such as citizen storycatching, people’s archiving, and collective counter mapping, this place based knowledge becomes visible, valued and better cared for, openly shared, and critically animated.

With this place based knowledge seems to come increased capacity for wayfinding and new ways to relate to that place, to nurture a sense of belonging and responsibility for its future.

Experiments rooted in place based sensing and sensemaking of past, present and futures invites new pathways to stewardship.