post by Sophia de Sousa and Katerina Alexiou

On 12 February, 2020, The Empowering Design Practices research team gathered with partners and community collaborators, colleagues, funders and friends to celebrate five years of research exploring community leadership in design within the context of historic places of worship. This was a day to share learning and the resources produced by the research team, to celebrate community achievements and to explore the potential, opportunities and challenges that these buildings, and their custodians, face in providing welcoming spaces for their whole community.

The project's celebratory conference and exhibition, Empowering Design Practices LIVE was held at St Paul's in Hammersmith, a wonderful example of a church that has reinvented itself and transformed its building and offer to the community. The event was a wonderful opportunity to bring together the wide range of people and organisations that engaged with the project to reflect on work we have done together and to generate ideas and propositions for the future.

The day kicked off with an overview of the project and our key learning points and recommendations, based on our experience of collaborating with over 50 places of worship around the country, as well as professionals and support bodies that work with them. This was a moment to reflect on the specialness of historic places of worship as buildings, and on the custodians tasked with looking after and unleashing the potential in these buildings. Through a design lens, we explored how community leadership, partnership working and effective community engagement can help ensure the long-term sustainability of these buildings, and help support local networks, community development and the life and vibrancy of these much-valued sacred heritage buildings.   

The morning also included a panel discussion of various partners briefly sharing their key reflections and learning points, from the perspective of the organisations and sectors they represent. A key message that came through, articulated brilliantly by Historic England’s Head of Places of Worship and Owners Advice, Diana Evans, was that engagement in design is important, it requires support and capacity building, but it can also be great fun, a space to build confidence and a frame in which important connections, friendships and partnerships can be formed. 

The rest of the day included both panel discussions  and interactive workshop sessions.

Our first panel of invited speakers was made up of representatives of community-led design projects at various points on their journey. Revd Canon Caroline Dick and Churchwarden David Wilcox from St Michael and All Angels, Whitton Gilbert spoke about their Breathing Space project, and the importance of a vision being greater than simply the reordering of the church. They stressed the importance of talking to people, and bringing them with you on a journey to which each person and organisation can contribute in their own way. 

Revd Simon Lockett from St Peter’s Church, Peterchurch spoke of the need to form partnerships, and the importance of being willing to experiment and if necessary, to change direction of travel in response to changing circumstances. He stressed the importance of high quality and values-driven design, and that this can be achieved with varying budgets. 

Revd Geoffrey Eze from All Saints Church, Hanley spoke of the creation of a new enclosed space within their church, and the importance of changes to a building being catalytic, enabling new partnerships and new ways to serve the community as well as the congregation. 

And finally, Adam Yusuf, Chair of Israac Somali Community Association in Sheffield, spoke of the group’s collaboration with the EDP research project, and with The University of Sheffield. These helped grow the e group’s awareness and appreciation for their building as an entity with its own history and identity, and realise the role that design can play in creating opportunities for the building to serve their community objectives. He also spoke of the importance of connecting with other groups taking on similar projects to transform their buildings, and how much they could learn from each other.  

Our panel of professional speakers was tasked with presenting brief provocations from the perspective of an architect, a support officer and a researcher, which then led us into a plenary discussion with the room. 

Some challenging questions and propositions were put to the room: Aidan Potter, Partner at John McAslan Architects quoted Jane Jacobs’ famous words, “Old buildings need new ideas” and challenged the room to be bold in our thinking about what is possible in places of worship. He also reminded us that the design for these buildings has to be a collective endeavour, with the architect simply one element of a complex and collaborative design process. Architect and researcher Nevine Nasser spoke of the relationship between sacred space and sacred experience, and reminded us that faith buildings must integrate into the society that surrounds them. Perhaps the most challenging provocation came from Wendy Coombey, Community Partnership & Development Officer at the Diocese of Hereford, who reminded us that these buildings must be at the service of people, and not the other way around. She asked what would happen if the custodians of these complex listed buildings facing the challenge of innovation and sustainability, simply decided to give the buildings back and opt for alternative spaces to gather and worship.

The exhibition offered a snapshot of the project, with key information and statistics about the activities and groups with which we have collaborated. It also included a section which introduced the wide spectrum of practical resources developed throughout the project and artefacts from public engagement  activities and live student projects. The resources on offer for people to explore and take away included interactive websites Explore Design: community buildings, A Design Thinking Guide, as well as freely downloadable materials such as our Design Project Stories and our series of Designing Places with People booklets, on engaging communities in the design process. The exhibition also introduced emerging resources on working with architects, key topics for consideration when setting off on a project to transform a place of worship, and an online course on community leadership in design. 

We also shared a series of films produced within the project, which include inspiring stories of community engagement in design, a practical resource on using digital media as a design engagement tool, and films capturing our Design Training, a workshop on developing a shared purpose, and related projects Prototyping Utopias and Tate Exchange.

Finally, the exhibition space included a policy corner which invited participants to record thoughts and recommendations about four key questions. Here is a small taster of the ideas that emerged:

How do we connect heritage buildings with the broader context of placemaking? 

• Build links with wider, existing place making strategies locally and nationally to create a cohesive approach. 
• Identify within local planning policy that S106 (CIL) can go towards the reuse of heritage buildings for community/ services/ etc. 

How do we champion and enable community engagement in design decision-making? 

• By showing the local community that changing our buildings will lead to more meaningful resources for the community. 
• By funders encouraging this approach as a precursor to investment, to secure more sustainable projects. A release of funds for project development? 
• By ensuring that they are engaged in the process from the start and listening to them. Solutions shouldn’t be imposed in a top-down approach. ​

How do we raise awareness of the value of historic places of worship in the local economy/ society? 

• Collect feedback from community users and congregations, encourage councils to read it! 
• By not holding up historic places simply as places of beauty but also as useful spaces that can benefit the local community. ​

How do we build capacity for community leadership in the design and adaptation of places of worship? 

• Partnerships with local government and councils for voluntary services.
• Training faith leaders. Central web-based resources, including a list of faith leaders willing to advise others. 
• If owners + funders realised a vital first step was capacity building (if assets are to be protected) they would prioritise this as a first step. You wouldn’t build a house without paying for a land survey first. 

The event offered opportunities for people to engage practically with some of the project’s methods aiming to facilitate collaborative exploration of issues and ideas and the generation of ideas for future actions.

The first workshop of the day (which ran in parallel to the community presentations) brought people together to explore the challenges, assets and opportunities that arise in the efforts to unlock and enhance the potential of historic religious buildings as places of community value. Participants worked in groups to map and connect their ideas about the barriers they face, but also the assets they have (their skills, resources, support) and to collectively come up with suggestions for future actions or processes. Here are some of their suggestions:

• Feeding grassroots knowledge (and longevity and connections) of faith buildings to governance - spreading awareness of Taylor Report
• Creatively connecting communities to construct and share knowledge and ownership 
• Investigate partnerships with local agencies, local councillors, voluntary organisations, local groups and local activities
• Build networks
• Challenge the church establishment to be more radical about what churches can be

The final activity of the day brought everybody together to co-create ideas for possible future collaborations, actions, projects or networks. This ‘cross-pollination’ workshop focused in particular on exploring ways to enable custodians of places of worship to shape the future of their buildings, and the suggestions generated during the morning workshop were brought to bear on people’s thinking. Participants put on the table their resources, current projects and aspirations and explored synergies, connections and new ideas. A champion from each table then moved around to other tables to pitch their ideas and garner further support. At the end of a long day, it was heartening to see the unwilting enthusiasm with which everyone continued to share their knowledge, experience and goodwill to help build capacity in community-led design and support and strengthen communities around historic places of worship.

We would like to thank everyone who attended the day, and shared their stories, reflections and ideas for the future. It is clear that there was fantastic energy and momentum in the room, and that there is much we can do together looking forward.

post by Katerina Alexiou

The EDP team was recently in Birmingham delivering a workshop on engaging communities in design decision-making. The workshop aimed to explore what community engagement in design means and why it is important, but also share best practice tips and resources to support those working on design projects in historic places of worship. We were fortunate to have a rich mix of participants on the day, community members as well as professionals who support such projects: architects, development officers, members of dioceses and funders.

In the first part of the workshop, we had invited speakers from two projects who successfully and creatively engaged with their communities, to re-imagine and re-develop their buildings. Rev Jane Lees and Andrew Smith, from St Luke’s Church in Oxford, talked about the experience of their Big Project, completed in 2014, which saw their church transformed into a space that effectively serves worshiping needs alongside offering a variety of activities and services for the wider local community. Clare de Bathe, from Chichester Community Development Trust told the story of how the development of the Graylingwell Chapel started, and how the community engagement process was organised to ensure that the plans take into consideration the needs and aspirations of the local community. The two presentations gave an interesting perspective on the different starting points and different end points in terms of design decisions that projects can have, but also revealed many commonalities in terms of methods and approach to community engagement. Both made some important points about keeping engagement going throughout the life of a project and being open to the input of people in the community.

We also shared some of our own observations and research findings and facilitated a workshop session on developing an engagement strategy, as well as a number of taster sessions introducing resources and tools to help with different aspects of the process, from how to use digital media in your design project, to how to structure your thinking and how to collect evidence from community engagement activities.

The film created on the day, is an exploration of what community engagement means from the perspectives of the participants, and also gives a feel of the event and its impact.
Click here to view the film on our youtube channel.
 
The event was also an opportunity to share a set of new resources. The resources are meant primarily for groups looking after historic places of worship, but can indeed be useful for any group thinking to embark in a design project, as well as design professionals. More resources are under development. We invite everyone to have a look, try out the materials and tools offered, pick and choose, adapt or expand them and share them in their networks. Our only request is to come back and talk to us about your experiences! Check out http://www.empoweringdesign.net/edp-resources.html

A version of this blog was published in the Design@Open blog, available here.

On 21 November 2018, the EDP team and workshop attendees came together in the former Benedictine Priory of St James*, the oldest building in Bristol, for our second Design Studio looking at how film can be used as a tool in the design process and for community engagement. The Norman grandeur of the Roman Catholic church built in 1129 was an inspiring backdrop for us to learn about community filmmaking in the design process from Tot Foster, an experienced filmmaker and media producer. The design studio brought together people that lead community projects to improve their buildings, and those who support with such groups, to explore how film can be used in the engagement process.​ ​

In practical terms, the day long workshop was a mixture of learning about community filmmaking through several case studies, using scenarios to understand more about storytelling, interviewing, and experimenting with shooting film with our own mobile phones. We also spent some time talking strategies and  the basics of filmmaking to understand what might be involved in creating a film project. Tot was keen for people to leave the workshop with the sense that ‘making a film was doable, what are good strategic approaches, how to collect community voices into engagement activities and feel inspired to give it a try’. ​

The day really highlighted why film is a great tool in the design process. Everybody has a different perspective and ideas regarding the issues surrounding a building design project. Our relationship with building is experiential, activating  our emotions and senses. Whilst a report is often just one voice from one angle, film can offer an inclusive way to help many people's voice to be heard and can capture unmediated viewpoints. Documenting several perspectives not only makes for a more powerful film that can show the ‘story’ surrounding a project. This can offer  vital information and evidence on the complexity of a project and the need for support, which is what funders look for in grant applications. ​

Simple zoom edits can change the entire impression 

​​We learnt that the mainstay of storytelling is interviewing, and that this should be approached as you would a conversation. Listening, not just talking, is key and it is essential to plan what you want to capture from a discussion with someone beforehand. Tot's advice was to start small with one person and one question and film and edit the footage before moving on to more ambitious projects.

The main message of the workshop was that film doesn't have to be difficult or expensive. Tot stressed that most of us have the video camera we need in our mobile phones and that free editing software is available online, and we should not be afraid to experiment.In the end, the key is to identify the right idea for the right space, chose the mode of filmmaking that suits you, get the right people involved and work to the budget you have available.Tot explained that whether you choose to make a film yourself or commission one, it's important to know what you want and to have a plan. One third of filmmaking should be planning, one third is filming and the last third is editing. The main stumbling block people come across is a lack of confidence or the feeling they might not be creative enough to engage with filmmaking. But everybody is creative – just go for it! Grab your mobile and give it a try.

* St James Priory is Grade I Listed and is of historic and architectural interest. In 2004 the buildings were in a very bad condition and were on the at Risk Register by English Heritage Buildings. In 2008, The Heritage Lottery Fund awarded The St James Priory Project a £3.2m grant to conserve and develop the buildings, with the work done by Ferguson Mann architects. The £4.4m church reordering included new meeting rooms, café and visitor facilities, interpretation areas, and access improvements. Most of the new spaces were arranged around the periphery of the main church, in mostly existing spaces within the building, with the church restored and maintained as a spiritual sanctuary for the people of Bristol. The surrounding site and buildings of the Priory are now home to The St James Priory Project, a Charitable Trust that offers support for people recovering from addictions. ​