An event to raise public awareness of Doughnut Economics through arts and call for community action
Introduction
On October 2022, we held our launch event at Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art. It was the culmination of two months of organising and promotion. There were so many people and organisations involved, but we managed to pull it off through collaboration. We have definitely encountered difficulties as a result of some people suddenly cutting us off or not responding, nevertheless there were always others who stepped in and supported us. These new links have led to our future projects and activities, so the lesson learnt is to keep communicating, and when both parties take action as promised, amazing things start to happen.
It was a beautiful event where the vision was aligned and people from various fields who wouldn't have interacted normally had the opportunity to meet and discuss what we have in common - caring for the future environment and our community and the global community.
Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art was an apt place as we used arts to express our message of 1) Urgency for action (paintings) 2) Focus on local inspirations (Music) 3) importance of collaborations (dance) 4) be creative and have fun with circular economy (games, arts& craft)
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To raise awareness of Boro Doughnut and its mission
Specific aims
To improve public perception of the urgent need for community action
To increase optimism for spreading already successful solutions in Middlesbrough by taking actions together
To make progress in collecting qualitative data by giving voice to the public their opinion on the actual state in relation to the goal of ‘Thriving Middlesbrough’
Objectives
To use Talks to inspire solutions from the local community
To engage public with interactive workshop
To express Doughnut principles and core message using arts (Art, music, dance, play)
To spread the idea through play activities
To collect data about Middlesbrough’s current actual state
To inform public & stakeholders of ways to collaborate
To inform future events/activities
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If you would like to find out how we managed this, please get in touch and I can share action plans, promotional materials, plans for volunteer roles etc. I believe we have dealt with everyone in a Doughnut way and this launch has given us a great starting point for our organisation as we demonstrated that we can deliver professionally and harmoniously.
Pictures and descriptions from the event
Mirror and leap out by Elina Smyth-think out of the box, DE way
Think again, time is NOW by Elina Smyth - calling for urgent community action
Opportunity to meet, now BORO D members Rumana, Sam and Graham
Presenter Peg, who also did it for Leeds
Giuseppe, Egyptologist sharing ancient wisdom and our connection with nature
Julie, after giving talk about intergenerational community projects, leading puppet making
Geeta giving talk introduction to DE, distributive principle
Interactive workshop where the public think we are in the Doughnut in Middlesbrough
Circular economy puppet to spread the concept of DE
Mia kick started the event by calling for urgent action for the future of their generation
We had large of number of children attending the event
Danny explaining the 4 lenses, how it is like having kestral's eyes what can see ultraviolet lights, we need special lenses to aim for the Doughnut vision
4 lenses mask to be mindful- think before we act and consider global/local social/ecological implications of our actions
This is what 4lenses make look like from the front, you have 4 lenses unrolling the Doughnut at the back of your mind all the time -what every we do, we think of thriving inside the Doughnut
New members Peter, Joy and Anthony, who won the art competition
Workshop for everyone to think about their own next actions
Graham who came to the event now is a director
Where are we in the Doughnut workshop
opportunities to learn from one another
Rumana also now is a director leading community engagement after attending the event
Truly a community event
One of the positive feedback was the fact that we gave voices to people who usually do not feel listened to
Barbara, who joined as a volunteer is now a board member, taking on data research and community engagement
Audience participation calling for more equality
'We just want to be included. Just talk to us and work towards better accessibility for us.' It was a moving moment in the event
More families participants
Harrowgate Primary Rebecca has brought many eco related books for the children, so the children explored after joining arts & crafts using reused materials
Jenga (current economic system) and Hoola Hoops were there to demonstrate Circular Economy. when we keep practising, we can keep on turning circular economy. They were encouraged to recite the 8 Rs - Reuse Recycle Reduce Refurnish Return Repair Rethink Redesign as they turned the hoop.
There was a high family engagement and MIMA was an excellent venue.
Robin singing local folk song to introduce presenters who already taking Doughnut initiatives in Middlesbrough. His soulful singing brought the spirit of this community to light
Rebecca giving talks to inspire others to start forest and eco-schools. Truly inspirational teacher
The audience agreed, it was a fantastic presentation
Full of optimism through out the event
Amjid getting applaud for his great presentation for his work in Middlesbrough for more inclusivity and connections through media
We had Q& A and discussion time for more interactions with the audience
Community Connectors Andy engaging the public
Discussions after talks about circular economy FurbdIT by Fran and Equality by Amjid
Phil and Bob discussing the importance of arts in communicating DE
MIMA was fantastic providing us with extra arts activities for the children
Tristan answering questions and explaining visions of BORO Doughnut
We had 2 friendly reception hosts engaging with the public as they come in. They handed out prizes and 'doughnut ring' cupcakes to take home.
We showed the importance of networking; Better to collaborate than all working separately through dance - Adina and Niko dancing Bachata beautifully together
This is how we want to be, collaborating harmoniously with other organisations
Over hundred people came throughout the event and about a third stayed on until the very end
Evaluation: postcard to self- we asked what they would like to do after this event, and if they would like to get involved more.
Nik taking the lead in evaluation workshop. We had positive feedback that they learnt more about Doughnut Economics and would like to learn more and get involved
Amanda Faulkner from The HIVE, Knaresborough made the wonderful closing speech. We would like to carry on collaborating within Yorkshire region.
Her speech captured what we aim to do support each other take actions, together
Joy who has been living the Doughnut way for many years, hoping to learn more from her
Local artist Anthony Silver, he is now member of BORO Doughnut
Local journalist Elvis and son. They filmed the whole three hour event. You can watch it over three videos on youtube (links at the top of the story)
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