Towards the Edge

Wendy Brewin, Sensory Trust

Sensory Trust completed a series of consultation engagement sessions as part of the Eden Project’s funding bid to the Big Lottery for their final big build; the Edge. The environment was planned to be semi-arid, a desert, providing the backdrop for some of the biggest global issues of our time - climate change, water and energy conservation and living within limited resources.

The Edge uses experiential and sensory design to help create spaces and experiences that challenge people to think, not simply to absorb what they are told. Underground chambers will provide space for school and community groups to work with artists, scientists and others. Our role was to help feed this design process by collecting ideas, questions and insights from local people. We were on a quest to find out what people value: in their personal lives, in their communities and globally.

Our focus was the people that tend to be overlooked by conventional community consultation. We spoke with older people, disabled people, people for whom English is not their first language and with residents from a disadvantaged neighbourhood – all based in Cornwall. We talked about personal values, community values and global values. What were the things that people felt were most important to them? What changes had they seen in their communities? Did they feel connected to what was going on in other parts of the world? Did they see their actions as having any impact on others?

The following insights are drawn from the different groups but there was one consistent element that stood out above the rest; the resilience of the human spirit and the propensity of people to find compassion and optimism when facing times of living on the edge. This is instrumental in giving people a sense that “I can do this” or “we won’t be ignored” or “I am useful and I can contribute”. These often form the basis of the most inspiring and thought-provoking stories that we learn.

Older people and their stories

We used the subject of life during wartime and post-war periods when talking to older people to try and find out what they valued during a time when they lived with limited resources. We had assumed there would be stories of hardship, food shortage and of separated families and disjointed communities. These did come out during our conversations but instead we heard a lot of humour and upbeat memories. Most of the older people in our sessions did not come from areas that had been seriously affected by the war – most of them were from rural areas of England that had not been bombed nor heard air raid sirens wailing. However, every corner of the country had been affected to some degree and their stories were relevant to their particular place. There were stories of dances held nearly every night of the week and of romance; stories of children not knowing how to eat a banana because they’d never seen one before; one lady recounted when her mother fell into the cesspit in the garden and came up not exactly smelling of roses.

They spoke about communities pulling together because everyone was in the same situation. A sense of togetherness connected people; it helped them to ‘make do’, to share their food with others and to remember the good times along with the bad. This was an important illustration of what community strength means.

Newcomers and their contributions

We met with a Link into Learning group in Falmouth to engage with people who have moved to Cornwall from other countries; who don’t know many people and for whom English is not their first language. They learn literacy, numeracy and IT skills at the centre. Within the group, people originate from all over the world, covering a range of cultures and backgrounds. Yet there was the feeling that this was a large group of friends who looked forward to getting together once a week, learning together, sharing new and old experiences.

This group of people, their cultures and backgrounds being so different, had been brought together under the same circumstances; trying to build a new life for themselves. It reminded us of the comments made by many of the older people – that we build this camaraderie at times when many of us find ourselves struggling in the same boat.

Residents and their wishes

We also worked with a residents association from a local housing estate that had been set up to deal with problems on the estate, such as teenage drinking and drug abuse, by taking positive action themselves.

During the sessions, people were encouraged to write messages to others. They were asked to write words or a short phrase that had helped them to have a fulfilling life and that they thought would be useful words of wisdom to pass on. The messages were then posted into a makeshift post box. People knew that the messages would not actually be posted but the idea of posting the message had several functions; one being that it brought the sessions properly to a close, another was that these messages would be available for the Eden Project to use at a later date, in the Edge building, to show what people really wish for. A message written by hand has more strength, inspiration and influence behind it than one that is typed; real messages written to the reader by real people.

Interestingly, the messages written by the people in this group were all to the community that they lived in. These people wanted other residents to realise that the estate wasn’t completely lost to the bad influences within it; that other places in the world had a much harsher time, that they should have more respect for their environment and to see that the group was made up of residents just like them; that people on the estate could make their own decisions and influence the future of the estate by joining in with the working groups and attending meetings on the estate. As one lady remarked:

 “If it’s not people going along who have your normal aspirations and your normal wants and needs in your community, you’ve just got a load of suits and agencies totally missing the point. You need people saying we’ve got a load of smack-heads, that’s the opinion and that’s reality.”

There was a true sense of commitment from these people to improve their lives and those of their neighbours and the environment that they lived in. At times, they were almost defensive about the estate, especially when we talked about other people’s perceptions of it. There was a sense of pride as well, a sense that they saw it as their place; they knew its negative aspects but they also saw the potential for a lot of positive things to happen.

Disabled people and their skills

We spoke with various groups of disabled people; people with communication disabilities (aphasia), people with learning disabilities and wheelchair users.

Conversations about values can lead to some personal emotions coming to the surface and at one session a lady with aphasia explained how much happier she had felt since her stroke; that taking up painting (something she had never done before her stroke) created strong positive emotions within her that were difficult for her to describe to others. She was noticeably moved whilst sharing this with us as were others in the group who had similar accounts to tell. Everyone in the aphasia group spoke about having two lives, the first before their stroke and the second afterwards; all agreed that their second life was better than the first. Most felt that they hadn’t done enough with their lives beforehand but that the stroke had provided them with the opportunity to do more; to help others more; to be more involved with their communities.

It was striking how much these individuals put into their communities; through volunteer work as drivers, teachers, managing support groups, members of local interest groups and self-advocacy groups helping others to speak up for themselves. Many spkoe about how they wanted people to understand that being disabled wasn’t bad, that they had as much experience to offer the community as other people; that communication was important to form strong communities and to prevent people from becoming, or feeling isolated.

Findings from the Edge consultation sessions

These are comments provided at consultation sessions. These observations highlight some of the issues and themes that ran through the various sessions.

Migration and immigration proved to be a difficult subject to open up for debate as the discussions were quickly overtaken by people with strong (often racist) views. Perhaps emphasising the importance of providing a venue where more sensitive issues can be opened up in a way that gives people time to think them through for themselves.

There were a lot of knee-jerk reactions to questions but a tendency for people to reconsider when there was more questioning and debate. Again this suggests a value in providing opportunities for people to hear different perspectives and to have time to consider their own opinions.

A fear of change from new people moving into local communities was evident, although not clear exactly what the fear related to. This could suggest a value in building bridges between different groups/communities so that people become more positive about the value of diversity.

Local/global – there was generally little sign that people find it easy to connect issues relating to their local communities to a wider global context.

People said how much they enjoyed taking part in these consultation sessions. They liked the chance to get together with other people to debate and hear different people’s views. This suggests that providing more opportunity for people to get involved in discussing/debating issues would be welcomed.

The groups had quite strong pre-conceived ideas about other groups – older people saying younger people lack respect etc. highlights the importance of bringing different groups together.

The importance of finding a common purpose to bond people was highlighted.

Generally there’s a feeling that people have less time for spending with people. In particular, several comments were made about parents today putting financial security (and therefore security for their children in the form of putting food on the table, having a roof over their head and being able to buy them new shoes, clothes, Playstations and so on) above spending actual quality time playing and talking with their children.

Importance of imagination– having more can mean people use their imagination less.

Having less means you value more what you had. Now people put more value on what they don’t have.

There was some surprises that came from the conversations with disabled people; the Access to Life group in particular. These are people who have had multiple strokes and as a result now have varying degrees of Aphasia, a communication disability. This group broke down pre-conceived ideas that most people have about disabilities and disabled people in the community. They all felt very strongly that they have a gift that they could share with others in the community; a gift that came from having had a stroke or other disability. They want people to know that being disabled is nothing to fear, they themselves are living a second life since their strokes – a better life than the first because this time around they are sharing their experiences, knowledge and skills with other people; they are giving more to the community now than they did in their ‘first life’. One woman actually described how happy she felt these days and that she knew deep down that she was going to be ok and had taken up walking and painting since her stroke and found painting to be an emotional experience – one which was difficult for her to describe.

There was an overall interest and positive reaction to the concept of the Edge. Most people who attended the consultation sessions were keen to find out what part The Edge would play in helping to solve some of the problems today such as climate change, a lack of community cohesion and reluctance by individuals to get involved in positive action.

Update:

Sadly the funding bid was unsuccessful and so the plans for the new development couldn't move forward, but the consultation proved to be of great value in feeding ideas for further community projects by Sensory Trust and Eden Project, such as Clay Futures.

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