All Blog Posts (102)

This is a blog that appeared recently on the NESTA website following the publication of a report from NESTA and the RSA. Wording attributed to NESTA's Philip Colligan.

"Last week Nesta and the RSA published a report by Ben Rogers calling for citizens to be trained in how to stop fights and intervene in…

This was the refrain from the floor as well as the panel at the Bishop Creighton Academy – Peterborough Cathedral ‘Question Time’ event held in Peterborough last week last week. Around 30 students from Bishop Creighton Academy filed into the Bishop’s Palace in Peterborough Cathedral to quiz faith leaders from the city about the role of their institutions in a diverse 21st century city. The event was the culmination of a year of work that school teachers, the school council, and the Cathedral…

Putting some of my children to bed I found a pair of deely-boppers in the wrong place.

'Who's are these deely-boppers?' I asked.

' I think they're mine' said my eldest. 'That's a good name for them, Daddy' she added.

'That's what they're called' I said. 'They've always been called deely-boppers'...

They've always been called deely-boppers since they were first invented, probably in the late 70s or early 80s. I'll look it up on google in a minute. I wondered to…

The Green Backyard, which is a shining example of what happens when local people are inspired to get involved, and which has helped and inspired many Peterborough citizens to make changes to their lives that make Peterborough a happier and more sustainable city, is now threatened with eviction by Peterborough city council, which would like to sell the land for development, and move the project to a smaller and less suitable site at Railworld. Concerned friends of GBY have started a campaign…

Eid Mela

Featuring: Stalls, Books, food, henna, sweets, facepainting, Clothes, Video exhibition.

A live Naat singer

A Dj

A whirling Derwish

A speaker on spiritual healing plus crystals stall.

Peterborough is on the cusp of doing something really exciting in education, with a whole host of people getting involved in the learning of young people. I ran an event there a couple of weeks ago which sought to surface, celebrate and build upon a range of partnerships in the education sector in Peterborough, including our own Peterborough Curriculum.

There was enormous enthusiasm for more partnership working, more collaboration, and multiple organisations working together. What’s…

I am Didier Soopramanien and together with my colleague Edward Truch we are delighted to be involved with Citizen Power and the social media initiative in Peterborough. We are both researchers at Lancaster University and Fellows of the RSA. Our involvement with Citizen Power is through the RSA. Amongst our various research interests, we are particularly interested in the impact of online technologies on businesses and communities.

As part of this research, we want to look…

We are proud to announce that a Eid Mela is in planning stages and we will update you as soon as we have confirmed details. IF you know of any henna artists or facepainters please get in touch.

If you haven’t seen it already, it’s well worth Peterborough people trekking down to London to see the British Museum exhibition ‘Hajj: Journey to the Heart of Islam’, which is on until 15^th April 2012. As well as the admirably inclusive audience drawn to the event – Peterborough children from schools and mosques have been bussed down to see it ever since it opened in January – there is an interesting Peterborough connection in the figure of Thomas Cook, who in 1886 was made the…

I began UROCK youth Company in 2005 when I realised Young people benefit from an arts environment which supports them socially. They come to our group from across the city and the educational primary /secondary divide. Being part of the company means they make full commitment to the idea of exploring “The Arts” they try everything and they attend for 3 hours every Saturday morning. Sessions are based upon creative approaches and every student is encouraged to think independently and…

Thanks to all of those ChangeMakers who made it to the first meet-up earlier this week.

Among other things, we used the ‘open space’ discussion to talk about:

• The CSR Forum developing in the city and how this could link in with the existing efforts of businesses and volunteer groups, for instance the Rotary Club and Churches Together.

• Peterborough in Transition, a new project being spearheaded by The Green Backyard and…

Talk about 'recovery groups' can often lead to a discussion of 12 step based groups, SMART groups, service-user groups and so on. These types of groups are fairly easy to understand from the ‘outside’ and thanks to the media portrayal of some recovery groups, there can sometimes be a narrow view of them. They can follow particular formats, they can have certain traditions or rules and they can aim for specific outcomes that may be measurable.

But there are also those recovery groups…

If you've got a moment, why not take a look around the Places for All website?

Hosted by a team of University of Sussex researchers and arts practitioners funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, working in partnership with Citizen Power, the website brings together pictures, words, film and theatre drawn from Peterborough residents’ stories.

The team have been collecting photographs, memories…

Tuesday 17 January saw several members of the Citizen Power team descend onPeterborough Town Hall for the …

Do you live in Bretton, or know someone who does?

Could you spare 15 minutes to help Citizen Power, the RSA and local partners to improve wellbeing and connections in Bretton?

Please fill in this short survey [https://www.s2.onasurveys.com/register/register_user.php]…

A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT, YOU KNOW!

ONE thing I find astonishing about Peterborough and its planners is the way the latter have failed to make the most of the River Nene that flows through the city. Or at least they have failed to make the most of it for the majority of the population...…

Michaela Jones contributes this week’s guest blog exploring how social anxiety can act as a barrier to recovery. Michaela is Community Director for Wired into Recovery.

Read it and more @: https://www.rsablogs.org.uk/category/recovery/

Check out my new blog on our work in Peterborough: https://www.rsablogs.org.uk/2011/uncategorized/serendipitous-recovery/

I can't begin to tell you how brilliant the 'expressing recovery' activities have been.…