Local Spaces and Tech

We were invited by Factory International to work as part of their Social Content Creators Academy in June 2022.

In our first session we were focused on showing the process from local issue to direct policy change through creative activity. The group heard about our recent creative campaign Placemaking Piccadilly, bringing people on low incomes into conversation with decision-makers to make our public spaces more inclusive to all, and got to work reimagining Manchester's central public space with utopian ideas and producing a collaborative piece of art.

This moved into a wider discussion on social actions that we may want to take in our local areas, why it’s important to take action on local issues, mapping out networks of support and advice on what steps we need to take to act.

In the next session, we started to ask how tech and creative content can allow us to explore new local spaces? There are many barriers to accessible travel and cultural exploration, so what are the ways that technology is bridging that gap? Firstly we took part in an interactive virtual tour of MCR by Rick from Invisible Cities, one of our partners providing city tours from people with experiences of homelessness. We chose where our tour path, learnt local history and even tested our knowledge with a quiz.

Next we moved onto creating short-form video content (TikToks and Reels) celebrating areas that are special to us, discussing why they're important and sharing local knowledge.

This session was a lot of fun and brought up some interesting questions; do you think creative content could revolutionise travel to make it more accessible? What local areas are special to you? Would you ever make a video or content sharing them with the world?