SEND conference in Leicester

Please click on the image to enlarge.

A couple of weeks ago I was live scribing at this conference in Leicester because they spotted me working on a similar conference up in Derby last year. 

This inclusion conference was for the Discovery Trust https://discoverytrust.org/ and was the first gathering for quite a few years. It was a big cohort of about 600 and the room was just buzzing with enthusiasm and a lot of laughter.

I was really amazed at how much this trust has achieved in only 14 years. They have a large network of SEND schools, with other more mainstream schools also in the process of joining and they pool resources. This means that the kids get to enjoy a really well rounded education and are really given so many chances to exceed everyone's expectations. It's really wonderful :)

UCL Research project into Intersectionality and access to Mental Health Services

I had a fascinating insight into the lives of South Asian women, working at the Stratford campus of UCL recently. So many stories of resilience and some very heartbreaking testimonies, as well as a rallying cry to improve services and take action to make change happen. Thanks to Labiba Rashid for asking me to scribe at this event.

 

The Future of Work for Young People, London UK

A couple of weeks ago I was asked to scribe at a wonderful day of discussions, learnings, and poetry for a charity in central London. 

The aim was to dig deeper into the Youth Futures Foundation's research findings: what does the next generation want from their working life? Unsurprisingly zero hours contracts and unfair dismissal came up several times. Also: young people are being set up to fail, with poor HR treatment from small companies, a lack of training and progression. Young people need to be educated about their rights from an early age, as some of these experiences happened while the participants were still in secondary school.

This was commissioned by the Youth Futures Foundation https://youthfuturesfoundation.org/ in partnership with Durham University. 

After the morning's work, done on my ipad (above), in the afternoon I pivoted and drew up a mural using old school pens and paper on the wall, as the poetry workshop unfolded. An intense afternoon for the young people taking part! Please click on the image below to enlarge.

 

Urban Planning using Co-production in Croydon, South London, UK

Two years ago I worked for UCL's Coproduction team https://www.ucl.ac.uk/public-engagement/co-production-collective on an urban planning project, helping Croydon council bid for a pot of money from the GLA.

They won the bid, so I've been asked back to help record the co-production process. Image below is a work in progress, the 'vision' for the project is still tbc hence the blank banner space. 

There's a lot of work to be done in and around Croydon,  but as one of the participants said: "if you scratch Croydon it bleeds history" and they have a passionate group of local participants, so watch the space around Surrey Street Market!

Thanks to Niccola Hutchinson Pascal for asking me back, and for recommending me widely to her other UCL colleagues. I've worked on some really interesting projects this year.

UCL - Grand Challenges, Inequalities

 I have been working on some of the ‘Grand Challenges’ research projects for University College London (UCL).

More on these here:https://www.ucl.ac.uk/grand-challenges/

This is the hoped for future, a more balanced and equal one, where everyone is able to participate and internally UCL has become more self-aware and inclusive:

This is the current situation - unbalanced:

And this is a bit of background about a previous project and the fruits of interdisciplinary research:

Inclusion - Schools Conference, Derby

Had a wonderful morning up in Derby yesterday, drawing a slightly epic 4 metres of live scribing for a very enthusiastic and passionate crowd of heads and other inclusive teaching advocates. This is my 3rd year and I’ve already been invited back for next year! Thanks to Jo Wilkinson and the Inclusion Partnership https://inclusionpartnership.co.uk/inclusion-conference/

Also thanks to John Felix for the lovely portraits! https://johnfelix.com/

UCL the Grand Challenges: Climate Change

 

Please double click to enlarge! University College London have several large research projects that they call Grand Challenges, mainly because - they’re huge things to tackle, often described as ‘wicked’ problems. 

This was a town hall on Climate Change, and as we’re all starting to swelter this summer, I really hope some of their research comes up with some gems!