What was the problem?
In all previous evaluation of work carried out with Town Teams, their failure to engage young people in their formal representative structures has been identified as a shortcoming.
Cre8 was designed to test new and different creative approaches to involving young people in the future of their communities. It aimed to achieve this by:
• forwarding young people’s ideas about the renaissance of their place
• engage with young people through creative media
• providing opportunities to work alongside artists and professionals
• developing awareness of what goes into making great places to live, work, play and invest.
What action was taken?
The Cre8 project was targeted in four towns across Yorkshire and the Humber. Each group used a different creative process to feed their ideas into their respective Town Teams:
Colne Valley (Slaithwaite & Marsden), Kirklees, West Yorkshire
A core group of 8 young people worked with a film production professional to produce a video about their town. They filmed various activities in their community including local festivals, interviews with older residents, and various issues that the group feel are valuable to them. The footage will be edited into a short film through which they hope to raise issues of concern, for example the lack of a dedicated facility / meeting place for young people in the Valley.
Commenting through film, the young people of Kirklees
Howden (East Riding of Yorkshire)
The Soundscape project engages young people to produce a creative work of ‘sound art’, which conveys meanings or statements about their town. One specific proposal arising from this work is the installation of a number of ‘Teen Shelters’ to provide young people with a secure and comfortable place to ‘hang out’ with their friends.
Skipton (North Yorkshire) & Bridlington (East Riding of Yorkshire)
The majority of group members in Skipton are young women aged 16 to 18, of whom several have children. They devised a puppetry piece that has evolved into a feature on young mothers, highlighting the services and facilities that they would like to see developed as part of the town vision. The Bridlington project involves creative writing.
Topics associated with this project
Analysis, Breakthrough thinking, Communication, Decision making, Project management, Skills, Stakeholder management, Visioning, Yorkshire and Humber