CovenTRY CollaborACTION - Our 'home' of Coventry

Building Coventry’s Home: A Story of Collaboration and Action

Imagine Coventry as a big, cozy house, with rooms full of ideas, dreams, and people working together. Now, picture the kitchen in this house as the heart of everything—a place where people gather, talk, and figure things out. It’s where the action happens, where everyone connects, refuels, and sometimes stays up late, putting the world to rights.

This kitchen has a special table, the CovenTRY CollaborACTION table—a place where new ideas are born, dreams are shared, and plans for the future are made. But here’s the thing: the table needs to be built. And not just any table… a Lego table. Yep, real-sized, with tiny but sharp Lego bricks that sometimes like to hide in the carpet, making your feet say, “Ouch!” But the people of Coventry are excited because this table is important for their home—Coventry itself.

The Plan: Redesigning the City

We know our home—Coventry—needs a bit of a makeover. The city has been around for a while, and with the world changing, we want to update it to make sure it’s a happy, safe, and healthy place. We want the future to be bright, but we also want to take care of today.

The first step? Building a big, strong table for everyone to gather around and work together. We know that making our home, Coventry, ready for the future is going to take time, but we’re up for it. After all, it’s all about creating something great—and fun, too!

Starting to Build

At first, we start building the table alone, brick by brick. We quickly realize we need a lot more help. Lego tables don’t build themselves, after all! We need designers, builders, and friends who are willing to roll up their sleeves and dive in.

But there’s something special about Lego—you can change the design as you go! As we build, we start talking, sharing ideas, and having fun with each block that clicks into place. As we build, we’re not just creating a table; we’re creating a space where big ideas can be discussed and dreams can start to take shape.

This table, and the actions we take to build it, might help shape the future of Coventry.

We’re working together to redesign our home, our city,

to make it the best it can be.

Co-Designing the Table

We know that building this table isn’t just about stacking blocks. It’s about working together, using all the skills and ideas we have, and making something that’s just right for Coventry.

So, we invite more friends and designers to join in. We need to figure out which parts of the table need to be built first, which ones will take longer, and which ones need the most bricks. We plan, we build, and most importantly—we have fun doing it.

As we build, we know the table has to be big enough for all the people we want to invite to the kitchen. This isn’t just any table—it’s a table where everyone’s voice matters.

And soon, we realize we’re building something much bigger than just a table. We’re building a community that will work together to try to solve wicked problems—the challenges facing Coventry.

Co-Designing the Table

A Big, Strong Table

The table is starting to take shape, and it’s getting bigger and bigger. We need a space to reflect on the past, talk about today, and dream about the future. And, wow, that’s a lot of space! It’s not just a table for lunch—it’s a table for big conversations and even bigger dreams.

Over the next few months, as the table gets stronger, we begin to imagine the rest of our home—our city. What rooms will we need? What spaces will help us be creative, stay healthy, and make the home even better?

Dreams and Action

While we’re still building the table, we’re also thinking about all the other rooms we need in our home. We dream about places where we can protect ourselves from the elements, stay active, and enjoy our free time. And as we dream, we keep working together—gathering the blocks, moving forward step by step.

“Local challenges in need of attention must be addressed collaboratively and creatively.”

CollaborACTION

So, we need to keep going—one Lego brick at a time—inviting everyone to join in and help out.

Together, we’re building a home that everyone in Coventry can feel proud of.

Grab Your Blocks and Join In!

This isn’t just about building a table. It’s about building something bigger. It’s about action, collaboration, and creativity. “The power of dreams” is huge, and we know that when we come together, we can do anything.

So, grab your Lego blocks, come into the kitchen, and help us finish the table! There’s always space for new ideas, and no one gets left behind. Whether you have big ideas or small, whether you want to add just one block or help design a whole room, there’s always a place at the table.

Together, we’ll take action to exCHANGE knowledge and build impact, perhaps helping to transform Coventry—our home.

Many hands, make 'light'(er) work

That’s what we know. The more hands that help, the faster the table grows. And together, we’ll make sure the table is just for us—a reflection of our community, our values, and our dreams. This is CovenTRY where CollaborACTION is key.

The Lego blocks? They represent our actions. Every time we add a block, it’s one more step towards making the table—and Coventry—a better place for everyone. Each block counts, whether it’s a small action or a big one. It’s all about working together, piece by piece, to create something that lasts.

Building and Bridging

As the Lego table gets stronger, we start to think about how we can make sure the different parts of our home—Coventry—fit together. “Bridging the gap between the third sector, researchers, and policymakers effectively.” We know it’s not just about building the table—it’s about making sure everyone has a seat.

We took action to share our knowledge

We collaborACTED.

We tried.

We created.

We made lots of connections.

We had lots of ideas.

We talked about hard topics.

We felt connected.

We felt energised.

We felt enthusiastic.

We feel hopeful.

We feel optimistic.

Innovation and Transformation

Together, we want to try to transform Coventry—not just create something new for it. We want to try and tackle the big issues facing our city, together, and make a real difference for everyone who lives here.

This isn’t just about a new table; it’s about finding ways to make positive impacts on society and culture, biodiversity and sustainability, climate change and behaviour change, economic development, jobs and skills, mental and physical health and wellbeing, and digital inclusion.

We want to use research and policy to help Coventry in it's constant strive to be a better, more inclusive, and sustainable place for everyone.

We have started to further connect our communities

We have launched. We have 'took off'.

We are excited about where we might go.

We will TRY to Go Far.

We know it's not always just the end result that is important, but the actions we take and the process of trying.

As through those actions and those processes, that the impact will spread. The the seeds of change will be sewn.

And remember whilst often ...

The one who plants the seed can never see the fruit that grows.

If we plant many seeds, and water and nurture them, together, we may see the shoots emerging, perhaps we will even see the fruit trees... and the Cov Kids of today, our cities young people, they will see the fruit grows.

The what, why and where of the project

The WHAT and the WHY? The STORY (CollaborACTION)

In this workshop attendees reflected on a short animation created by Josh Leach, India Holme and Marie Clews.

The animation, 'Bob's Story' shares the story of a little blob, called Bob. Bob has a tough time and the animation helps us to reflect on why Bob had a tough time, what things could be done differently to help other Bob's.

In this workshop collaborACTORS considered changes to the animation, what it meant to them, what other stories we may want to tell, to who, why and how.

'Bob's Story' was well received overall and collaborACTORs mostly felt that it was a very engaging and visual way of trying to explain how people and policy are connected.

How we are going to do it

The HOW and the RESEARCH (Change)

This workshop considered and explored the research aspect of the project with Haley Beer and Roze Navab."Cooking Up The Perfect Research Projectl used a cooking analogy to explored what makes the ‘perfect research project in terms of ingredients, skills and methods, and final product.

Through interactive discussions, CollaborACTORS explored what ingredients are required to start an effective research project, what skillsets researchers should have to help stakeholders engage and thrive in research projects, and characteristics of the perfect research project outcomes.

This was the first chance to reflect on what makes Coventry a dynamic and impactful research landscape, and to play a vital role in driving the research focus of the project.

The WHERE are we going? The VISION (Impact)

This workshop was inspired by the spoken word piece created by Coventry Poet Laureate, John Bernard, especially for our project.

Our CollaborACTORS came together to reflect on the project’s vision, looking at Coventry’s past, present, and future. They considered how things have been, how they are now, and where they could go.

The group discussed where we might be in 6 months and where we want to go in the longer term. The session was facilitated by John Bernard and India Holme.

Throughout the workshop, the themes of drawing lessons from the past, understanding the present, and working towards a hopeful, optimistic future emerged. The impacts of lockdowns, austerity, screen time, disconnection, loneliness, and anxiety about the future were all addressed. The group emphasized the importance of creating a vision that is both realistic and achievable, yet also ambitious and hopeful—building on Coventry's existing strengths and expertise.

The HOW and the KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE

Working with Adela Glyn-Davies and Sherrie Edgar this workshop saw CollaborACTORS break into two team and test and co-create the first 2 prototype 'workshops in a box'.

These prototypes have been specially made for the project to help facilitate research development and co-creation workshops between diverse groups and attendees.

The CollaborACTORs were very engaged with the prototypes and the researchers are really excited about writing up all the outcomes from the workshops and applying them to next iteration of the prototypes.