Project Launch - Lift Off

Launch - Lift Off - We have Connected and Created, Let's Continue....

One Community. One Coventry

Our Launch Event - co-creating our Community

A huge thank you to everyone who joined us on Thursday, January 16th, 2025, at Fargo Village, Coventry. It was an incredible day, full of excitement and hope.

Around 65 attendees took time out of their busy lives—away from screens, Zoom calls, and meetings—to help co-create this new project and community. Among them, over 40 were from policy, creative, and third-sector backgrounds.

For more on the event, check out this week’s blog. Each week, we’ll feature a "splodge of thoughts" from someone involved. This week, it’s India Holme, Project Principal Investigator and Project Manager at the University of Warwick, sharing her reflections on the launch event and expressing her gratitude.

Want to submit your own splodge? Get in touch with us at coventrycollaboraction@warwick.ac.uk.

Membership Form

Your membership forms are crucial to building our community. We want to know:

Your thoughts and suggestions.

Preferred days/times for future events and workshops.
Whether the event helped connect our communities.
Which emerging projects interest you.
What type of membership you'd prefer and the skills/expertise you can contribute to CovenTRY CollaborACTION.

BECOME A MEMBER: CLICK LINK

Excited about joining us on our NEXT STEPS...read on....

CovenTRY CollaborACTION - Our 'home' of Coventry

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

Imagine Coventry as a big, cozy house full of ideas, dreams, and people working together. Now, picture the kitchen in this house — a place where people gather, talk, and figure things out. It’s where the action happens, everyone connects.

This kitchen has a special table, the CovenTRY CollaborACTION table— where new ideas are born, dreams are shared, and plans for the future are made.

But here’s the thing: the table needs building. Not just any table…a Lego table. Real-sized, with tiny bricks. It will take time but the people of Coventry are excited because this table will be important not just for them but for 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 our collaborACTION 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! Every brick, no matter how small, is a step towards making Coventry a better place for everyone.

Starting to Build

At first, we start building alone, brick by brick. However, we will need a lot more help. We need researchers, policy, makers, the community and many more who are willing to roll up their sleeves and dive in.

But whats special about Lego is—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 NEED YOU HELP

’Many hands make light(er) work’

This 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 where collaborACTION is key.

So, we invite more to join in. We plan, we build, and most importantly—we have fun doing it.

We know the collaborACTION table has to be big enough for EVERYONE. This isn’t just any table—it’s a table where everyone’s voice matters.

We are 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.

The table so far…

As collaborACTION is starting to take shape and grow we need this space to reflect on the past, talk about today, and dream about the future.

It’s not just a table for a coffee—it’s a table for big conversations and even bigger dreams and we need to make sure that everyone has a seat.

”Bridging the gap between the third sector, researchers, and policy makers effectively.”

What do we want to happen?

What do we need to happen?

What can we make happen?

What will make our City a better place for everyone?

Over the next few months, as collaborACTION grows, we begin to speak with more people to understand the needs of our City and how we can collaboratively help make real change.

“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!

“The power of dreams” is huge, and we know that when we come together, we can do anything.

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.

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...

The one who plants the seed can never see the fruit that 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 Project" 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

CovenTRY how are we going to TRY and exchange knowledge and create change and impact?

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.

NEXT STEPS

We’ll collect your membership forms and feedback to create our Community Member webpages.
We’ll work with our team and members to finalize our Vision Statement, Theory of Change, and video/animation.
We’ll organize meetings, workshops, funding sandpits, and KE sessions around our 6 themes and emerging projects, working with the membership forms and directly with our members.
We’ll grow our social media following and share member updates and info with other communities.
We’ll plan and co-create the next phase of the project and how to fund it funding.
We will continue to take action and CollaborACT.

As John Bernard said in the spoken word piece..."Doesn’t the future belong to those who take heed of the present?"

Let’s pay attention to the present, learn from the past, and take action to close the research-policy gap and create positive change.