a different kind of citizenship
American sociologist Oldenburg was one of the first to recognise the role of places such as coffee shops, bookstores, pubs, and hairdressing salons as spaces for socialising and building community. He referred to them as third spaces: un- planned places, beyond work and home, where unrelated people could connect.
It is not surprising then that when I talk to people about the precinct they often comment on how much they enjoy the local coffee shops, bookstores and pubs.
But what’s been exciting for me is the discovery of groups of local residents initiating their own cultural activities across such spaces. One such remarkable cluster of local citizens is the Kensington Arts Group. Formed over six months ago by Kensington residents, they have developed a unique arts program including music and literature evenings in the local pubs, and sustainable visual arts projects in collaboration with local schools – an extraordinary feast of cultural activities for the enjoyment of everyone in and around Kensington.
Such community driven initiatives are I think a reflection of a different kind of citizenship in action – an inspiring form of artistic citizenship – one that uses the arts as the vehicle for building community and affirming our humanity. I look forward to more developments like this.
Teresa Crea Lead Creative
Connection
When Brecknock Consulting were engaged in 2009 to develop a public art strategy for the City of Norwood Payneham & St Peters, my team and I were impressed by the history, diversity, outstanding sense of place and creative nature of the community. However we also started to ask ourselves questions about the ways cities and communities enter into a dialogue regarding contemporary questions about the urban condition and creative communities. We wondered if it is enough to enhance the urban environment with quality contemporary art or indeed can the art become a conversational process through which we can be “Thinking Through The City”. To their great credit Council endorsed our concept and approved the strategy and its implementation, we now look forward to seeing how the community enters into the urban dialogue and how over time it will evolve and take shape across the city. Cities can be thought of as an ever changing stage set upon which our lives are played out, at times we become a lead player and at other times a mere bit player or supporting actor in what seems like a fast moving and improvised melodrama. So let’s use the city to explore the urban condition, our sense of belonging and our individual and communal fears and aspirations.
Richard Brecknock MPIA [SU] Director, Brecknock Consulting
My Street
Mail my Street
I love living in the NPSP area and first moved to the area in 1994 as a uni student. I love the historic architecture, the tree-lined avenues, the high-street feel of the Parade and the open spaces. I also like the feeling of community: our street hosts a xmas party every year in our local reserve, we pick up our FoodConnect veggie box from around the corner, I know my next-door neighbours well and we look out for each other. The social capital in our council area is strong…and yet…I think there is more we can do to ensure that we can connect in new and exciting ways. If you are reading this blog post, you by definition have access to the internet. Odds are you have a facebook page to connect with your friends, possibly a LinkedIn page to connect with work acquaintances, and just maybe a Twitter account to share your ideas with your community of interest, whether that be politics or pigeon-racing. But how can you connect electronically with your neighbours?
I live on a street with 60 or so houses. If I had the time, I could leaflet my neighbours to arrange a fruit swap, playgroup, or car pool. Sadly, leafletting is time-consuming. If, on the other hand, I want to send an email to the neighbours on my street, I can’t. While I know their physical addresses, I don’t know their email addresses. But what if someone, say a Council, established a database where I could choose to link my email address to my physical address? I could email everyone on my street, or in my neighbourhood, with the click of a website button without ever having to know their email details.Of course, there are technical issues to be resolved, such as privacy, safe usage and spam, but I’m sure these could be worked through in a small scale prototype. Imagine then, the enhanced ability for neighbours to connect and communicate, to share and create, across our communities. Social innovation works best when it not only improves lives, but also creates new relationships and enhances society’s capacity to act. What better way than to make it easier for neighbours to connect with one another?
Brenton Caffin, Local Resident, Chief Executive Officer, Australian Centre for Social Innovation
