Creative Estuary is thrilled to be partnering with Cement Fields for This Must Be the Place: Placemaking with Young People – a half-day conference exploring creative placemaking strategies for and by young people.
Featuring insight and learning from Cement Fields’ long-term project working with young people in Ebbsfleet, and guest speakers including Creative Estuary’s director Lorraine Cox. The conference will explore innovative strategies for artists, arts organisations, architects, local authorities and developers to engage young people creatively in the development and regeneration of their towns and cities.
The day will close with the launch of a new film commission created for Ebbsfleet by artist and filmmaker Charlotte Ginsborg. Her new series of short films, Our future, our past, whisper it to me, has been developed in collaboration with local residents, and combines poetry, performance, and documentary to investigate people’s sense of belonging, what home means to them, their experiences of the area, its history, and their vision for the future.
This event is delivered in collaboration with Ebbsfleet Development Corporation and Creative Estuary.
This Must Be the Place is a Cement Fields project and is supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England, and by Ebbsfleet Development Corporation.
Schedule:
See below for the agenda for the day, including full details on each session.
13:30-14:00: Arrival
14:00-14:15: Introduction
Introducing the importance of creatively engaging young people at the forefront of placemaking strategies and future developments, including Cement Fields ongoing work in Ebbsfleet garden city.
Speakers: Jon Davis (Cement Fields), Laura Bailey (Ebbsfleet Development Corporation)
Performance: A newly commissioned poem for Ebbsfleet by Dzifa Benson (Artist & Writer)
14:15-15:15: Session 1 – Engaging Young People
Reaching young people is often the first barrier to meaningful engagement. Session 1 will focus on the approaches to and benefits of engaging young people’s voice in planning new cities. We will share case studies and practical advice on recruitment, fair remuneration, value exchange, and creatively shifting power dynamics.
Chair and Speaker: Lorraine Cox (Creative Estuary)
Speakers: Andy Field (Andy & Beckie), Michaela Freeman (Cement Fields), Dr Rana Khazbak (King’s College London), Huan Rimington (Build Up)
15:15-15:30: Break
15:30-16:30: Session 2 – Co-Designing with Young People
The second session will explore how we can integrate young people in the different stages of design and development, from master planning to co-design. Asking the question – how, when and why should young people be involved in these different development processes?
Chair: Victoria Thornton (Thornton Educational Trust)
Speakers: Joe Gerrard (Define), Julia King (LSE), Jon Shmulevitch (Matt+Fiona), Harry Zimmerman (Ebbsfleet Development Corporation)
16:30-17:00: Break
17:00-18:00: Session 3 – Embracing Creativity and Risk
Artists and young people offer fresh and experimental approaches to placemaking and architecture. In the last session of the day, we will look at how experimentation and risk-taking can form a valuable part of the process of building better new cities and communities.
Chair: Sahra Hersi (Artist & Spatial Designer)
Speakers: Dzifa Benson (Artist & Writer), Arman Nouri (Kin Structures), Meitao Qu (Artist), Ebbsfleet Design Group (part of This Must Be the Place)
18:00-19:00: Drinks
19:00-20:30: Charlotte Ginsborg Film Launch
The conference will be followed by the launch and premier of Charlotte Ginsborg’s new series of short films, Our future, our past, whisper it to me, with an introduction from the artist and Q&A. Commissioned by Cement Fields, the films respond to the new garden city in Ebbsfleet and have been developed in collaboration with local residents as part of This Must Be the Place.
