Creative Health Lead – March Roundup

Image Credit: David Shrigley

It’s been a busy few months for me as I continue my work as Creative Health & Equity Lead across Norfolk & Suffolk. Here’s a round up from March.

Since I started six months ago I’ve been building relationships across sectors, investigating how my role adds value, and iterating on where I can contribute most. One of the key elements of this role, is to remain flexible as you never know where or when an opportunity may develop.

March has been a month of attending external events, to understand what’s happening across the region and cross-sectorally, starting with The Broads Authority – Shape the Future of the Broads: A Collaborative Workshop   The aim of this event was to move beyond “siloed” working and toward a shared, resilient vision for the future. In the workshop, facilitated by Dan Lockton from Norwich University of the Arts, creative design and participatory futuring methods were used to open up collective imagination, and a vision of how we might experience the heritage of the Broads in the coming decades was formed.

Green Social Prescribing is a key element of the NHS 10 Year plan and the Broads Authority have been working with communities via the Water, Mills & Marshes project  to engage with this. They are hosting a further event on the 30th April, if you would like to get involved, tickets are available here: The future of heritage in our changing climate.

The next event, saw me head down to the Suffolk Archives to join the Ipswich Business Thrive Festival  – People and Productivity: Embedding Inclusion for Better Business facilitated by Elma Glasgow & Sarah Arch in collaboration with University of Suffolk. Focusing on learning how to embed aspects of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) into everyday business. The conference delivered a range of thought-provoking talks, workshops, panel discussions, and a keynote speech by Dr Shani Dhanda, exploring how to create positive workplaces by embedding inclusion, a key element for equitable Creative Health delivery.

I then ventured to Lowestoft to attend The Battery of Ideas National Symposium Event, learning from Low Kee Hong, Creative Director at Manchester’s Factory International – exploring how we design creative spaces for future use and changing needs and Tony Butler, OBE, Executive Director at Derby Museums Trust, reflecting on the development of The Silk Mill and Museum of Making and how creative capital projects can nurture lasting creative communities.

The day also included discussion on how testing creative programmes has informed the early stage and ongoing collaboration between the arts sector and local government, as a central part of the Battery of Ideas Place Partnership Project, alongside panel discussions, and site visits of the work developing the Cultural Quarter in Lowestoft.

The very next day, I ventured to Norwich to attend a Cultural Vitality Lab, hosted by the Centre for Cultural Value, Holly Sandiford and Norwich City Council. The Cultural Vitality Labs move cultural vitality research from theory into practice, working directly with local partners to explore how cultural indicators can meaningfully inform policy, planning and community decision-making.

Lab 1 was all about getting to know the cultural life of Norwich in an interactive and collaborative way. Exploring what “cultural vitality” means locally, looking at the mix of people, spaces, activities and relationships that make Norwich unique, and began building a shared picture of where creativity flourishes.

Insights from the Labs will contribute to the ongoing development of a more inclusive and locally grounded approach to cultural data, helping shape future national strategy, including the development of the National Cultural Data Observatory.

My penultimate event, saw me showcasing the Creative Health delivery programmes of Suffolk Artlink at Pollinate & Create. In collaboration with Suffolk Artlink, the Culture Health & Wellbeing Alliance, Natural Habitat, Green Light Trust and Suffolk Wildlife Trust, Suffolk Community Libraries invited six creatives to take part in a week-long intensive residency at Lowestoft Library.

Suffice to say the week provided space to explore new ideas and ways of working, which, following the intensive, will evolve into a tangible community programme supporting healthy habits for Suffolk library users, drawing upon the proven health benefits of creativity and connecting with nature. I will be posting a more in-depth blog of my insights and learning from the intensive in the coming weeks, so watch out for that!

My final event saw me visiting Saxmundham for the East Suffolk Marmot Place workshop, which focused on gathering local insight to inform ongoing Marmot Place work, to create a fairer and healthier East Suffolk. The workshop brought together local partners, organisations and community groups, to help shape next steps in embedding the eight Marmot principles across cross-sector systems.

I will endeavor to write these monthly roundups as a way of sharing the work I am doing to develop the Creative Health Sector for Norfolk & Suffolk.

Thanks for reading, I hope you find them useful.

Stay tuned for next month’s edition.

For ways to add your voice to the Creative Health eco-system, join the new Creative Health Interest Meetings (CHIMe) and/or sign up to the Norfolk & Suffolk Creative Health Mailing List to be kept informed of developments happening across the regions.