Urban Rooms Roadshow Roundup
20/08/24
Over the last year the Urban Room Network has been visiting locations across the UK to spread the word about Urban Rooms. The Urban Rooms Roadshow was a knowledge exchange project funded by The University of Sheffield with the aim of supporting local organisations to work together and set up a new Urban Room in their place.
Central to the workshops was the newly developed Urban Rooms Toolkit that features case studies from existing Urban Rooms, advice on how to set up and sustain an Urban Room, and a database of creative engagement methods that have been tried and tested by our members.
We supported local partners in Chatham, Ipswich, Wolverhampton and Bilston to set up new Urban Rooms through the Roadshow workshops. We also gave CPD presentations to planners, architects, community developers, cultural managers, and local government officers in Nottingham, Wolverhampton, Sheffield, Cardiff and Woolwich.
It's been great to meet so many people across the country who are enthusiastic about Urban Rooms and working hard to set one up on their high street, civic centre or neighbourhood. Challenges still arise regarding acquiring appropriate spaces, gaining funding and sustaining an Urban Room in the long term - however, it's clear that sharing the knowhow and good practice from the Urban Rooms Network has helped local partners to understand what has worked elsewhere, and what might work where they are.
"The workshop had a high impact with a wide reach. There was a partnership ethos within the room which was encouraging. The event brought together a lot of people and we were able to have a conversation with them with a credibility that was otherwise hard to do. What was very helpful from the workshop was the buy-in from senior officers, members and decision-makers." Duncan Berntsen, Senior Urban Design Officer, Medway Council
"Had a fantastic time earlier this week at the beautiful Wolverhampton Museum & Art Gallery learning more about Urban Rooms! Thank you so much Carolyn Butterworth and Diane Dever for a great presentation, definitely something we want to support at West Midlands Combined Authority." Salla Virman, Strategic Lead for Culture & Heritage, West Midlands Combined Authority
Over the last year the Urban Room Network has been visiting locations across the UK to spread the word about Urban Rooms.
The Urban Rooms Roadshow was a knowledge exchange project funded by The University of Sheffield with the aim of supporting local organisations to work together and set up a new Urban Room in their place.
We supported local partners in Chatham, Ipswich, Wolverhampton and Bilston to set up new Urban Rooms through the Roadshow workshops. We also gave CPD presentations to planners, architects, community developers, cultural managers, and local government officers in Nottingham, Wolverhampton, Sheffield, Cardiff and Woolwich.
It's been great to meet so many people across the country who are enthusiastic about Urban Rooms and working hard to set one up on their high street, civic centre or neighbourhood!
For more information about the newly developed Urban Rooms Tool Kit, click here.