Rooted in principles of co-design, National Festival of Making worked with Blackburn with Darwen’s People’s Jury on the Climate Crisis over a period of 12 months to develop a new creative project.
Through collective decision-making, the collaboration aimed to engage the public in conversations around climate change and generate civic pride and action through creative thinking.
We supported the People’s Jury group to develop an artist brief and conduct interviews before selecting Get It Done for the collaboration. With Get It Done’s support, the group built giant chalkboards for the National Festival of Making, asking the public to share climate-friendly tips and trips.
Hundreds of visitors covered the boards and floor with chalk, all contributing to the content for a new web forum.
Continued collaboration saw a piece of public art installed in the town centre, using shadows to bring attention to the changes in weather and the passing of time as we draw closer to a climate-unstable future. The group worked to design the artwork through a series of creative workshops, from brainstorming the wording and mocking up the artwork to drawing what a positive climate future looks like for the area.
The final piece was made from recycled plastics collected from Lancashire Businesses by Relic Plastic. The artwork is now installed on the front of The Making Rooms, adjacent to the Town Hall, acting as a gentle reminder to passers-by of our need to take action.
About the People’s Jury
Originally brought together by Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council and facilitated by Shared Future, The People’s Jury were a group of residents representing a mini-population of Blackburn with Darwen, mirroring local demographics in terms of age, gender, ethnicity, ward area and attitude towards climate change. Over 30 hours in 2022, the Jury heard from local experts, scientists and researchers, all giving them a different perspective on climate change. The aim was to create a set of recommendations answering: What do we need to do in our homes, in business and our local area to help tackle the climate change crisis?
About Get It Done
Get It Done supports people to address social issues in their local community through creativity and collective action, to come together and ‘get it done.’ Since 2017, they have provided free and low-cost opportunities for thousands of people to engage in creativity and culture across the UK.
Based in Manchester and South London, their work is twofold; producing creative projects with communities to drive positive impact, and supporting creative leaders to take action and bring their bold ideas to life.
Photography by Get It Done, Beatrice Davidson and National Festival of Making.