Placemaking Education

The website for the 2nd #GlobalPlacemakingSummit is up! Please help us shape and support what this event can become. https://lnkd.in/e8ZAF5kq Grateful to Placemaking Canada and an amazing #PlacemakingToronto community for leading on what is sure to be a spirited, enlightening and impactful event. Let us know if you think you can join, and any ideas for the Summit!

🏘️ Places are important. They affect our identity, worldview, values, ideas, education, employment prospects, physical and mental health, life expectancy, wealth and happiness. Places shape our lives. Town Team Movement created Placemaking Education to share and build on the experiences of the local and global #placemaking movement. Launched in 2022 in collaboration with PlacemakingX, here’s some of the highlights from a big 2024! 💡 More than 3,600 people from 115 countries have completed one of our free and paid courses so far https://lnkd.in/gYhRs4NQ 🌱 Seeding important ideas, including a webinar with Seth Kaplan on Fragile Neighborhoods and Jon Alexander on Citizenship 🛫 An Australian tour with the amazing Ryan Smolar from PlacemakingUS ⛵ An online Collective Flourishing Program with Clare Sarah Goodridge to link research on personal growth and development to the ideas and processes of #placemaking and #asset-based community development. Connecting and contributing to your community is not only good for your neighbourhood, but it is also one of the best ways to help yourself! 🙏 11,000+ followers on LinkedIn, an increase of 63% across the year And we are helping to catalyse change! 👉 533 staff from 96 local governments in Western Australia did at least one of the courses, thanks to the support of Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries and WA Local Government Association (WALGA) 👉 43% of survey respondents have said they have made policy or process changes as a result of the training, with another 30% considering making changes. 👏 Some of the feedback includes: “I started this course to 'tick a box' as I felt I had an understanding of placemaking already, but this course was like a whole 'light-bulb' moment for me. Very inspiring. Less thinking about it, more doing!”. "The placemaking course was amazing and gave me a much greater understanding of what placemaking is, how it can be achieved within local government and how to take the community on the journey of placemaking. The course has inspired me to think outside of the box”. Thanks for all the support in big 2024! Wishing everyone a safe and happy holiday season! With the right principles and approaches, we can create better places, which will lead to improved social, economic and environmental outcomes.

#Placemaking is a collaborative innovation process that works across disciplines, organisations and interests for a common goal - creating better places. The approach is a 'silo-buster'. The High Street Taskforce's six years of work in the UK found that: "The paucity of place partnerships across the country was a key barrier to progress. The need to restructure local governance arrangements to mobilise expertise, enthusiasm and effort from the business and the wider community was the number one recommendation of HSTF experts." Collaborative #place governance is a low-cost, high-impact approach to improve high street and place outcomes. Town Team Movement PlacemakingX Institute of Place Management Place Collective UK Royal Town Planning Institute Design Council Association of Town & City Management The BID Foundation Civic Voice Design Commission for Wales Cathy Parker MBE, SFIPM Mark Robinson Chris Wade FIPM Jen Heal Iain Nicholson, Founder of The Vacant Shops Academy Ben Stephenson Ed Steane Ian Harvey SFIPM FRSA Peter Smith Mike Fisher

Big Placemaking Energy in 2024! Town Team Movement created Placemaking Education to share and build on the experiences of the local and global #placemaking movement. Launched in 2022 in collaboration with PlacemakingX, here’s some of the highlights from a big 2024! More than 3,600 people from 115 countries have completed one of our free and paid courses so far https://lnkd.in/gYhRs4NQ: 👉 533 staff from 96 local governments in Western Australia did at least one of the courses. And it is making a difference! 👉 43% of survey respondents have said they have made policy or process changes as a result of the training, with another 30% considering making changes. 👉 11,000 followers on Linkedin 👉 Our courses have an average rating of 85% or higher 👏 Some of the feedback includes: “I started this course to 'tick a box' as I felt I had an understanding of placemaking already, but this course was like a whole 'light-bulb' moment for me. Very inspiring.  Less thinking about it, more doing!”. "The placemaking course was amazing and gave me a much greater understanding of what placemaking is, how it can be achieved within local government and how to take the community on the journey of placemaking. The course has inspired me to think outside of the box”. Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries WA Local Government Association (WALGA) Ethan Kent Emma Snow  Jimmy Murphy Dean Cracknell David Engwicht Patrycja Rosinska Cate Baker WA LG Placemaking Network Pauline Wark Jenny Marslen Melissa Shaw

On Monday, we organized our 3rd annual Flourishing Neighborhoods conference. It focused on field building questions, with panels on the state of the field and philanthropy's role; breakout groups on knowledge, actors, policy and systems change, and infrastructure; and sessions centered on innovations and neighborhood leaders. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York hosted, and over 90 people from across the country attended. See the group photo at the end of the day below. This was one step on the road to renewing our country by renewing our neighborhood communities. Thank you to David Erickson, David Edwards, Lauren Hult, Tracy Hadden Loh, Tim Tompkins, Wendy Viola, Shawn Duncan, Ben Lewis, Anna Scott, Ethan Kent, Maurice Cox, Tim Soerens, Carol Naughton, Monique Smith and Kellye Jackson and her whole team at the FRBNY for all their hard work to make the event a success. It was really a team effort. Thank you Otho Kerr for the photo. Sorry if I missed anyone. Thank you everyone who joined. We even had colleagues from Ireland and Denmark. Cormac Russell Ofri Earon #neighborhoods #inequality #loneliness #cities #health Placemaking Education

You need people to invest their hope, imagination and hard work in a place, not just their 💵 money. It's a paraphrased piece of urban gold from innovator Marcus Westbury OAM, one of the founders of Renew Newcastle, which went on to spawn the incredible Renew Australia. Renew, and similar organisations around the world like Zero Empty Spaces in the USA, make it easier for creatives and start-ups to fill vacant spaces and bring town centres to life. It's a win-win-win approach for the entrepreneurs, the business owners and the cities trying to deal with the economic and social consequences of empty storefronts and urban decay. Marcus has been an inspiration for many, including Town Team Movement and Placemaking Education. He's now launching something super interesting in Melbourne, Australia. Check it out at https://www.fbideas.org/. Find out more about Renew Australia at https://lnkd.in/gdr5Z-Yy and Zero Empty Spaces at https://lnkd.in/g4MS8zJW for more on how you can make it happen in your place too. Dean Cracknell Emma Snow Jimmy Murphy Angela Simons Evan Snow Andrew Martineau Megan Humble Georgina Pikoulas Jason McFarlane Valli Morphett Cam Perkins Jeff Siegler Rik Adamski Ryan Reynolds Project for Public Spaces Small Business Development Corporation Mainstreet Australia Madi Biggelaar

🌟𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧? 🌟 Congrats to the 𝐂𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐡 and their community collaborators on the completion of their Streets Alive initiative: 𝐌𝐢𝐚𝐦𝐢 𝐕𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭. The transformation of their community is a testament to the power of collaboration, creativity, and collective action. The 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐀𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 program funding helped them bring incredible change to their area, and we couldn’t be more excited to share the positive impact! 𝐒𝐚𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐑𝐨𝐚𝐝𝐬, 𝐇𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝐖𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐬 Thanks to new line markings, pedestrian crossing points, and a redesigned parking bay, drivers are slowing down and being more mindful of foot traffic. Plus, the bold mural by artist ‘Shakey’ not only adds vibrant art to their streets, but also helps to naturally reduce vehicle speeds. 𝐈𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐏𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 & 𝐒𝐚𝐟𝐞𝐭𝐲 Revitalized footpaths and clearly marked crossings are making the area safer and more accessible for everyone. Residents feel more secure when navigating the streets, and they’re seeing even more people out and about! 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐞 & 𝐎𝐰𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 The heart planters and garden beds are thriving, thanks to the dedication of their community. This initiative shows just how much pride they take in their shared spaces. The collaboration between local businesses, artists, youth, and the council continues to grow stronger! 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐲 & 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 They’ve seen amazing energy from local youth, who not only lobbied for funding to create the street mural, but also contributed their talents by painting planters and organizing a youth art competition. 🖌️✨ Together, they’ve proven that when a community comes together, spaces can transform: traffic calms, more people move in the revitalised space, and our local roads become safer! Let’s continue to support these positive changes as we celebrate the collective actions that are happening all over WA through the Streets Alive program. 🌍💚 To learn more about the Streets Alive funding program, please visit streetsalive.org.au #StreetsAlive #CommunityPride #SafeStreets #YouthCreativity #SaferCommunities #Mandurah #LocalArt #PedestrianFriendly #CollectiveAction #CommunityPower #SouthMandurah City of Mandurah Main Roads Western Australia Department of Transport and Main Roads WA Local Government Association (WALGA) Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries Department of Communities WA Road Safety Commission Placemaking Education

This is a short post that can't do justice to a big topic. One of the common features of working in, for or with communities is the potential of community protest, anger and outrage. Even the best ideas, created, led and delivered by local people, can meet with opposition. The risk of this grows as societies become more polarised, disconnected, indvidualised and entitled. One option - doing nothing and improving nothing - seems like the riskiest. So, what do committed and principled professionals and community contributors do? There are things to learn and practice. A genuine, respectful process can help to reduce the risks or address them when they arise. Here are some tips. ⏰ 1 - Early and Inclusive Engagement Engage local people and key stakeholders from the very beginning of the process, making it clear that their advice is valued and will directly influence the project. Use a variety of engagement methods that are accessible and inclusive. 🙉 2 - Real listening and trust Understand the root causes of concerns or opposition. Is it based on misinformation, fear of change, lack of trust in authorities, previous negative experiences or legitimate concerns? Acknowledge concerns, even if you don't agree with them. This shows respect and a willingness to listen. Try not to be defensive. It's hard when people are upset, but be a human rather than a present a 'professional face'. Admit mistakes. "That was a mistake that we won't make again". 🤝 3 - Focus on shared goals Facilitate dialogue to help the community identify shared goals and values. Frame the conversation around strengths and opportunities, rather than problems and deficits. ⛵ 4 - Adaptive and iterative approach Be willing to adapt and modify ideas, plans or processes based on community feedback and changing circumstances. Ask how it could be improved, not just what's wrong with it. Use temporary tests and trials to engage people and demonstrate potential benefits before making permanent changes. 💥 5 - Encourage and enable others to act The risks are reduced when you work collaboratively with others. If you are planning any kind of community engagement process in 2025, it might be worth checking out our 'Beyond community consultation: Tips for working with and enabling action by local communities' online course for tips. Save time and reduce the risks by learning what to do and not do before you begin. There is more info at https://lnkd.in/gwMRfYSf Town Team Movement PlacemakingX WA LG Placemaking Network Mainstreet Australia Main Street America Placemaking Canada PlacemakingUS Place Collective UK Placemaking Europe Mathilde Riou Ulf Andersson

THE biggest opportunity for improving social, economic and environmental outcomes in urban areas is better diagnosing the *real* problems and the approaches needed to address them. This article by Jeffrey Allen explains more https://lnkd.in/dHdA4_SE. "As humans, we seem to be hard-wired to see the world in terms of discrete problems we can solve. Our brains are always breaking things down to their component parts, looking for ways to fix them. We are constantly seeking greater and greater simplicity. And that works for maths problems, or engineering problems. You solve the component parts of the problem — no matter how many there are — until the whole fits together perfectly. The vast majority of problems government addresses are ‘complex’ problems. How to reduce crime. How to educate our children. How to increase prosperity and keep people healthy. There is no one right answer to these problems — there are just better or worse situations we find ourselves in." Most urban problems are misdiagnosed as 'complicated problems' that can be individually solved, one after the other. Complicated problems require detailed analysis by specialists, long reports and expensive masterplans. When that approach doesn't work, we try the same approach again, again and again. Systems thinking suggests that 'complex problems' are unique, but interconnected, context-specific and ever-changing. Clouds or rainforests are complex. If they are pulled apart, they can never be replicated in exactly the same way. There are so many different elements that it would be impossible to replicate, particularly using linear thinking and processes (used to deal with simple or complicated problems). Trying to replicate the same rainforest or cloud in another location would be impossible. We wouldn't even try to. #Places are just as complex. Just think of all the people involved, the buildings, the history, cultures, climate, the economic, social and environmental factors. And the rules, governance frameworks and relationships. Every place is different. Place-based approaches seek to work with this complexity, rather than in spite of it. An agile approach and creating the conditions for good opportunities to emerge helps. Learn more about how to lead successful #place-based projects at Placemaking Education https://lnkd.in/gHbsdXzu. Town Team Movement PlacemakingX Seth Kaplan Fiona Miller Jeder Institute The Future of Flourishing Clare Sarah Goodridge Inspiring Communities Denise Bijoux (she/her) Paul Ramsay Foundation Luke Craven David Engwicht Dean Cracknell Jimmy Murphy Emma Snow Emma Watton Courtney Strow Joel Backwell Anna Stephenson Julian Canny Gabrielle Major

I’ve been amazed by the transformations we’ve seen in cities across Europe through this two-year placemaking program. Now, it’s the Americas’ turn. This program is more than a chance to improve public spaces—it’s about inventing new ways to bring people together, inspired by the work of over 20 European cities that have already walked this path. It’s about forging connections with a cohort of cities across the Western Hemisphere, all committed to building great places that reflect the unique needs and strengths of their communities. If your city is ready to think big and learn from others, this is your moment. Let’s make something extraordinary together. #Placemaking #UrbanTransformation #CitiesInPlacemaking