The Urban M project has officially begun, Birmingham City University's Laura Veart tells us what happened at the kick off event.
We were very pleased to welcome representatives from all nine Urban M partners to our first partnership meeting in Birmingham, UK at the start of May. The meeting was hosted by Birmingham City Council and was an opportunity for partners to start building their networks within the project, and to showcase their city’s development of collaborative maker spaces. It was also a chance to discuss the background and rationale behind the project and to clarify the processes and outputs going forward.
The visit to Birmingham was also an opportunity to kick off the study visit series which will be taking place throughout the three year project to facilitate the policy learning.
Partners first visited the School of Jewellery, based at the heart of Birmingham’s famous Jewellery Quarter to look at their maker spaces and state of the art making facilities. Technicians and staff there demonstrated the machinery and explained how the School works with the local jewellery makers as well as other businesses in the city.
Next was the Moseley and Kings Heath Shed in Kings Heath park, a small workshop facility with a huge amount of community spirit. The Shed’s main purpose is to help reduce loneliness, isolation and social exclusion among older men and women. Members either take part in one of the making activities that are available, or bring along one of their own projects to work on. In meeting the members of the Shed it was clear how much they enjoyed sharing their making experience, creative knowledge and skills with others, which in turn has generated interest, involvement and commitment to the Shed.
Finally, we visited the Ingot Studios in Stirchley a shared workshop and maker space which hosts nine artists and makers in an open plan setting.
We look forward to forging strong connections with our project partners and are excited to see what this knowledge sharing journey will bring.
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