Author: ELDERBERRY
Introduction
Man Playing Acoustic Guitar www.pexels.com
One way to strengthen community cohesion and feelings of belonging is through implementing cultural and art programs. Art and culture could bring people together through shared experiences. Art and culture strengthens social cohesion through the removal of the barriers that seemingly hinder mutual understanding and communication beyond language in most cases. We are all different individuals and this implies difficulty for one to interpret others’ perceptions accurately. Nevertheless, art and culture create different channels for us to attain better understanding of each other and develop relationships.
Art programs have the power to not only promote cognitive development but also interpersonal, communicational skills, adaptability. Being part of a collective also helps with identity forming and understanding your position in society, one of the first catalyst to empowerment.
Programs with cultural significance such as dance, music, painting, writing, and theatre enable individuals, especially those with limited voice/minority groups, to express their feelings and emotions. This positively contributes to their mental health and adds to their psychological development, helping them fashion their position in society.
What’s the activity?
People Throwing Blue Powder at Daytime photo by Min An www.pexels.com
When was the last time you talked with your neighbours? Not just a passing hello, but a real, heartfelt conversation? If it has been awhile, you are not alone. Research shows fewer and fewer people even know the names of the people who live on the same street, let alone choose to socialise or interact with them.
Whether our disconnect from those around us is due to an increase in mistrust of people or just because more of us are spending the majority of our time staring at glowing screens, it is something communities throughout Europe. need to address! Now is the time we should attempt to build greater bonds between friends, families and neighbours!
One of the easiest ways to bring neighbors together is by organising a fair or festival for your community. Your task as a cultural mediator is to arrange a art festival in your neighbourhood. You have already secured the local secondary school as your venue. You know this is a trusted space by the local community.
What am I going to do?
In the resources section there are website links and vides that you will find useful, do look through these. You are encouraged to follow the below steps in order to accomplish your task succesfully.
Step 1: Pull a reliable small group together
Even planning a small community event can become overwhelming if you try to do it alone. Try to appoint a handful of people to different roles, for example, you might appoint someone to oversee invites and marketing, someone to organise food and drink, someone to arrange the activities and manage the stage. Appoint yourself as the team leader to keep things on track.
Step 2: Engaging Communities
Building, promoting, and sustaining community cohesion is a long-term commitment. As a sector, we must collectively develop and respond to a changing Britain that is becoming ever more culturally and socially diverse, ensuring that we are engaging with and responding to the changing needs of our communities.
To build diverse, just, and fair communities it is imperative that every section of the community is effectively engaged and welcomed to take part in engaging activities.
Step 3: Identifying the types of cultural activities you want in the festival
some suggestions on helping you identify your communities’ needs:
- Questionnaires –clear and focused questionnaires help you identify key issues and get the views of your community members
- Statistics – collect established data, and/or identify relevant research which has been done already to highlight the needs in your communities
- Focus groups – use different methods to engage your communities. Bring together a small group of people for a guided discussion which is aimed at highlighting what they really want to see
- Stalls – set up a stall in your local shopping centre, at an event, or at a youth club so that you can chat to people informally and gather information creatively.
Step 4: Do a risk assesment and consider health and safety
It's always important to consider health and safety when you’re putting on an event. For example, you’ll need to check your location for tripping hazards, and make sure it has enough exits for the amount of numbers you’re expecting at your event. It’s also a good idea to keep an eye on the weather, so you’re aware of things like potential heatwaves or particularly windy conditions.
Step 5: Get the word out about your event
Finally, you’ll need to get the word out about your event. This might involve putting notices up around your area or posting in community groups on social media. Don’t underestimate the power of word of mouth for small events, either. Enlist the help of friends, family, and colleagues in getting the news out about your event, and you’ll be sure to have a good turnout.
What will I learn?
- You will be culturally literate, confident and knowledgeable, not only about your own culture but that of other nationalities.
- You will develop important life skills such as creativity, confidence, self-discipline, effective communication and the ability to work in teams.
- Enhanced ability to recognise, discuss and criticise music, art, architecture etc., and give reasons for our likes and dislikes. This extends vocabulary and communication skills.
- You will have enhanced ability and develop new ways of thinking and approaching problems.
- You will foster an understanding of other cultures and helps understand that there is more than one approach to life.
- You will be ready to interact confidently in an increasingly global world.
- This experience widens your horizons and can add another dimension to life.
What will I take home?
Once you have completed this quest you will learn one of the best ways to improve people’s lives is through improving their well-being. An emphasis on culture and art has the potential to do just that, improve social and psychological well-being.
Although economic empowerment, access to health care, education and other practical solutions can be incredibly beneficial towards improving welfare, a feeling of social inclusion, community cohesion are actually some of the main factors contributing to happiness.By nature, we are a social species that thrive in communities and most individuals won’t be productive members of society if they feel excluded. There is evidence that there is a positive correlation between economic success and strong social connections.
Community events play a vital role in bringing people together, and ultimately can be a lot of fun to organise and participate in. With a bit of careful planning and plenty of creativity, you're bound to put on a great event that brings everyone in your local area together. Good luck!
Frontline Worker Toolkit
- Place-based arts and cultural practices do grow social cohesion for community well-being, while presenting opportunities.
- Community well-being is not restricted to mental and physical health but encompasses individual benefits, such as happiness and communal creative responses to negativity.
Top tips:
From this quest you can see certain types of place-based arts and cultural practices are most effective at generating and amplifying social cohesion including those that:
- Build and share power through community ownership.
- Connect people across difference.
- Include all types of community members.
- Have a consistent presence in the community.
- Align with community change goals.
You also need to keep in mind and recognise recognise that:
- Cultural learning takes place within and beyond our own school and other learning institutions, and within all kinds of cultural and heritage organisations
- Cultural learning has the power to inspire greater social responsibility, leading to personal, social and community benefit
- Cultural learning is able to engage individuals and communities in a variety of ways and can transform lives.