The third Creative Roundtable of the year brought ten industry voices into the lofty hideout at PLATF9RM, opening up an insightful conversation about the creative ideas that both inspire change and benefit the local community.
Be it a grassroots volunteer-run collaboration, a lighthearted and interest-led club, or an exclusive paid membership, each type of shared space has its own benefits, and calls into question some key thoughts on what, and who, can create a productive and meaningful community. ✨
What can a productive and meaningful community in the creative industry look like?
Community can look like a lot of things, and each model has the potential to accelerate change and provide a space to approach common challenges, but does a creative community need to be a core of people who share a common identifier? Or can it (or should it) include everyone?
Our immediate response was to throw open the doors and include anyone interested, but upon closer inspection, we recognised some valid motivations for a “focused” community with shared identifiers in place of “exclusive” groups.
🚀 If a community is too broad and too nebulous, do we lose our aims and focus?
Be it successful creative business collaborations, or a specific and small-scale mission, vetting members with criteria to shape a community with a shared outcome can feel like an exclusionary process. Open access can lead to lack of focus and impact – perhaps instead of an “exclusive community”, we can think about it more as a “focused group” with a common purpose?
💸 Funding futures and facilitating impact
Paid community memberships can quickly become financially inaccessible and contribute to a culture of gentrification, but there’s the potential for the proceeds to be put to good use. Co-working spaces and subscription models can help to facilitate community connection and tangible, in-person impact, redistributing money and organising people and planet-first action.
👏 A safe space for us, by us
A community built exclusively by and for those from a marginalised identity within the industry or with a shared lived experience is a central tenet of a safe and inclusive space. Allowing people to identify with their community is the first step in providing an opportunity for people to exchange ideas and accelerate change with the right kind of case-by-case support.
One thing that came up repeatedly was a need for authentically accessible and safe spaces. Be it a neurodivergent friendly framework or a pay-what-you-can donation ticket, we’ve learnt that the most productive conversations and interesting ideas arise from equitable and inclusive shared spaces.
There’s a constant push and pull between an “exclusive” community versus an inclusive space, but we think we can have both. There are business models designed to shape this, but we’re looking for something designed for people, not profit. Read on for some crowdsourced thoughts and ideas on building community spaces from a series of different minds and perspectives. 💥
We’re nurturing a paid-for community to help fund an enriching, fulfilling, and successful network. How can we make it more accessible?
- Sliding scales, pay-what-you-can and percentage-based models can help to make financial decisions for individuals and small businesses more accessible. As soon as you remove a flat fee, you open your doors to people and organisations that have the vision and value, but aren’t necessarily equipped with the resources or financial backing.
- Give what you can and take what you need. Think about sharing your assets with other organisations – have you got an empty space that could be put to good use? Is there a chance for you to partner with charities or community interest organisations to connect with a wider network?
- Tap into existing networks before creating a new one. It’s easy to alienate a community by trying to do what they’re already doing. Start conversations and get involved early on, before trying to forge a community or practice that undermines existing networks.
We’re building a creative community exclusively for people from a marginalised identity – how can we benefit from wider community opportunities?
- Cross-community partnerships are a great way of connecting shared lived experience groups with community spaces. 2022 saw two Black networking events hosted in partnership with BARCO (Brighton & Hove Black Anti-Racism Community Organisation) and PLATF9RM, facilitating a “for us, by us, with us” collaborative framework.
- Bringing individual change-makers, charities, clubs, and grass roots organisations to the forefront encourages growth. Purpose led co-working space x+why try to ensure they’re reactive to the needs of the areas where they’ve opened, working with local community groups to support enduring impact. They’ve helped to enable Asra Run Club, a community space centring Muslim women in sports, wellness, and sisterhood, by giving them access to their Whitechapel location for a number of key meet ups, including a Ramadan event. Space is a resource in high demand – taking what we need and sharing what we can helps to sustain a healthy and balanced working relationship.
We’re looking to become part of an impact-driven community that’s accessible and does good – where should we go?
- Consider donating just 1% of your annual turnover to 1% for the Planet, a forward-thinking global network of businesses, individuals, and environmental partners tackling the planet's most pressing environmental issues with your support.
- Get creative. Think about bringing the 1% model to your local community. If you don’t have the finances, perhaps the 1% pot could instead include expertise, resources, time or access to an empty space instead of money? Take a look at Echo (Economy of Hours), a platform designed to make a time and favour based currency simple, or Be On Hand, an all-in-one tool created to engage employees in local volunteering and climate action.
We’re seeing a lot of unconnected local communities with a common purpose – how can we bring them together?
- More often than not, we just need to connect the dots. By identifying the mutual ground of what we’re trying to achieve, co-ownership, democratic leadership, and collaboration between communities can become motivators for positive, community-led action. Make it happen!
We want to hear your perspective – share your thoughts, continue the conversation, and join our next Creative Roundtable. 🗣
With thanks to everyone at the Roundtable; Barry Bloye, Toni Lam, Beckie Witts, Sarah Ticho, Rod Rivers, Marcus Hedges, Alex Young, and Driftime.
