‘Bristol Urban Forum is a new experiment in citizen-led placemaking’

Bristol is home to a lot of grassroots community conversations, all of which involve people trying to make a positive impact on the city. Does Bristol really need another one?

Enter the Bristol Urban Forum – a new experiment in citizen-led placemaking. Inspired partly by the Citizens Assembly Movement and the Urban Rooms initiative – two new-ish ways of engaging local people in conversations about their place.

The Citizens Assembly Movement randomly selects a representative sample of people in a city and then facilitates discussion on a particular topic of importance, supported by expert evidence.

Bristol’s first and only go at this so far revolved around the city’s recovery from Covid. You can read the report’s recommendations online.

There are several Urban Rooms in towns and cities across the UK, often set up in vacant shop units.

Their mission is to provide an inclusive space for people to have ongoing discussion about their city and what they want from it.

Urban Rooms are often led by architects and can be neutral places where developers and residents come together to discuss issues around planning, development and public space. They can be really effective ways of opening up discussion about the future of places.

Could more neighbourhoods across Bristol get their own markets? – photo: Martin Booth

So how will the Bristol Urban Forum work?

Over one year, ten conversations will take place, and you the public will decide each topic. In our first event on June 29 at Sparks in Broadmead – where we’re based – we’ll encourage ordinary Bristolians to think creatively about the real challenges the city faces.

This will establish ten themes to be discussed across a series of monthly drop-in events at Sparks. Dates are to be announced and everyone’s invited.

A significant difference is that the Bristol Urban Forum is run by a volunteer team, independently from the council and any other organisation in the city.

Although firmly non-political, we’re going to use the ten themes to write a ‘Place Manifesto’ for Bristol that can be adopted by one or many of the political parties in the run up to the 2024 General Election.

It’s our hope that the challenges and solutions put forward by the people of Bristol will directly influence those with the power to change things.

This is the central mission of the experiment: to develop a link between the people of Bristol and the decision-makers in the city.

We’ll also be using this as an opportunity to experiment with different ways to hold those conversations.

No more church halls with pictures of fancy buildings or ‘them and us audiences’ with Powerpoints and angry residents. We’ll draw on methods used in the arts, design and community development. We’ll try out new ideas and be ok with the potential for mistakes, even failure.

Lots more will take place in between the monthly events, all under one roof at Sparks, the old Marks & Spencers that has been repurposed for community use.

The venue is important to us. Sparks is a great example of how we can think and act radically to face complex issues, like declining high streets, in imaginative new ways.

Sparks in Broadmead is located within the former M&S – photo: Martin Booth

We could really use your help to make this project work. We’re seeking:

• Sponsorship
• Researchers (so discussion is evidence-based)
• Photographers, videographers and audio experts
• Graphic and web designers

Most of all, we need you to share with your networks, friends and colleagues so we can get maximum participation in the project.

So, if you want to talk about sustainable city food systems, the loneliness pandemic, nature recovery, suburban culture, Bristol at night, city inequality, transport, or something entirely different, come and feed in your ideas on June 29 at Sparks.

It might be a little haphazard since we have no set agenda; but it will be a fun and interesting thing to participate in if you have something to say about the future of Bristol.

Hope to see you there!

Ben Stephenson is a volunter at Bristol Urban Forum, “a one-year listening project with the aim of recording how Bristolians want to see the city change over time”. The first Bristol Urban Forum event takes place at Sparks on June 29. For more information, visit www.bristolurbanforum.org/event-details/bristol-urban-forum-agenda-setting

Main photo: Martin Booth

Read next:

• Sustainability and creativity hub opens within former M&S
• Fostering a culture of collaboration with Bristol’s creative industries
• More details revealed for new towers replacing Premier Inn

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