We organised and hosted the Not Another Co-Production Festival which took place at Manchester’s Museum of Science and Industry. The aim of the Festival was to hold a community learning event that spread the ideas and values of co-production and community based approaches, as well as providing a space for discussion on the topic.
The Festival was attended by over 200 people with contributions from 18 organisations. With exhibitors and attendees coming from a variety of local communities, non-profits, community groups and local authorities. This special event was a celebration and culmination of our first year’s work on spreading co-production in Greater Manchester funded by the National Lottery Community Fund. For this event grassroots changemakers were brought together with local regional and national organisations, movements and individuals to forge new partnerships and learn from social change activities and explore and celebrate co-production.
The festival had interactive boards with titles such as: ‘Confessions of a Co-Producer’ and ‘Contribute to an event poem on co-production’. There was impromptu dancing, and other invitations to join in with games and fun by The Shoopery. A public living room and yurt provided space for listening to others. Another highlight was the immersive performance by Made By Mortals using music, drama and audio recordings to tell hidden stories of young people struggling with mental health.
Participants appreciated meeting others who were committed to doing things differently and being at an event which lived up to the project’s intentions of being open to challenge, fun and mess. They also enjoyed the loose structure which offered space and time to share stories, small conversations and develop thinking.
To read more about the festival and Not Another Co-Production Project, click the links below:
Courage in Co-Production: A Day Festival
Stay Curious: Visually Recording Events
Not Another Co-Production Project Case Study
Not Another Co-Production Project Launched in the West Midlands
Photo Credit: Sam Pharaoh
