Welcome to the Neighbourhood Futures Festival 2024!

Alongside workshops and talks, the 4 days will be buzzing with demonstrations, nature-inspired arts and crafts, well-being sessions, and on the Saturday and Sunday, music, performance, and family fun!

There is so much happening across all four days of Neighbourhood Futures Festival!

• Arts and craft activites for children, families, and anybody wanting to get creative!
• Kids nature play zone for little ones to let off steam!
• Yoga sessions led by our qualified yoga instructor. These will be held in the morning on Thursday and Friday, and family sessions around lunchtime on Saturday and Sunday.
• 30-minute wellbeing sessions covering topics such as mindfulness, nature & wellbeing, and stress.
• Money and energy efficiency advice with our qualified money advice team
• Community stalls on the Saturday and Sunday – learn more about what’s happening around the Reservoir and in the local area.
• Food scrap weigh-in – bring along your food scraps each day to help out our Community Composting Project.
• Visit the Red Shed Community Café serving hot and cold drinks, sandwiches, snacks and ice creams!

With The University of Birmingham Centre for Urban Wellbeing

A forum for residents, community organisations, local and regional policy makers, businesses, researchers, public health professionals, urban planners, and developers who share a commitment to shaping sustainable cities to improve physical and mental wellbeing, and to address health and wellbeing inequalities.

The Urban Greenroom brings together key speakers and facilitators from across the West Midlands to discuss and debate:

• Physical and mental health and wellbeing inequalities
• Barriers to accessing green space
• Connecting communities for urban change
• Regenerative urban systems
• Green leadership
• Establishing key principles for reducing environmental deprivation in new or brownfield urban developments
• Climate adaptation and its relation to climate action

EXPLORE THE FULL AGENDA AND BOOK YOUR TICKETS HERE

With The University of Birmingham Centre for Urban Wellbeing and BVSC

Connecting with nature matters for people’s wellbeing. BVSC and The Centre for Urban Wellbeing have been working with a community research panel to explore socio and cultural barriers to accessing green spaces and nature across Birmingham.

The panel are all individuals who live in the Birmingham locality and are interested in wellbeing, the future of their local area, inequalities, environmental issues, parks and green space and climate action. 

Join the panel to hear about their work giving voice to those who don’t have access to quality urban green spaces.  View their gallery of images taken in areas of central Birmingham most affected by environmental deprivation. Interact with the problem tree as we pledge community actions to invest in nature to tackle wellbeing inequalities.

With Elspeth Sage, WMCA Local Nature Recovery Strategy Co-ordinator

Local Nature Recovery strategies are a series of locally led, collaborative, regional plans for nature recovery that were set out in the Environment Act 2021.

Throughout 2024 48 regions covering all of England will develop these and connect these plans to help nature recovery be bigger, better, and more joined up. This workshop will introduce Local Nature Recovery Strategies in the context of the West Midlands Combined Authority Region, followed by questions and discussion focused on the following themes:

• What are our collective ambitions for nature recovery, and how can we agree and communicate them?
• How can we pool our collective knowledge and experience effectively to shape Local Nature Recovery Strategies?
• What do Local Nature Recovery strategies need to achieve to best support existing projects and aspirations in our communities?

A special ‘Chai and Chat’ with Sampad and Maymana Arefin, founder of Fungi Futures 

An introductory talk on the fascinating world of fungi, mycelium networks and the ‘wood wide web’.

Maymana will summarise her award-winning research about mycorrhizal fungi and what can be learnt from their underground networks as humans. Join Maymana to explore themes of social justice, mutual aid and community organising through the lens of nature connection and fungi. All levels of knowledge or none at all are very welcome!

TICKETS MUST BE BOOKED IN ADVANCE HERE 

With Birmingham City University College of Architecture, West Midlands National Park Lab.

The West Midlands National Park is not a traditional National Park. It is a long-term vision to transform how we think about and value the everyday landscape of this vast region. It asks an important question: how would we treat the highly urbanised, often neglected land in the West Midlands if it were valued and cared for as much as a traditional National Park? What would need to change? What would it look like?   

This workshop explores Birmingham’s landscape at scale, using the route of the circular number 11 bus as a prompt for discussion. We will introduce the vision and aims of the West Midlands National Park, and invite participants to think about how this could shape their city.

With Martin Holcombe, CEO Birmingham Settlement and Rob Annable, Axis Design Architects 

How can we co-design an inclusive activity space that meets the needs of the future? Join us in a collaborative conversation as we envision Phase 3 developments at the Nature & Wellbeing Centre.

What will our new building look like? What materials can we use to minimize environmental impact? How do we strike the right balance between sustainability and affordability? From straw builds to barns, we will explore all possibilities, practicalities, and near futures.

Everyone’s voice and ideas are welcome. This is an opportunity to learn about sustainable and regenerative approaches to urban design, regardless of your current knowledge level. Come and be part of shaping a space that serves and inspires all.

With Dr Shira de Bourbon Parme, Urban Wellbeing and Innovation Lead, Regenerative Cities, Rambol 

How can we better prepare and protect our communities and ecosystems for uncertain futures?

This workshop will explore how a life-centred approach to neighbourhood development can capture and unlock resilient wellbeing. By focusing on ecosystem wellbeing for people and nature, and the interrelated conditions they require to thrive, life-centred design challenges us to create thriving and inclusive places for all life.

We will consider night-time urban ecologies, and how we might reconcile the often-contradictory needs of people, flora and fauna. We will collaboratively unpack how a life-centred design approach can be applied to design and development in the built environment.

With The Active Wellbeing Society (TAWS)

The Active Wellbeing Society Mobile Share Shack Van travels on regular routes across Birmingham and contains a number of items that can be borrowed for free. This includes gardening tools, household tools, sports equipment, books and games. People can also donate items or pass on items to be repaired. In doing this, items can be reused and recycled, and people can save money, be more active and prevent unwanted items going to landfill.

Upon signing up for a Birmingham Wellbeing Service card people can begin borrowing items. (please bring proof of address for first loan!)

With MAIA and Screama

MAIA is an arts-based social justice organisation that connect community-rooted artists with resources and design infrastructure to support the bold possibilities for change.

Join MAIA in the festival Listening Room, as feedback from you, the community, is recorded and reimagined by an on-site sound artist Screama to create a song or soundscape that encompasses the discussions and thoughts gathered throughout the day! As the day draws to a close, we will have a listening party together and premier the finished track at 3:45pm!

With CIVIC SQUARE

Concrete is one of the most widely used building materials in the world. Unfortunately, cement is needed to make it – and the manufacturing of cement is responsible for over 5% of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions.

Engineers and scientists are exploring more bio-based, natural materials to create alternative materials for building and construction. Though not a replacement, Corncrete is one example of a simple recipe to begin exploring bio-based materials.

Over the next few months, CIVIC SQUARE are exploring the use of bio-based materials for the retrofit of the Neighbourhood Public Square buildings, considering how our buildings can support the health of humans and our planet, locally and globally, rather than cause harm. In this workshop you will be introduced to bio-materials, Corncrete and how it is made. All materials and instructions will be provided.

With South Birmingham FAFFS, Crops Not Shops Brum

Crops Not Shops is a radical, grassroots movement on a mission to create social change by connecting people to nature through community food growing.

Come and learn about ‘FAFFS’, the Free and Fair food sharing schemes on a mission to build a movement of small, local groups of people, growing and sharing food in their gardens. Find out how FAFFS are set up, the benefits, and how you can take action at neighbourhood level for change. 

With MAIA and GLUE Collective

Art can teach us about the systems of the world as they are, while helping us to imagine radical possibilities for the future.  Join arts-based social justice organisation MAIA and worker co-operative Glue (Growing & Learning in Urban Environments) in a workshop that uses natural materials through the lens of ‘Spark’ (spaces for play, art, rest and kinship), to address the interconnectedness of local ecology, race and climate justice. This workshop is followed by a 30 minute conversation around Glue Collective’s practice.

 With Birmingham Settlement

Imagine a city that not only meets the needs of its communities, but also thrives sustainably! Dive into the creative process by constructing models of future cities using a variety of recycled materials.

Learn about key principles of sustainable urban design as we build neighbourhoods, parks and systems that cater to the needs of ALL community members. Consider how cities can evolve to be more inclusive, environmentally friendly, and resilient – with affordability, cultural relevance, and social connectivity at their core.

This is an unfacilitated drop-in, creating a collaborative art piece that will evolve over the lifetime of the festival.

With Simeon Shtebunaev, Climania 

Come join us to play Climania – the Climate Action Game. CLIMANIA has been created by thirteen young people aged 14-18 from Balsall Health, Birmingham working with two Birmingham City University (BCU) staff and external collaborators over the space of two months in a co-design process.

The game was developed as an engagement tool in the form of a free to play board game to inform people of the role of the built environment in the climate emergency; hence the strapline: “CLIMANIA: The Climate Action Game” focusing on urban planning and retrofit.    

With UpRising

Come along and meet the UpRising team, a youth leadership charity who are working to change the face of power in the UK. Explore all things nature connection, as well as finding out about their new Environmental Leadership Programme for young people in the West Midlands, in partnership with Shropshire Wildlife Trust.

With opportunities to share thoughts on environmental challenges within your area, as well as where you go locally to connect to nature.

With CIVIC SQUARE

Join CIVIC SQUARE to consider how Doughnut Economics can create a powerful, connecting space to surface perspectives and experiences that shape our collective futures. ‘Step into the doughnut’ and explore ideas of the safe and just space of economist Kate Raworth, considering the shortfall of the social foundation and the overshooting of planetary boundaries as rooted in the lived experiences of people in the here and now.

Delve into the stories they bring and the things they want to unlearn using participatory approaches that enable human connection through dialogue and ‘me too’ moments. 

Come share your experiences and thoughts on how we can shape our collective futures.

With University of Birmingham

A zine is a self-published, small circulation, non-commercial booklet or magazine, usually produced by one person or a few individuals. Zines come in all shapes, sizes, topics, and formats.

Drop-in to the Neighbourhood Futures Festival to create your own zine inspired by the Reservoir and local community. Find out how to make a zine, share prompts and examples of zine content, and talk about the use of zines in sharing information within and across communities.

With STEAMhouse and Tina Francis.

Established in 2015 and powered by STEAMhouse at Birmingham City University, Maker Monday is a monthly event to meet and learn from inspirational people from across the broad creative, cultural and tech sectors in the West Midlands and beyond.

STEAMhouse are teaming up with the Neighbourhood Futures Festival for a unique Maker Monday workshop with Stitch Innovator Tina Francis.

Working with stitch gives you a different perspective on time; Tina measures her days in inches not hours, stitching with people in familiar and unusual spaces to create large or small-scale artworks. Reading on what has happened before us to build a brighter future is important today. But apart from understandable words, what makes our learning easier?

Fonts! The clearness of the words can transmit ideas and welcome the reader. Join Tina as we look at Baskerville font created right here in Birmingham and how small adaptions mean this font is still useful today. After a short talk, we will stitch the letter F using a tool of mass creation, the needle.

BOOK ONTO THE MAKER MONDAY TASTER HERE

With Dr Kanwal Mand and the Institute of Applied Health Research, University of Birmingham

How can research into mental health be done ‘better’ – in ways that reflect the needs, priorities and desires of the diverse local communities of the West Midlands?

This arts drop-in provides an interactive space to answer these questions and explore thoughts and ideas on research and mental health. Participants will experience the opportunity to represent their perspective through arts-based activities asking what is research, what does mental health mean to you, and what is essential to good mental health? 

 With Birmingham Settlement and MakeSoil

Waste not want not with our community food scrap weigh-in! Bring your leftovers down to the festival site to be weighed, and at the end of the festival we will calculate the total amount the community has saved from landfill!

All food scraps will be turned into soil in our community compost bays, and used for growing at the Nature & Wellbeing Centre and in the local neighbourhood. If you haven’t saved your scraps, don’t worry, you can drop them off with us any time – just sign-up to our MakeSoil Soil Site and be part of our soil-friendly community!

With Hipkiss & Graney

Learn the process of Eco-printing in this hands on textile workshop. Take a foraging walk around the festival field, looking for organic matter like leaves, moss, grasses and flowers. Once the foraging is done, we will guide you through the process of eco printing.

The first part of the workshop will take about 30-40 minutes with a 2 hour break to allow the textiles to steam and dry.

You could also take some leaf cuttings from your favourite tree or plant in your garden before coming to Neighbourhood Futures Festival. If you do, make sure to pack them in a container giving them plenty of space so they don’t get damaged. Food scraps are also interesting to use such as onion skins!

Please sign-up for this when you arrive on site as places will be limited. 

 With South Birmingham FAFFS, Crops Not Shops Brum

Crops Not Shops is a radical, grassroots movement on a mission to create social change by connecting people to nature through community food growing.

Come and learn about ‘FAFFS’, the Free and Fair food sharing schemes on a mission to build a movement of small, local groups of people, growing and sharing food in their gardens. Find out how FAFFS are set up, the benefits, and how you can take action at neighbourhood level for change. 

With Will Crawford from quietnote

This workshop will help you learn the basics of mindfulness – all guided through the power of music. This hands-on session will explore traditional mindfulness practices guided through musical meditations alongside open discussion about how you can bring mindfulness through music into your life.

Explore how these practices can help us relax, manage stress and anxiety, and calm our busy minds. This practice is all centred around helping you gain more control over your personal wellbeing, mental health, and happiness.

Please sign up for this as soon as you arrive on site as places will be limited. 

With West Midlands Bird Club

Join a birdlife expert from the West Midland Bird Club on a walk to see some of the birds that can be found around Birmingham Settlement and the beautiful Edgbaston reservoir. 

Your guide will help you to spot the birds and talk about how you can identify them.  The walk will be suitable for all as the paths are easy and level and will last about an hour and a half.  If you have your own binoculars, bring them along as they will be useful.

This activity is for all ages, adults and children alike. Please sign up for this as soon as you arrive on site as places will be limited. 

With Toni’s Tots Drama

Strange things are happening outside today, things involving monsters! Meet Belinda Bins as she whizzes around the field on her turbo boosted bin-on-wheels. Join this highly energetic outdoor theatre adventure exploring the issues of plastic waste and respecting our natural environment.

Great fun with an important message for ages 3-8 years – and their grown ups.

If you can’t make this performance then don’t worry! Belinda will be joining us on Sunday too. 

With Birmingham Settlement

As the effects of climate change become increasingly impactful on our daily lives, a growing number of people are raising their voices and joining the call for action through marches and protest. In these movements, art plays a crucial role in mobilising communities and inspiring change.

Join us for a creative drop-in session where you can craft powerful protest signs that highlight the critical importance of climate action. Design eye-catching, impactful signs, banners, or flags that demand attention and make a bold statement.

 With BRUM BEATS, Extinction Rebellion’s Joyful drum band

Would you like to make noise in support of the environment? Brum Beats is a musical division of XR Birmingham, and part of a network of protest bands nationwide. They play joyful samba fusion – with songs designed to include all abilities.

 Their rhythms generate hope and channel rage, bringing people together in the face of climate emergency. Come along to their rousing samba drumming workshop, or watch them perform at 4pm in the amphitheatre.

*Note* The workshop is targeted at teenagers and adults. Smaller children are welcome, and we can provide smaller drums – but must be accompanied at all times!

Please sign up for this as soon as you arrive on site as places will be limited. 

With Centrala

Fly into a magical park for an interactive family workshop appreciating the nature around us. In this facilitated workshop, children and their grown ups will have an opportunity to connect with the beautiful elements of nature found in UK parks and woodland.

Learn about mindfulness and appreciating nature on our doorstep while creating beautiful crafts from the natural materials. With an introduction to breathing exercises and meditation. All activities are based on play, art and music therapy.

Please pre-book onto this workshop here

With Eleanor of Singamajig and Ali

Thanks to a grant from Near Neighbours, Eleanor, aka Singamajig alongside Ali have been working with the wonderful Make Good Arts to deliver a beautiful project called Sing Together. Their singers have attended a series of singing workshops in B16, preparing a rich and varied repertoire to share with the neighbourhood.

Their passion for an intergenerational and inclusive approach has allowed some singers to attend with their children and singers of all abilities to access the workshops. We hope you enjoy their stunning vocals and the fabulous accompaniment of their live band, consisting of Sam and Scott. And finally, please do feel free to sing and dance along with them!

With the Birmingham Choir with No Name

The Choir with No Name builds joyful singing communities with homeless and marginalised people, providing a supportive, safe space for people to have fun, build confidence, and feel more able to tackle life’s challenges. The choir meet once a week for a cuppa and a catch up, singing together before sitting down for a hot meal.

Birmingham’s brilliant Choir With No Name will be entertaining you in the festival amphitheatre, bringing a selection of songs in-tune with nature from across from the decades. Listen carefully and you may just hear the nature references!

With BRUM BEATS, Extinction Rebellion’s Joyful drum band

Brum Beats is a musical division of XR Birmingham, and part of a network of protest bands nationwide. Come along to the amphitheatre for an energetic  joyful samba fusion performance – with rhythms that generate hope and channel rage, bringing people together in the face of climate emergency.

With Helen Manchester, Laurene Cheilen, Marisela Gutierrez- Lopez from The University of Bristol and Birmingham Settlement. 

What kinds of spaces and places will help you feel connected to your community, and with others? How can Birmingham Settlement help your community to thrive, now and in the future?

This session will launch Future Forums, a new piece of work in collaboration with the University of Bristol and the University of Birmingham. Come along to tell us about your hopes and dreams for the future of Birmingham Settlement. Bring your imagination, we’ll provide the rest!

With The University of Birmingham, Public and Cultural Engagement Team

The University of Birmingham welcomes members of the public to interact and respond to the research they facilitate. Join the Cultural Engagement Team to learn more about campus and what is happening for the community over the summer. Get involved with creating community artworks inspired by the festival, expressing local relationships with the University of Birmingham. Each artwork will be subsequently showcased on campus, between 22nd July – 30th August for everyone to enjoy.

With Darren Kench from Eden Project Communities

Microgreens are plants harvested while still young and tender. Some of the many plants that can be grown in this way include Basil, Beetroot, Chard, Coriander, Fenugreek, Radish, Rocket and Pea shoots. Microgreens have nutritional benefits; eating a seedling just after it’s sprouted provides a nutrient-dense raw plant, a great source of vitamins!

The best thing about microgreens is they can be grown by anyone, even if you don’t have access to a garden or find it difficult to get outside.

Join Eden Project Communities in this hands-on introduction to micro-greens. Sow an extra tray for a friend or neighbour, use gardening as a way to connect with others, or create something you can bring to the table at The Big Lunch!

With Toni’s Tots Drama

Strange things are happening outside today, things involving monsters! Meet Belinda Bins as she whizzes around the field on her turbo boosted bin-on-wheels. Join this highly energetic outdoor theatre adventure exploring the issues of plastic waste and respecting our natural environment.

Great fun with an important message for ages 3-8 years – and their grown ups.

If you can’t make this performance then don’t worry! Belinda will be joining us on Saturday too. 

With West Midlands Bird Club

Join a birdlife expert from the West Midland Bird Club on a walk to see some of the birds that can be found around Birmingham Settlement and the beautiful Edgbaston reservoir. 

Your guide will help you to spot the birds and talk about how you can identify them.  The walk will be suitable for all as the paths are easy and level and will last about an hour and a half.  If you have your own binoculars, bring them along as they will be useful.

This activity is for all ages, adults and children alike. Please sign up for this as soon as you arrive on site as places will be limited. 

. 

With Lizzie Forrester, Birmingham Settlement

A sensory-rich workshop that delves into the fascinating world of soil! Explore the connection between the scents of nature and cherished childhood memories and take in the array of scents of soil and plants around us!

Discover how these smells can evoke powerful memories and feelings of joy and nostalgia and learn about the science behind how natural smells, particularly those of soil and plants, trigger memories and emotions.

Map out your personal ‘scent memories’ and see how these experiences shape your sense of well-being and happiness in this fun, exploratory workshop!

With Compost Culture 

If food waste were a country, it would be the third biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, behind the US and China. We waste an estimated 1.3 billion tonnes of food every year – around one third of all food produced for human consumption. The majority of food waste occurs in urban areas – and most of it could be composted. 

The Compost Culture project aims to transform the way people think about food waste and composting in Birmingham. Supported by the National Lottery Climate Action Fund, Birmingham based organisations Incredible Surplus, General Public, The Active Wellbeing Society, St Paul’s Community Development Trust, Birmingham Friends of the Earth & Crick Gardens are developing a pioneering programme of composting initiatives across the city.

 Come and visit the touring compost exhibition at Birmingham Settlement where you can learn about composting and talk to our knowledgable staff about composting. Whether you are a household or a business, we can help you with all of your composting queries. 

With Expansion Breath and Sound

Immerse yourself in a transformative journey with the harmonious sounds of Himalayan bowls, gongs, and crystal bowls. These ancient instruments create vibrations that resonate deeply with your mind, body, and spirit. The soothing tones of Himalayan singing bowls promote relaxation and balance, while the deep, resonant gongs induce profound meditation and emotional release.

Whether seeking stress relief, emotional healing, or spiritual growth, these sounds offer an immersive experience connecting you to the universe’s deeper rhythms.

Please sign up for this as soon as you arrive on site as places will be limited.

With Susanne Börner from University of Birmingham

Body-mapping is an arts-based method to explore the relationship between our ‘internal’ feelings and the ‘external’ world. Body-maps use images, words, symbols, emojis, to document and express experiences, feelings, and perspectives. Through body-mapping, we will explore what makes us ‘well’ in our everyday environments, while reflecting on how we can reclaim our power as creators of our lives. The workshop will start with a brief guided meditation for relaxing and grounding.

With Naomi and Becky from Riverside Performing Arts

Riverside Performing Arts warmly invites you to come along to their interactive storytelling session as they journey through the book, Elmer’s Walk. This delightfully crafted children’s story will take you on an adventure with Elmer the patchwork elephant and his friends. It will help your little ones to engage their imagination and learn how to be kind to themselves, their bodies, and their minds, all through the power of story. So, get yourselves comfy – it is time to begin!

With Josie

Relax with the gentle movements of Tai Chi on the field in this inclusive session. Stretch your way to health and happiness, soak up the summer and unwind together in nature. Suitable for all ages and for beginners. Chairs available for those who need them. 

With Artists and Performers of Improving Minds Team

The Improving Minds Team is a Mental Health Awareness service-led initiative set up by the charity Birmingham Mind. Join them for their summer showcase, featuring a creative mix of poetry, song, performance art, spoken word and storytelling.

With a mission to make creativity and the arts more accessible to service users throughout Birmingham and Solihull, they help  provide community,  space and opportunity to celebrate healing and recovery through art and performance. Come along and be entertained! 

With Achint 

Experience the lively atmosphere of a Bhangra class in the open air! This session will bring people together to uplift community spirits and get people moving – all whilst having lots of fun. You should leave this session feeling energised, connected and accomplished! All abilities and ages welcome, suitable for those with two left feet! 

With Birmingham Settlement and friends

All are invited to have their voices amplified in this open mic session celebrating the creativity of our community! Sign-up for a slot on the day and showcase your music, poetry, spoken word, storytelling or performance. All ages and abilities are encouraged to express thrmselves in this safe, welcoming and supportive creative space.