In 2011 Community21; staff and students from the University of Brighton and the community of Barcombe in East Sussex used Lottery funding to explore a project that aimed to engage the community in co-designing and co-producing their own recreational spaces and places.
The 'Wild About Barcombe' project supported our co-designing a research and development process that addressed issues and enhanced opportunities identified by the community. These included the need to develop alternate recreational spaces for young people that did not participate or enjoy with sport. To engage young people in nature and their natural environment and empower them to make change in their local environment through methods that they would enjoy.
The Community21 team devised the Den-Building programme. This trailed a mixed-methods approach to ascertain the ways in which the young people would best benefit and engage with the project.
The images below demonstrate these processes in more detail.