We live in an unequal world. These inequalities are pervasive throughout society - from health to education, employment to housing, access to democracy to social status. Recent interconnected issues of global significance such as the war in Ukraine, COVID-19 pandemic and cost-of-living crisis have exacerbated these inequalities further. The gap between those who have access to the power and resources they need to live fulfilling lives and those who don’t is widening. This is unfair. This is unjust. Things need to change. The 5th annual Community Reporter Network Conference wants to grapple with these issues, by making space for simultaneously acknowledging the unjust world in which we live in AND leaning into our collective and individual power so that we can start to create more equitable futures for our communities.

Community Reporting is a specific approach to digital storytelling that is rooted in lived experience. Since 2007, People’s Voice Media along with the Community Reporter network have been developing this method to support people to tell their own stories via peer-to-peer approaches, and to use their experiences to make their worlds better places to live. As part of our 5th annual conference, we are looking at lived experience stories through the lens of ‘future studies’.

Future studies is an umbrella term for different approaches that can help us to think strategically about the future. In these uncertain and complex times, the ability to think about the future and its multiple possibilities is vital if we want to take meaningful action in the present that helps us move towards the future that we want. More so, it is essential that marginalised and excluded voices are included in this work in order to ensure that the future we create is socially just and does not perpetuate the same inequalities we see today.

The conference will focus on the value of lived experience in creating equitable futures that address systemic issues such as racism, ableism and sexism that plague social progress. The different sessions in the conference focus on one or more of the following:

Insights: What we know from people’s lived experiences about present day inequalities and how equitable futures could be achieved

Methods: Techniques for working with lived experience as a tool for helping us to think about the future

Actions: What practical things we can do now to begin to create a more socially just future for ourselves and our communities

Sounds up your street? Then join us in creating socially just futures!

So, what’s going to be happening?

On 11th July 2023, different speakers, facilitators and change-makers will be delivering a diverse range of sessions and activities at our conference in the fabulous city of Liverpool. The day promises to be an eclectic mix of voices, activities and topics centered around notions of socially just futures.

Sessions at the conference include:

Democracy in action: How can urban spaces support people’s involvement in decision-making? - Join partners from the EUARENAS project to learn about some of the future-thinking methods they’ve been using in their work and explore how cities of the future can support people’s more inclusive, equitable and active involvement in democracy.

“People said we were all weathering the storm, we weren’t in the same boat”: Deaf and Disabled people’s experiences of the pandemic - Working with Disability Rights UK, People’s Voice Media have been working with Deaf and Disabled people from the across the UK to gather and understand the impact of COVID-19 on them. This session showcases the learnings from this work and asks us to think about our own role in restorative practice as society recovers from the pandemic.

New ways to measure impact: How can lived experience be used as an impact measurement tool? - Join the Narratives of Impact project to look at the future of data collection and impact measurement - a future that puts the voices of people centre stage. This session will showcase the toolkits and guides from a 3-year project and provide a taster of some creative techniques for measuring change in communities.

“I miss the warmth and connection of home”: Creating welcoming and understanding sanctuaries for people who are displaced - This session will share learning from oral histories and local newspaper articles about migrants’ recent experiences of life in Northern England. Members of the HOME? heritage project will invite attendees to create actions for the future that can help to create future communities of sanctuary.

There’ll also be some taster Community Reporter activities for you to participate in, a chance to meet and connect with Community Reporter groups in the UK and hear about their activities and, finally, an opportunity for you to contribute to the future of the Community Reporter network. A full agenda and timetables for the sessions will be sent out to registered attendees in May 2023.

Who is this event for?

We’re looking for people like you - Community Reporters, grassroots change-makers, community workers, researchers, public service workers, policy makers, artists and creatives, health and social care providers, philosophers, educators and trainers to attend the conference and contribute your experiences and ideas to the conversations on the day.

You don’t have to be involved in the Community Reporter network to join - you may just be curious about what we do. We hope to create a dialogue of different perspectives, challenge and provoke one another’s thinking, and sow the seeds of new connections between people. We can’t wait to see you!

How can I get there?

The event will be held at The Women’s Organisation, 54 St James St, Liverpool L1 0AB, and upon registration you’ll be sent details about how to get to the venue or click on this link to find out more. The sessions will be primarily held in the Roddick Rooms, with smaller sessions taking place in the Fawcett Room. We will be on-hand during the day to help you navigate the space and get to where you need to be.

We know that attending a full day event can be costly in terms of travel and other support costs. Therefore, we have 6 financially supported places that people can apply for.

These financial bursaries are up to a maximum value of £50.00 per person. To apply for one, simply tick ‘yes’ to the question on the registration form that states ‘Are you applying for a financially supported place?’. We will allocate the places on a first come, first served basis. We will notify people if they have been allocated a place well in advance of the event and send you further details about how you can claim the support.

Will there be any online events?

The conference will be entirely in-person. We will run some separate online workshops/events on a different date - full details will be released on our Eventbrite page in due course.

I’ve registered, what happens next?

Have a look at your confirmation email and then sit tight - we will be in touch with further details nearer the time.

If you cannot attend the event, please let us know by 2nd June 2023 so that we can reallocate your place. The event is free to attend but places are limited, so please do only book if you are fully intending to come.

If you are in a position to do so, and would like to make a donation to help towards the cost of this conference, then you can do so by Paypal via this link or by emailing enquiries@peoplesvoicemedia.co.uk.

Who are People’s Voice Media and what is the Community Reporter network?

Our vision is for a just world in which people’s lived experience is heard, valued and has influence. We’re changing the world, one story at a time.

We use storytelling as a tool for social change. Our work supports people to improve their own world and the world around them by using lived experience to address inequalities and achieve social justice.

We use lived experience stories to inform services, research and policy in a bid to change institutions, systems and society for the better.

Our core objectives are to:

Enable people’s lived experience to be heard and provide platforms for marginalised voices

Support people, communities and organisations to use lived experience to address inequalities and injustices

Inform and influence services and policies so that they better meet people’s needs and enable people to live well

Our Community Reporting methodology provides us with a framework through which people’s stories can be transformed into real-world change. This approach brings people’s lived experience into spaces that it would otherwise be excluded from. Via our Community Reporter network of people, groups and organisations, we share learning across sectors and geographies, promote joined-up thinking, connect people, impact and influence across different arenas and push for systemic change.

We work across the UK and Europe with people whose voices are often overlooked or ignored, with communities who have the least resource and power in society and with services and organisations that work with these groups.

Find out more at: https://peoplesvoicemedia.co.uk and https://communityreporter.net

Equitable Futures: The 5th Annual Community Reporter Network Conference