Call for expressions of interest: creative approaches to community and place

Take part in the Sussex Co-Lab placemaking symposium on Thursday 29 May 2025 by submitting a proposal to showcase how you're working creatively with communities.

We invite you to submit a one-page summary to be part of the Sussex Co-Lab placemaking symposium. This should showcase how you're working creatively with communities to find new solutions to the challenges being felt or experienced in the place where you live, work, or play.

We're particularly interested in projects that demonstrate how creativity and culture are being used as methodologies to support positive change in one or more of the following areas:

health and wellbeing – enhancing the physical, mental, and social wellbeing of individuals and communities
environment and connection to nature – strengthening relationships with the natural world and fostering environmental resilience
economic renewal – contributing to local economic revitalisation through creative and community-led approaches.

Who should apply?

We welcome submissions from artists, cultural practitioners, community organisers, researchers, and creative changemakers who are actively working with communities to reimagine the role of place, culture, and participation in shaping a better future.

Submission guidelines

Your one-page summary should address the following:

What are you doing? Describe your work and how you're using creativity or culture to engage with the community and place.
Why is this important? Explain the significance of your work for your community and the challenges it seeks to address.
What impact is it having? Highlight the difference your work is making or beginning to make, both in shaping local decision-making and for the individuals involved.
What challenges and opportunities exist? Reflect on the barriers and possibilities of working in this way.
What will the audience take away? Share what others might learn from hearing about your project at the symposium.

Sharing your work

Selected contributors will have the opportunity to share their work as part of the symposium, contributing to a rich and inspiring exchange of ideas.

We have a number of ways in which you can take part, in person or remotely such as:

deliver a presentation on the day
submit a poster that provides information about your project in relation to the questions being asked as part of the submission.
submit a short video clip (maximum two minutes)
share a tool or resource.

Indicate your preference from this list in your proposal.

Application timeline and review panel

Submissions should be sent to Nora Davies (n.davies@sussex.ac.uk) by 4pm on the 22 April 2025.

A panel will review submissions with decisions being communicated by 2 May 2025. Following this, a final programme will be published by 7 May 2025. The panel will include the following people:

Professor Debbie Keeling, Deputy Pro-Vice-Chancellor, University of Sussex
Dr Cara Courage, Culture, Communities & Place Consultant - Cara has dedicated her career to championing the transformative power of art in communities, working alongside artists and residents to create meaningful change through cultural participation.
Eleanor Johnson - Bullock, Co-Director, Hospitable Environment - Artist and Therapeutic Practitioner, Newhaven
Lizzie Lower, Hospitable Environment, Co-Director- Creative Producer and Maker, Newhaven
Susie Deadman, Managing Director, Sew Fabulous, Brighton
Nora Davies, External Stakeholder Engagement Adviser, University of Sussex.