News on Phoenix Road

May Engagement Summary

Youth workshops

We loved working with Global Generation’s Youth Group to develop their ideas. Each session was delivered remotely but using hands-on and creative activities to help bring the young people’s ideas to life. The five sessions were structured around the following:

Introduction to the project - setting the brief and meeting the design team

Phoenix Road today - site observations, taking photos and generating ideas

Biodiversity and nature in the city - what makes a good habitat for wildlife?

Develop your idea for Phoenix Road

Pitch ideas to the design team - sharing with LDA and Camden Council

These workshops aimed to get the young people inspired, as well as supporting them to develop their ideas into practical designs and activities.

Participants chose one of the following three themes to base their ideas around: Nature, Spaces to play and Activities for all. A plethora of ideas for these three areas were developed. We collectively expanded on their initial ideas by asking; Who is the event or structure for? What happens in the space? Why is it important to you? What makes Phoenix Road special? In the final two sessions the children selected ideas and produced drawings and models, which they then presented to the design team in the fifth and final session. We will share more on the ideas gathered at our various co-design sessions next month.

The film above shows an example of an engagement pack we created and used in some of the youth workshops.

What people have told us so far

In addition to the feedback gathered in the co-design sessions, a number of important points and ideas were shared in the Community Stakeholder Workshops. Here is a summary:

Attendees were keen to see local involvement and integration of local projects. We have since reached out to a range of local organisations to co-deliver the engagement activities of this project.

People suggested they would like to see more grass and trees to replace tarmac. There were also ideas for living walls and creating habitats for wildlife.

Locals are keen to see improvement in air quality and there’s desire for local communities to be involved in taking care of new greening.

There was discussion around public activities and creative installations with local interest groups.

Preservation of local character and heritage was also a strong theme that was discussed.

Security was a recurring factor, locals want to disburse anti-social behaviour and to feel safe in public spaces.

Traffic and parking were also discussion points, attendees agreed there needs to be a balance between pedestrians, cyclists and access for cars. Residents want to keep parking for residents (livelihoods dependants on cars were brought up), people with disabilities and the church functions.

Coming up

We have a series of sessions planned in local schools, which are being co-delivered with Global Generation.

We will continue to capture and record all of the feedback we receive. We will look at all of these contributions and start drawing out some of the main ideas and recurring themes. We will then start compiling a list of possible design ideas and activities, which will be shared via virtual exhibition. Watch this space!

We want to hear from as many people as possible. Add your own ideas for Greening Phoenix Road using the interactive map.

Posted on 4th May 2021

by make:good