Episode 5 transcript

Here’s a rough breakdown of timings:

0:00: Introduction + the history of KWMC

Carolyn talks about her personal journey from young photographer, training against a background of second-wave feminism and the gay liberation movement, to director of a unique and pioneering organisation. She gives us the history of Knowle West Media Centre, from its origins as a photography project that she ran from the Knowle West Health Association in 1996 to today.

18:59: Co-designed projects

One of KWMC’s core principles is that of co-design: by harnessing the collective knowledge and experience of local residents, KWMC can run projects that benefit the whole community and beyond. Examples of these projects are KWMC: The Factory (22:27), a space that can manufacture things like furniture as well as provide training on how to do so; and We Can Make Homes (28:19), an initiative that seeks to help solve housing inequalities in Knowle West by supporting citizens and communities to create affordable homes when and where they need them.

38:00: Scaling up hyperlocalism

Carolyn takes us through some of the ways in which the learning from working in such an intensely targeted can way be applied nationally or globally. Things like sharing experience from projects with other neighbourhoods which can then scale up to whole cities, and how starting locally with big issues like climate change can get more people onside in the long run.

1:04:52: On local democracy

The work KWMC does necessitates constant community engagement. Carolyn talks through some of the things she’s learned about local democracy (councils, take note), like how providing feedback is empowering to disenfranchised citizens as it demonstrates how they influenced a decision, and how the arts can be a vehicle to increased response rates and quality of responses.

KWMC is a charity and needs support to continue the wonderful work it does. You can become a supporter here.