This event is part of the School of Education's 'Bristol Conversations in Education' seminar series.

Speakers: Prof. Keri Facer and Dr Helen Manchester

In this seminar, Cabot Institute members Helen and Keri will discuss the 12 projects exploring the relationship between learning and the city that they have led since 2010, which together have involved over 1000 community partners and participants as well as collaborations with organisations ranging from the Future Cities Catapult, the BBC, the Mayor’s Office, Bristol Health Partners and IBM to the Arnolfini, City Farm, Up Our Street and BS3 Community Partnership (amongst many others). These projects have included a range of creative methodological innovations – from the first use of Evernote for research purposes to radical participatory mapping, to collaborative writing and making with partners. 

Helen and Keri will reflect on what they have learned about the role of the city in learning and of learning in and for the city, and explore the recurring themes that have emerged in this work including: the relationship of the digital to the physical, the role of public space, the erosion of community learning resources, the importance of learning as a means of systemic adaptation to changing conditions and the radical inequalities that characterise learning in the city. The seminar will also discuss the different theoretical resources that they have used to make sense of this work – from socio-cultural theory, to critical media studies to socio-material approaches.

Finally, the seminar will conclude by exploring what there is to be gained by a richer dialogue between urban studies and education studies and the important role to be played by creative, interdisciplinary methods in the design of urban futures.