My aim for the Create Change project was...well you might say it was ambitious! I want a better society, but not in a little way, in a big, transformative way. I want a future where people are better able to influence the world they live in. A future where constructive conversations about difficult issues can happen between people who respect and collaborate with each other.
And (slightly surprisingly to even me!) I thought I could play a part in making that happen.
On this journey I've spent a lot of time thinking about big ideas and then coming down to earth and focusing on a single action. All my ideas seem to move up and down a ladder, from huge, lofty ideals of how our society could look, down to small actions I could deliver in my hometown.
Sometimes the concepts seem so large, so unreachable that I feel that there is no point in even starting. When I find myself telling people that I'd like to engage the whole of society in a constructive way and empower us all as citizens who can influence our world, then explain that I'll do this by holding a community event in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, I feel as if I may seem more than a little crazy!
I've not overcome this complicated issue, and it does sometimes make me wobble, make me question what the point of all this is. Remembering that each step is a move on the ladder reminds me that although we are far from the top, we have started to climb.
Here are a few ideas I've had about ways that my efforts have an impact
So...am I crazy?! What do you think? Can you think BIG but start local?
And (slightly surprisingly to even me!) I thought I could play a part in making that happen.
On this journey I've spent a lot of time thinking about big ideas and then coming down to earth and focusing on a single action. All my ideas seem to move up and down a ladder, from huge, lofty ideals of how our society could look, down to small actions I could deliver in my hometown.
Sometimes the concepts seem so large, so unreachable that I feel that there is no point in even starting. When I find myself telling people that I'd like to engage the whole of society in a constructive way and empower us all as citizens who can influence our world, then explain that I'll do this by holding a community event in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, I feel as if I may seem more than a little crazy!
I've not overcome this complicated issue, and it does sometimes make me wobble, make me question what the point of all this is. Remembering that each step is a move on the ladder reminds me that although we are far from the top, we have started to climb.
Here are a few ideas I've had about ways that my efforts have an impact
- The Create Change Chesterfield events are building a community of changemakers in Chesterfield. The events give people the support, encouragement and confidence to take a step into social action themselves This expands outwards as the impact of each individual reaches out beyond the CCC events.
- The project has the potential to change the atmosphere in the town and create more, better connections between people. Again having an impact which reaches beyond the CCC events.
- At the previous Create Change Event we trained 8 local people to become facilitators on the day. They now have the knowledge and experience to fulfil this role in the future. I plan to continue this at future events and encourage as diverse a group as possible to experience this.
- I will continue to record my experience and evaluations of this project through blogs. Published on this site (selected ones are also published on the RSA blog platform). The aim of capturing my learning and publishing it is so that I can share this with others. There is the potential to inspire others to create action like mine in their home town (with some success already! I know of 2 towns following patterns of my activity inspired by this story). The impact of these shared learnings has potential to grow, if we begin to have a bigger platform.
So...am I crazy?! What do you think? Can you think BIG but start local?
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