It is essential that the Living High Streets ethos is understood from the outset. This is a community-led approach to placemaking aiming to support successful villages, towns and cities in Northern Ireland. Neither a design guide nor a consultation exercise, it is a participatory approach that brings people together to consider their local high streets, tackle common issues and enable places and communities to thrive. It focuses on:
• Building an understanding of collective needs from place
• Identifying and valuing the uniqueness of their place
• Imagining the future
• Translating ideas into actions
• Co-designing a Living High Streets Framework
Working together as a community towards a common goal allows individuals to see things from others’ perspectives, build trust and share skills, knowledge and experience. Working in this way ensures that the community can become skilled stewards of their place.
Growing local capacity reduces reliance on consultants and local or central government to lead the delivery of change. Meanwhile, local people develop a continuing sense of ownership of their place. The connection between the community and their high streets is strengthened in a way that fosters pride in place and a sense of belonging.
Making this approach work requires local commitment and there are two
essential components:
• Local Action Group
• Placemaking facilitators
The Local Action Group brings local knowledge and networks with strong
local relationships and the facilitator provides placemaking and mentoring skills to guide the process.
It is essential that the Living High Streets ethos is understood from the outset. This is a community-led approach to placemaking aiming to support successful villages, towns and cities in Northern Ireland. Neither a design guide nor a consultation exercise, it is a participatory approach that brings people together to consider their local high streets, tackle common issues and enable places and communities to thrive. It focuses on:
• Building an understanding of collective needs from place
• Identifying and valuing the uniqueness of their place
• Imagining the future
• Translating ideas into actions
• Co-designing a Living High Streets Framework
Working together as a community towards a common goal allows individuals to see things from others’ perspectives, build trust and share skills, knowledge and experience. Working in this way ensures that the community can become skilled stewards of their place.
Growing local capacity reduces reliance on consultants and local or central government to lead the delivery of change. Meanwhile, local people develop a continuing sense of ownership of their place. The connection between the community and their high streets is strengthened in a way that fosters pride in place and a sense of belonging.
Making this approach work requires local commitment and there are two
essential components:
• Local Action Group
• Placemaking facilitators
The Local Action Group brings local knowledge and networks with strong
local relationships and the facilitator provides placemaking and mentoring skills to guide the process.
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