This is post 2 in a 4-part introduction to Humanity Project. For the basic intro go here, or for part 3 go here and part 4 here
We’ve been meeting people and running spaces where people can gather, listen, and make decisions, for about two years now. We called these spaces Popular Assemblies because, in the democracy world, an assembly is a well-known name for a set of rules to help people not shout over each other, and come out feeling it wasn’t a waste of time. And we called them popular because, well, they were! It’s not the only kind of gathering that works, though. You may have heard of citizen juries, or town hall meetings. Some examples would be this and this.
So let’s set the scene a bit? What did we do in real life?
Well, we supported 46 assemblies, and they took place across 34 neighbourhoods and locations in the UK. Around 1720 people attended (we told you they were popular) and also 210 people received training for how to run, or facilitate, those meetings. That was important as it meant that local people could carry on running as many as they liked. These took place between the end of 2023 and the middle of 2024.
Do you want to know where?
Go on then. Nottingham, Kettering, Bishop Auckland, Southbank Centre, Falmouth, North Birkenhead, St Agnes, Queen’s University Belfast, Bristol, Hexham, Lambeth, Derby, Exeter, Walthamstow, Swansea, Newport, Port Talbot, Oxford, Plymouth, South Norwood, Saltash, Exeter University, Saltash, Calstock, Portland, Leamington Spa, Kendal, Lancaster, Truro, Falmouth University, Abingdon, Basildon, High Wycombe, Shrewsbury.
What went right?
A lot, actually, which was down to a lot of hard effort from everyone involved. What we found to be the most valuable things from those who came to and who ran these assemblies, were these magnificent seven things:
- We care about where we live and who we live alongside. A lot shared a really deep connection to their neighbourhoods and wanted to improve things locally.
- It doesn’t matter how old or young you are. Everyone LOVED sharing stories across generations, with older and younger people learning from each other.
- Feeling able. People felt they could get on and do things where they live.
- Good for neighbourhoods. Many of those who came said the assembly was a great way for making the neighbourhood feel more of a community.
- Hard work makes it feel valuable. When people got stuck in to help make things happen, yes it was hard work, particularly things like knocking on doors to let people know, and listening takes up a lot of time people feel like they don’t have. But afterwards, people saw how the work felt rewarding.
- A shared common sense, not pushed apart. Coming together meant people were able to see what life was like for others with different backgrounds and opinions, especially due to people properly listening when others had their say.
- Where to put the biscuits! The small details really matter. If people can’t see the tea and biscuits when they walk in, they can walk out.
So what did we get wrong that we learnt from?
Is it really possible to achieve extraordinary things through lots of people volunteering, or do you always need people who are resourced to do the work? Can it work as a labour of love? Because that’s what nearly all of these 46 assemblies were to someone.
“People were really passionate about their areas,” explains Lachlan Ayles, who did a lot of the support work. “The problem was then the follow-up after, particularly on people coming out of the assembly and taking action. There were attempts to really make some things happen. But often they fizzled out, and that’s because, as the assembly organisers found out the hard way, it takes a lot of energy to first organise an assembly, and then a lot of energy to carry out the actions. So when the event finished I think organisers felt like, ‘Oh my gosh, like that was a huge amount of work’.”
What we learnt then, particularly for new groups, say like a new local food growing group or a new youth community group, was that it was a step too far to both organise the assembly AND make things change after. We saw lots of goodwill, but most local organisers were already doing the assembly on top of other jobs and commitments. Going forward, figuring this out needs to be a big focus.
As Clare says: “In terms of leadership and getting stuff to happen, when you don’t have resources and you don’t have paid or experienced organisers, so much depends on that labour-of-love person in the community. I know from organising that you can sometimes have a great plan, but you just don’t have the right team to deliver it, and you really need some help from someone to help to drive it. They’re called producers.“
“When you work in film or TV or theatre, you know what producers do? They make it happen. It’s like a very special skill set. That they can run around at a million miles an hour to keep the practical needs in their head for something to happen and they go. I don’t always know where to find them, especially when I’ve got no budget.”
So leadership support and training for this kind of producer is one of the things we learnt we need going forward. And not just the people who have always done it (because they’re tired!). We have to find other people to develop skills to make this stuff happen.
“Supporting young people’s development, mentoring schemes and leadership training are likely to become more important in the next phase,” says Clare. “And because lots of stuff about young and old people came up, we’re working on a creative concept which involves intentionally bringing together elders and youngers from the place where you live. So yeah, so we’ve taken a lot of this stuff on board!”