Streets Alive!

Share Cardiff Community Events 2019

Riverside Community: Living Streets

Introductory Talk by Sally Hughes

22nd September 2019, Riverside Warehouse, Cardiff

And now, briefly, here’s my story for today.

Hello. My name is Sally and I’m a futurist.

My greatest preoccupation is seeking out examples of people doing things in communities which are good for all beings.

I’m on the lookout for alternatives, ways of organising, economies if you will, which help us meet our needs in a way which supports and sustains, and acknowledges our deep and dynamic interconnectedness.

We are starting to build a picture of people who are living these alternatives through our directory, we now have 97 amazing projects who are creating a more beautiful world, some of those projects are here today, welcome to you all.

A journey through the street of the future then, what’s that? Let’s harness the synergy that comes from being together today to begin to imagine the future we all want.

As a society we need to rethink our ways of operating, moving beyond this focus on profit making and individualism. Moving from I to we.

We need to embrace community energy, co-housing, the sharing of resources, including public space. We need to be asking questions about how we have access to the things we need in equitable ways from sustainable local sources.

We need to be busy building commons. We need to seriously reduce the number of cars which inhabit and inhibit public space.

We want our streets to be alive, filled with birdsong, bicycles and children laughing.

Let’s come together today to see how we can encourage a wellspring of activity in the neighbourhood here to create a place for people, with flourishing front gardens and convivial spaces for shared lives, building on that which is already abundant here.

It’s time to start doing things differently, it’s time for playful experimentation. It’s time to open up space for a culture of sharing and cooperation to emerge.

We are all trying to make the world a better place. Many small things, working collectively, can become stronger than the biggest things.

As designer Thomas Lommee said, “The next big thing will be lots of small things.”

How can we imagine something different now, and what does that community look and feel like?

Here we are, let’s begin.

Please dive in, talk to everyone, enjoy the delicious shared lunch, and enjoy each other.