What is Creative Participation?
Engaging the head, hands, and heart through creative activities that build connection and inspire action for positive change.
By making artwork, creating prints and taking photographs together we can experiment with ideas and express ourselves in ways that help us better understand each other and the world around us.
Creative Participation workshops provide practical tools for community engagement, visualising social impact, story telling, research and evaluation. It can also support organisations with Strategic Planning and Staff Development.
It’s a practical, tangible and hands on way for people to explore a range of topics such as health, wellbeing, safety and community in a way that is accessible, interactive and inclusive.
Creative Participation
How does it work?
Our workshops are highly flexible and tailored to suit your specific requirements.
They can be delivered as stand-alone sessions, integrated into larger projects, or offered as a series of workshops culminating in a showcase event to share the work created.
If you’re looking for an accessible and engaging way to connect, share stories, and demonstrate your impact then Creative Participation is for you!
Examples of Previous Projects
We design and facilitate creative, participatory approaches that can be applied in diverse settings whether you’re a Social Sector Organisation, School, College, Community Group, or Public Service. Here are some examples of our recent work.
Sensory Stories
Aspire Journeys
Designer Labels
What are the benefits?
Well-being – Creativity supports mental health and well-being, offering an outlet for self-expression and helping to strengthen connections between people.
Learning – Engaging in creative activities encourages curiosity, problem-solving, and skill-building, supporting personal growth and confidence.
Connection – Bringing people together, building trust, empathy, and a sense of belonging within groups, communities and organisations.
Communication – Art offers a universal language for sharing stories, perspectives, and ideas, making it easier to connect and communicate across barriers.
Social Action - Creativity can drive social action, opening up space for conversations about topics that matter.
What are people saying about Creative Participation?
“It has been a really positive experience.
You have been completely engaged and invested in our vision.
The results were powerful and compelling and stimulated lots of ideas about how the images and words generated might be used together or separately in any number of ways.”
“Working with Chris was a wonderful experience. Chris’ enthusiasm for his creative practice was evident in his passion and his willingness to share that with others.
He understood the connection between the self, the community and how the image could tie us all together. He was able to translate that for our students.
His sessions were some of our most popular, and LUU looks forward to working with him and Our Creative Connection for future events.”
“The sensory stories project has been amazing for our children and our staff. Jo and Chris elevated the children’s emotions from day one.
They catered to our children’s needs and differences immediately and jumped right in and created the most wonderful experience for them”
“We worked with Chris on a collaborative project exploring the experiences of adults with Learning Disabilities, and their parents, during a yoga program. Many had severely limited speech so including creative ways of communicating - such as photography - was ideal.
Chris made the sessions incredibly fun and engaging for our participants.
Not only did our participants get fully involved and have a chance to share their opinions and ideas, but they were all smiling and feeling confident and relaxed after our session. A great experience for us all”