County Durham is no ordinary county. It is made up of over 300 villages and towns. They were once bound into a social and cultural network by the Durham Miners Association.
Each community had its own agency and representative, which helped sustain a self-made and self-reliant social fabric.
Inspired by the Durham Miners’ Association community lodge model, through the legacy of the Durham 2025 bid, there is an opportunity to bring together extraordinary people, places and ideas to harness the power of culture to make a real difference in their communities through Place Lab.
What is Place Lab?
Place Lab will be a connected network of hubs across local places, using community-powered creativity to link people, projects and good ideas to determine and realise a shared vision. A central hub will research how the labs are working and build up a body of knowledge to help drive further change.
Where will Place Lab be located?
Twelve communities have been identified as Place Lab areas: Peterlee, Newton Aycliffe, Bishop Auckland, Consett, Chester-Le-Street, Seaham, Stanley, Spennymoor, Crook, Shildon and Barnard Castle.
How do I find out more?
The Place Lab video above was created for the Creative Bureaucracy Festival‘s Digital Kick-Off day on 23rd April. Our CEO Nick Malyan featured in the session.
What is the Creative Bureaucracy Festival?
Every year thousands of international participants from government, politics, civil society and other change-making organisations join the Creative Bureaucracy Festival digitally and in person to share and celebrate outstanding examples of innovative public administrations.
In 2023, the festival consists of Digital Kick-Off Day on 23 March, and the highlight event on 15 June live in Berlin. The Digital Kick-Off Day will offer a complete programme of inspiring examples of creative bureaucracy. It is a free online event for everyone globally with jury-selected sessions from the global Call for Participation – kicking off another year of public sector innovation and offering an additional platform for forward-thinking ideas and projects before the live festival in Berlin.