April 2016 - KWMC

Archive for April, 2016

Change Creators in Barcelona

The Change Creators spent some time in Barcelona from 10^th – 13th April, with two full days of workshops in the Barcelona Fab Lab, which is part of the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia.

On Monday the group received a talk from Guillem Camporodon on the development of computers. He took the Change Creators through their history and how the demand for them has increased so rapidly, sharing a 1958 quote from Thomas John Watson: “I think there is a world market for about five computers”. Guillem also explained the development of 3D printers and how they are being used all around the world. The group had a full tour of the building and an up close and personal look at 3D printers.

The Change Creators then spoke to Mara Balestrini, Director of Research for Ideas for Change, who has been collaborating with KWMC to develop The Bristol Approach to Citizen Sensing (which the Change Creators are part of). Mara spoke to the group about connecting people with sensor technology, the challenges involved and what to think about when encouraging citizens to use sensors. She gave examples of projects that had failed and flourished, giving a detailed explanation as to why.

The afternoon was spent exploring Arduinos with Guillem Camporodon and he also introduced the Change Creators to the ‘smart citizen’ kits. In pairs the group set up the kits around the Fab Lab, both inside and outside, ready to collect data for them to visualise the next day.

The next morning the group sat down with Guillem and Mara to present their ideas for using sensor technology within their campaigns: reducing food waste and diversifying mental health support services for young people. Mara and Guillem challenged some of the ideas, encouraging the Change Creators to reflect further, and offered their expertise, gained through similar projects and experience.

In the afternoon the group were ready to input the data, collected the previous night, into Adobe Illustrator and visualise it using a laser cutter. They decided what they wanted to visualise, with Chelsea and Yelena focusing on comparing the CO2 levels in Santiago and Barcelona. Through this exercise, the Change Creators got a first-hand experience of how sensors can enable you to be creative with the data they gather.

The two days were successful in helping the Change Creators understand sensors and data visualisation:

“I didn’t know it could be so creative” – Chelsea
“I’ve learned so much in a great, fun engaging way”- Charlie
“I’ve learned so much, I’ve got so many ideas about what I can do for my project” – Yelena
“It’s been really hands-on. We’ve been talking about these concepts for so long and seeing them in action has been really valuable” – Andrea

Gallery

Meet a Change Creator: Mason

Name: Mason Scott Robinson
Age:25
Campaign: Food Waste

What made you apply to be a Change Creator? I applied to the change creator programme to build my leadership skills. I felt as though I had begun to identify a need to challenge myself in order to progress.

What are you up to when you’re not campaign developing with Change Creators? I work as a volunteer coordinator in the contemporary art gallery Arnolfini. I have a background in theatre and digital art. My main passion is writing for screen and I am currently working towards applying for a masters in screenplay writing/directing.

What aspect of Change Creators are you most excited about? The thing that excites me most about the programme is the support in developing my leadership skills, working both with a large group as well as improving my ability to effectively manage my own time and to work on self lead projects.

Where do you see yourself at the end of the programme? By the end of the programme I would like to be much more effective at working autonomously as well as feeling more confident in my ability to complete my own projects, leading a team of people from conceptions through to execution.

Cast your vote and help South Bristol ‘make it in business’

Our digital manufacturing space, KWMC The Factory, has been shortlisted for the RBS Skills & Opportunities Fund, for a new programme that will support people to explore entrepreneurship and make their business dreams a reality.

You could help us make it happen by casting your vote: find out more about our proposal here and vote online here.

The Factory is KWMC’s making and training space: we create digitally manufactured products and provide opportunities for everyone to “make it” by opening up access to tools and technologies including a CNC router and laser cutter.

Our ‘Making it in business’ workshops will support people to develop the knowledge, skills and experience to thrive in the manufacturing and making industries and consider setting up their own businesses. We aim to work with 120 participants from South Bristol, especially those currently under-represented in enterprise including young people, women and Knowle West residents.

We’re planning to deliver a range of skills development workshops in digital fabrication, prototyping, product design, market research and costing. Those who want to develop their idea into a business will be supported to understand the next steps and participants can continue using The Factory’s facilities after the programme.

We know that satisfaction with local jobs is very low in our area at just 12% (Filwood ward, Quality of Life survey by Bristol City Council 2013) – and with just three clicks you can help us support more people to make it in business!

Voting closes at midday on Friday 22nd April. Cast your vote at: http://skillsandopportunitiesfund.rbs.co.uk/vote/vote-in-south-west-and-wales.html

Photo: Photography © Max McClure

Meet a Change Creator: Ella

Name: Gabriella Harriet Neal
Age: 19
Campaign: Mental Health

What made you apply to be a Change Creator?
I have so much passion when it comes to injustice within social and political issues. I wanted to use my creative thinking and express that through working with new technology and creating social change.

What are you up to when you’re not campaign developing with Change Creators?
I have recently left formal education and have been on a path of discovering my own voice since moving to Bristol. I work as a radio presenter for Ujima radio on a youth show. We discuss the current trials and tribulations of our generation. I also made a zine with ten other young creatives on the ‘Human Experience’ which opened up many doors to me expressing my opinion. I am a huge advocate for creating! I work on personal projects of my own artwork (mainly painting, drawing and poetry) and I also just love to learn, which explains my obsession with documentaries and books.

What’s been you favourite part of Change Creators so far?
Every moment of it, each week there is a different challenge which has improved my skills as a person. To work with such inspiring, creative, interesting people and to also be taught and learn from such a huge range of aspirational human beings – I honestly have never felt so motivated to make a change in my whole life. The whole experience is just getting better.

Where do you see yourself at the end of the programme?
I want to continue making a change with social issues, working on campaigns as an activist. My dream is to make my own documentaries about current affairs of corruption! I want to change the world and keep dreaming big!

Twitter @GabriellaNll

Meet a Change Creator: Chelsea

Name :Chelsea
Age: 19
Campaign: Mental Health

What made you apply to become a Change Creator?
I don’t believe one person can change the world but I think you can always get others to help you make a change.

What are you up to when you’re not campaign developing with Change Creators?
I draw and paint a lot. I try to help others through my art. I also help young people and talk to them about issues they may have.

What aspect of Change Creators are you most excited about?
I am really excited about getting to meet contacts abroad and to find out what they can offer that could help our campaign.

Where do you see yourself at the end of the campaign?
At the end of the programme I’d like to be able to open my own art shop where individuals or groups of people can come and be creative and have someone to talk to if they have issues and where people can be themselves.

Twitter @Chels_cormack

Meet a Change Creator: Charlie

Name: Charlie Skinner
Age: 21
Campaign: Food Waste

What made you apply to be a Change Creator ?
I have a passion to make a positive change through creativity. I want to learn the skills to develop a career in film and also be able to make a positive impact.

What are you up to when you’re not campaign developing with Change Creators?
In my spare time I’m a filmmaker and I write music. I also spend time campaigning with the National Union of Students Wales on issues that affect students.

What’s been you favourite part of Change Creators so far?
My favourite part of Change Creators so far is getting to work in a team to develop project ideas. I’m passionate about making change and being able to work on developing ideas has been great.

What do you want to achieve through your campaign?
The Food Waste campaign is a very interesting campaign and I’m excited for the fun and innovative ways we are going to help Bristol households reduce their food waste. Hopefully our campaign can help people save money, but will also have a positive impact on the environment.

Twitter @CharlieWooooo

Change Creators: Week Six

On Monday 4^th April the Change Creators made their way to Bristol Robotics Laboratory to meet with Ali and Sam from Altitude Tech and present their ideas about the kind of sensor technology they’d like to use in their campaigns. As both groups have moved further in their planning, some of their ideas have recently changed. Monday’s meeting was a chance for the Change Creators to speak to Ali and Sam, who have been sharing their expertise with the groups over the past few weeks, and make some decisions about how they will use sensors as part of their campaigns.

Andreea, Chelsea and Yelena, from the mental health group, proposed three ideas for using sensors to collect data about how alternative therapies might help young people, in comparison to the current, most used methods. They also revealed the name of their mental health campaign, ‘itsok;’ to the rest of the group.

The food waste group, Charlie, Emma, Jay and Mason, want to collect data from homes about how much food waste is created and why. They have some ideas about how they would like to do this but haven’t come to a decision about which method would work best.

After initial feedback from Sam and Ali both groups worked together to develop new ideas. The meeting was a great success as both groups now have a better idea of what’s possible. Over the next few weeks they’ll be conducting more research in order to come to a final decision on what sensor technology they will create to use within their social change campaigns.

Meet a Change Creator: Emma

Name: Emma Nicol
Age: 22
Campaign: Food Waste

What made you apply to be a Change Creator?
I applied to be a Change Creator because I wanted to work with a group of people who have the same passion to create social change as I do. I’m particularly passionate about the environment and wanted to learn about how we can use sensor technology to inspire people to change.

What are you up to when you’re not campaign developing with Change Creators?
I’m currently studying for a BA (Hons) in Illustration at Bristol UWE which takes up most of my time. I love to make work about environmental issues or scientific facts as I feel that art is a great way to communicate the information to a wide audience. I volunteer with Arnolfini and have a part time job. When I have free time I like to travel, see live music and go to art galleries or museums.

What’s been you favourite part of Change Creators so far?
My favourite part has been meeting people who are doing things already to try and create social change, it’s inspiring to see what other people are doing. It’s been great to work in a team of people in my age group who are passionate about social change.

What do you want to achieve through your campaign?
It would be great to see our campaign have an impact firstly in Bristol and then maybe further afield. Food waste is something that we can all help reduce.

Check out Emma’s blog to see her work.

Twitter @emmasnicol

Change Creators: Week Five

This week the Change Creators had 1-to-1 workshops to solidify the plans they had started making during their practical project management session in Week Four.

Ella, Andreea, Yelena and Chelsea, met up with Mena, KWMC’s Young People’s Programme Manager, and discussed their ideas about research, sensor technology and marketing in order to set deadlines and identify the actions they need to take to make their mental health campaign a success. They felt it was important to decide on a name for their campaign at this stage. After getting their creativity flowing their first idea was using a symbol that represents overcoming hardship: the semicolon. As the punctuation mark is used when a sentence could have ended but didn’t, the group agreed that it’s a symbol that shows positive change can happen when it comes to people’s lives. From there, the name came naturally: It’s okay;

After lots of discussion and enthusiasm, with tasks allocated for the next few months, the mental health campaign is ready to kick off!

This week the food waste team met Kerry McCarthy, the MP for East Bristol & Shadow Secretary for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, to discuss issues surrounding food waste within households and suppliers. They also met with Ali from Altitude Tech to further discuss ideas about how they could use sensing technologies in their campaign.

This week both groups were able to further their planning and preparation in order to launch their campaigns.

Contact Us

Knowle West Media Centre
Leinster Avenue
Knowle West
Bristol
BS4 1NL
+44 (0) 117 903 0444
enquiries@kwmc.org.uk

Look Around