It is indisputable. We have swapped the notion of space for that of place. It seems to have crept up on us and is now well and truly embedded in our psyche.
Gone are the days where we were preoccupied with maximising limited space (space planning), ordering space (feng-sui) and creating new space where it ought not to be. Remember estate agents selling increasingly smaller houses and marketing shipping containers as bijou residences? This obsession even penetrated human behaviours. We gave each other space, we got spaced out.
Now it seems as if we have completed this bold move towards something altogether more personal. We are encouraged to champion local ownership, local affinity and community spirit. We are encouraged to be less anonymous, to embrace collective action and to have a new empathy with our neighbours. To quote a well-known phrase, "a place for everything and everything in its place".
Industry, as you would expect, has followed suit. There is now a very good Place Management Institute. The Lottery programme for supporting youth venues is called Myplace. In fact, many of us were what you would call "place-shapers" long before it became a mainstream activity. Those of us who grew up involved with the town centre management industry have always worked hard to build customer loyalty, create destinations and develop a reputation or brand built upon a place name.
But what defines a "place-shaper" and do we have a role in the "Big Society"?
Future Communities.net says;
"`Place-shaping' is now widely understood to describe the ways in which local players collectively use their influence, powers, creativity and abilities to create attractive, prosperous and safe communities, places where people want to live, work and do business."
It's a splendidly ambiguous brief. At About the Place Ltd, we define ourselves as place-shapers with a deliberate penchant for those activities that will often fall outside of the public sector core spectrum. We love to challenge the norm and to look at new ways of delivering traditional activities - albeit with a keen eye on creating a project legacy and sustainable actions.
We could probably be seen to be a flag-waver for the notion of "Big Society". We often work with local partnerships to increase their capacity to deliver benefits that are not solely reliant on public funds. We encourage self-sufficiency. We suggest a more commercial outlook.
Successful business people often leave their commercial instincts at the door when they drive volunteer initiatives. We agree that you are not in the business of making a commercial profit. However, you are in the business of running a sustainable partnership. You must be able to deliver benefits to members that do not rely solely on annual subscriptions.
Our project work is probably typical of "Big Society". We allow local aspirations to take shape. We inject some inspiration and innovation where it is needed. We anchor this to commercial reality, local stakeholder agendas and the desire for a legacy. We let local people hold on tight to their vision whilst we take on the burden of project management principles that include outputs and outcomes, milestones and SMART targets.
Our portfolio has included work with business partnerships, charitable trusts, community groups, businesses, schools, disenfranchised young people and prisoners. Sometimes our work comprises a combination of some of these working together. This is wider society, but also presumably the "Big Society" in different guises.
We love the challenge of an off-the-wall idea that can harness the enthusiasm of an organisation, a locality or a group of hard-to-reach individuals. We love a challenge, full stop. A recent blog suggested that smell could be the new public art for defining places. Maybe this is our next project...
Gone are the days where we were preoccupied with maximising limited space (space planning), ordering space (feng-sui) and creating new space where it ought not to be. Remember estate agents selling increasingly smaller houses and marketing shipping containers as bijou residences? This obsession even penetrated human behaviours. We gave each other space, we got spaced out.
Now it seems as if we have completed this bold move towards something altogether more personal. We are encouraged to champion local ownership, local affinity and community spirit. We are encouraged to be less anonymous, to embrace collective action and to have a new empathy with our neighbours. To quote a well-known phrase, "a place for everything and everything in its place".
Industry, as you would expect, has followed suit. There is now a very good Place Management Institute. The Lottery programme for supporting youth venues is called Myplace. In fact, many of us were what you would call "place-shapers" long before it became a mainstream activity. Those of us who grew up involved with the town centre management industry have always worked hard to build customer loyalty, create destinations and develop a reputation or brand built upon a place name.
But what defines a "place-shaper" and do we have a role in the "Big Society"?
Future Communities.net says;
"`Place-shaping' is now widely understood to describe the ways in which local players collectively use their influence, powers, creativity and abilities to create attractive, prosperous and safe communities, places where people want to live, work and do business."
It's a splendidly ambiguous brief. At About the Place Ltd, we define ourselves as place-shapers with a deliberate penchant for those activities that will often fall outside of the public sector core spectrum. We love to challenge the norm and to look at new ways of delivering traditional activities - albeit with a keen eye on creating a project legacy and sustainable actions.
We could probably be seen to be a flag-waver for the notion of "Big Society". We often work with local partnerships to increase their capacity to deliver benefits that are not solely reliant on public funds. We encourage self-sufficiency. We suggest a more commercial outlook.
Successful business people often leave their commercial instincts at the door when they drive volunteer initiatives. We agree that you are not in the business of making a commercial profit. However, you are in the business of running a sustainable partnership. You must be able to deliver benefits to members that do not rely solely on annual subscriptions.
Our project work is probably typical of "Big Society". We allow local aspirations to take shape. We inject some inspiration and innovation where it is needed. We anchor this to commercial reality, local stakeholder agendas and the desire for a legacy. We let local people hold on tight to their vision whilst we take on the burden of project management principles that include outputs and outcomes, milestones and SMART targets.
Our portfolio has included work with business partnerships, charitable trusts, community groups, businesses, schools, disenfranchised young people and prisoners. Sometimes our work comprises a combination of some of these working together. This is wider society, but also presumably the "Big Society" in different guises.
We love the challenge of an off-the-wall idea that can harness the enthusiasm of an organisation, a locality or a group of hard-to-reach individuals. We love a challenge, full stop. A recent blog suggested that smell could be the new public art for defining places. Maybe this is our next project...
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