James Duggan

I’m a big fan of Incredible Edible Todmorden and so it was great to hear Paul Clarke from IET at the recent CityCampMCR event.  Paul talked about the idea of a ‘Pop-up Farm’, something that came out of their ‘plotting shed’ – a space for coming together and developing new ideas.  The notion of using our understanding of farming to build a community hub was an idea that made a lot of sense to me.  My heart would like me to be working away on a farm in the country yet my mind keeps me in the city.  Could the ‘Pop-up Farm’ bring the two together?

I started developing the Chorlton ‘Pop-up Farm’ at CityCampMCR and now the seeds have been firmly planted in Chorlton.  I raised the idea at a recent Transition Chorlton meeting. Just as I had hoped the ideas and possibilities were really exciting. I’ve already made contact with a host school and applied for a ‘You Decide’ bid for £750. Everyone I’ve talked to seems to be really positive about the idea. Our schools are at the heart of our communities, yet there seems to be obstacles to the communities utilising the space and resources they offer.  The ‘Pop-up Farm’ could have the potential to unlock this.

The project will start as a simple food-growing project within a school but will hopefully lead somewhere more exciting.  The access to the pupils, parents, curriculum and space would open up huge avenues for community groups and social enterprises.  With this comes lots of knowledge, expertise and innovations that the schools could have at their disposal as learning resources. The ‘Pop-up Farm’ will hopefully go from food projects to ones that focus on recycling, technology or a local currency.

If anyone would like more information about the Chorlton ‘Pop-up Farm’ or would like to get involved please get in touch at rowe.m.s [at] gmail.com

Matthew Rowe

Thanks to all who made it to CityCampMCR! It was an exciting two days of information, inspiration, discussion and collaboration that we think will lead to some practical steps to make Greater Manchester that little bit more resourceful and resilient.

On Friday morning, Neil McInroy (Centre for Local Economic Strategies) told us about cities that ‘go boing’ and Paul Clark (Incredible Edible Todmorden) encouraged us to think of our cities differently – as potential orchards and farms. Our participants then got an insight into some of the fantastic projects that are going on in Manchester: RECLAIM reminded us of the young person’s perspective, Madlab showed us how to bring people together, and Farida Vis talked to a packed room about two of our passions, open data and food, in her presentation about allotments and open data.

With these great examples in mind, the open space sessions on Friday and Saturday focused on new and existing projects and how they could be developed. The first outcomes of these discussions will be up on the website soon. Citycamp wasn’t just about the development of ideas. From feedback gathered over both days, it seems that people really enjoyed the opportunity to make new connections. Meetings were set, business cards exchanged and, we hope, real productive connections were made, focused on concrete project ideas. The mix of interests and backgrounds created useful points of exchange, and a fertile ground for new approaches. As ever with openspace events, Citycamp Manchester allowed people the chance to discuss, listen and learn from each other that many felt was both useful and worthwhile. Finally, CityCampMCR gave a real insight into all the skills and resources of the city, showcasing some of the energy and activity that goes on. Something that we feel is very important in these gloomy times!

CityCampMCR 2011 might be over, but this is just the beginning of the CityCampMCR journey. We want Citycamp Mcr to become a useful space to bring together the diverse communities of Manchester, and to help them develop, innovate and ultimately create practical responses to the challenges that we face. Our second day openspace discussion has given us plenty of food for thought as to how we can further develop Citycamp Mcr and keep the buzz going, but we’d still welcome your ideas. We’re also keen to find more people who want to get involved with the organisation of future events and meet-ups. Contact us on info@citycampmcr.org

In the meantime, we’re planning a series of monthly CityCampMCR meetings starting in January 2012 to bring people together around projects and develop new ones. Watch this space.