I have just spent a fantastic week in the Wester Ross, at North West Highlands Arts, with artist and sailor Christine Morrison. (http://www.christinemorrison.co.uk)
 
We spent the week walking out into the landscape of Applecross and Sheildaig peninsulas. The space, so vast and intricate at the same time, and the autumnal colours, were intoxicating. It was an opportunity to step back and begin linking in various aspects of my practice- in Scots song, observing the landscape, collecting, and reflecting on women’s relationship to the land and space. I will be drawing this work together for an exhibition in the new year.

Recently I have been working with Iriss to explore how we can foster a culture of self care in the social care workforce. I have been putting all my research and ideas together into a wee zine. Let me know if you would like a copy! We will be doing some workshops in the near future so keep an eye open for details!

I teamed up with Maryhill Health Centre’s arts strategy team to offer some health and wellbeing guided walks.On Friday 27th January we set off to explore the hidden beauty of the Forth and Clyde Canal by the Maryhill locks and local walkways, looking back at postcards and photographs from the Maryhill Burgh Hall archives.

After a short walk along the canal, we headed back to Maryhill Burgh Hall for a creative arts workshop. Using photography that was taken by previous workshop participants we created our own postcards to be exhibited in the health centre.

Maryhill’s story begins with Mary Hill herself, who inherited the Gairbraid Estate from her father, Hew Hill. When she sold the land to allow the canal to be built, she did so on the  condition that it be named after Mary. We wrote to Mary to let her know how things have changed.

All set for a few weeks off focusing and making, I set off to Cove park in December for a self-funded residency as part of their bursary scheme for winter residencies. Unfortunately I had to cut it short... managing only one night! But still, here are the fruits of my one day of contemplation!

I am almost halfway through my year long project with IRISS as an Associate Service Designer for the Pilotlight project. Service design was chosen as an approach for Pilotlight because it is a collaborative process where people using the services, delivering and commissioning the services will be involved at every step of the design process.

My interest in user centred design is routed in my belief that design thinking opens up new solutions that can make a genuine impact on peoples day-to-day lives. The foundation of my practice is in empathy and user insight and I do not believe that services can be developed without the expertise of those who use them. I work regularly with organizations with combined cultural and healthcare interests. It was during these collaborations that I began to build on my interests in long-term conditions and mental health, and I recognized the potential of design thinking to be applied to SDS development. I am enjoying exploring my learning and delivery in this area.

Here is a little animation I worked on as part of the project- we decided not to use it in the end but I am sharing it here because I think its is quite endearing!

In July I felt very lucky to be able to travel up to Forres to take part in the Leapfrog Summer School. I went to represent Iriss, and to talk about what we have all been doing on the Pilotlight project.
Leading the summer school were staff from Leapfrog. Leapfrog is a research project led by ImaginationLancaster, in partnership with The Institute of Design Innovation at the Glasgow School of Art (GSA). The Leapfrog project is a collaborative project looking at the way we design and evaluate approaches to consultation. The summer school was a mixed group of people who are working on projects, and people who are doing their PhDs.  We spent time sharing co-design methods, tools, ideas and debating aspects of our work. We talked a lot about the academic and societal impact of using action research.

Testing my collaboration skills with willing guinea pigs!

It was fantastic for me to have a chance to share some of my experiences on the Pilotlight project. I was asked to chat about how Pilotlight fosters a culture of collaboration in its workshops, and I broke down my top tips into five ‘collaboration trump cards’.

Inclusion
In Pilotlight it is essential that we work with people who have barriers to participation, as they are often the people with the most in-depth expertise of a situation or experience. Therefore inclusion is a priority for us, and we use tools like inclusion checklists to make sure peoples’ needs are met. This checklist includes lots of questions, not just the usual ones regarding mobility and dietary requirements, but also questions about social and emotional needs.

Equity
Iriss appreciates that the work it does could not happen if it were not for the involvement of people who have lived experiences. We understand lived experience to be as valuable as professional experience.  Therefore it is part of Iriss’ policy to offer to pay people to attend workshops who do not earn a salary. Valuing all of our labour equally contributes to tackling hierarchy in the design process.

Level playing fields
Reducing the dynamic of ‘Us and Them’
is really important in the Pilotlight design process. We use activities that help to break down this divide. My role as service designer is to design tools that specifically break down barriers and assumptions about skill and value.
These can include tools that use play, personas and storytelling, for example.

Adaption
Finding ways for everyone’s voice to be heard. For example, we have had members of our co-design teams who cannot process language, so we have had to find ways to ensure that their contributions can still be included and prioritised. We are currently exploring how to support them to have maximum involvement. Having the support of our Creative Adviser, Andy Archer, has been fantastic in this aspect.

Time
The final collaboration trump card is very simple - time. Time is essential in allowing the group to begin to work collaboratively together.
We allow lots of time within the workshops :  for reflection, discussion, group work and to eat scones! We also allow lots of time outwith the workshops : people who are not as comfortable speaking out can contribute in other ways, via homework tasks or blog posts.
Our project is structured to have 8 workshops in total with each co-design team, spread over 8 months. This allows for the group to develop and have time to work together through the double diamond process.
It was fantastic to represent Pilotlight at the summer school and I was very proud to showcase all the work that the co-design teams have worked on over the course of the project.

I am so pleased to show you all the new Woodcraft Folk Heritage Website I have been working on with the Media co-op.  As anyone who knows me will tell you, I am a big fan of the Woodcraft Folk- I grew up in the organisation and learnt a lot about myself, the world and other people through the work of the brilliant volunteers than run groups across the country. Working on the heritage site was particularly special as it allowed me to spend time really exploring- bring back memories of badges, campfires, songs and great pals!

We worked on this site in a participative way- the icons, colours, logos and structure are all influenced by workshops and consultation with young people. Thank you to everyone who contributed and especially Simon, the magical coder, who guided me through my first full web design project!

Text from the site:

"A treasure trove of memorabilia! Priceless gems! Riches galore! Just a few descriptions of the wonderful materials collected and created by Woodcraft Folk’s 90th Anniversary Heritage Project. The project was made possible through Heritage Lottery Funding and the generous contribution of Woodcraft Folk districts and groups.
The people, practices and places through Woodcraft Folk’s first ninety years have been collected in story, film, photograph, text and song in this remarkable project. And much of this material will be accessible here – on the Woodcraft Folk heritage website. The project has created new ways of learning about the organisation’s past, and in pursuing thinking about its future. The 90th anniversary may only have lasted a year but it has opened an exciting world of heritage possibilities leading to the 100th anniversary in 2025!"