Discovered Stories
Shared Communities

by Cumbria Development Education Centre

What is the 'Discovered Stories, Shared Communities' Project?

'Discovered Stories, Shared Communities' has been a two year enquiry into emergent collective leadership and participatory community practices and the impact they can have on making communities more welcoming and resilient led by Cumbria Development Education Centre.

Made possible with funding from National Lottery Community Fund and collaboration with local community organisations, groups and individuals interested in supporting diversity and multiculturalism, our project aimed to bring together people to identify the ingredients necessary to build communities where everyone feels they are safe, connected, and have the collective capacity to cope with pressures of our times. These conversations and exchanges became even more needed, poignant and significant as the global pandemic hit changing perhaps for ever the way we connect, relate and live.

Throughout the project we tried to capture the emerging visions and ideas by hosting spaces & providing opportunities for people who've lived in the county all their lives as well as newcomers to the area to listen, talk, share, write, paint, and engage with digital media in order to interpret and explore the interplay between the themes of welcome, resilience and belonging.

You will find visual & written artworks & reflections from these conversations and exchanges that create a rich resource for all who wish to engage with concepts of belonging, home, diversity and inclusion. This online exhibition pulls together the various media created by the group curated by artist Jessica El Mal.

CDEC would like to thank to all community members and organisations that went with us on this journey, especially Furness Multicultural Community Forum, AWAZ CIC, Signal Film and Media, West Cumbria Refugee Support Network, West Cumbria Bahais, Multicultural Cumbria and Groundwork Trust.