There will be a number of pre-programmed conversations that will take place on the day both in-person and online. Alongside this, attendees in both spaces will be able to suggest their own conversations on the day.

Key ingredients of the conversations:

• Show, don’t tell;
• conversations are convened with purpose, allowing attendees to feel: engaged, informed, reflective and able to ask questions and exchange;
• Conversations are held for up to one hour long, you might finish earlier, that is no problem;
• Conversations typically run for up to 20 people, more than 20 makes it difficult for everyone to have the opportunity to share amongst the group; Equally the event format gives people the freedom to choose which sessions they attend, so we can’t predict how many people will attend on the day, so make sure your conversation can work for varying numbers of people! 
• One person within your conversation will be put forward as dedicated note-taker to record key parts of the conversation, so you can simply focus on facilitating and holding the space for different voices;
• The materials available to you will be very lo-fi in person. In-person we can’t guarantee a screen to display slides, it will be you, chairs and a keen audience, so keeping it simple is key!
• On Zoom you can utilise share screen, you could play music through audio sharing or you could ask your online attendees to write or draw something and share on camera.
• This is not a marketplace to sell your project (even though we are sure it’s fantastic!) 
• Effective questions for open space sessions often have high-levels of complexity, diversity, conflict and urgency;
• We ask that ideas are understandable to everyone, consider that we are all coming from different fields, so it’s best to avoid jargon! 

Example formats of conversations:

• Show and tell

How my organisation approached a multi-sector creative health partnership, what have been our learnings and how are we moving forward?

• My big question

What does the culture sector need to understand about integrated care systems to collaborate and work together?

• Learn how to do X

I am a trauma-informed creative health practitioner and I want to share the 5 principles behind this work.

• Fishbowl conversation

How do the spaces and contexts we deliver our practice and programmes marginalise Londoner’s – how can we be more inclusive? 

• Lightning talk on hot topic (5 mins followed by whole group discussions)

If I had XX money to support cross-sector collaboration in my borough what would I do? 

We are borrowing ideas from principles such as Open Space Technology but making it work for London, and our sector. Open Space Technology (OST) is a methodology of running large group meetings or events around a central topic where participants create the agenda themselves. The process is designed to be highly participatory, inclusive and collaborative.

What is open space technology?

For the delivery of the Creative Healthy City event in-person and online, we are borrowing ideas from open space technology principles, therefore, we wanted to provide a brief overview of what this means in practice, so you are prepared and ready for the day ahead!

More detail about the in-person event

Wayfinding on the day at Battersea Arts Centre:

Sessions will be demarcated with tube station signs, which align with their location in the venue, North, South, East and West. 

Pre-arrival checklist:

• Familiarise yourself with the programme, what sessions appeal to you? 
• Think about your own discussion topics that you might like to facilitate in the afternoon
• We have open slots available 2-3pm and 3:20-4:20pm for all attendees to propose sessions
• You can see guidance on conversation formats on this page: https://londonartsandhealth.org.uk/london-creative-health-city-building-it-together/#1694781871233-58f97dbc-9228

Arrival and session 1:

• At check-in, you can decide which session you would like to attend in the first slot, 11:20-12:20. Staff and volunteers will signpost you to the location of the session in the space.

Session spaces will be initially allocated on a first come first served basis, with a maximum of 20 people per session. 

• Following the opening keynotes, the room will prepare for the first set of discussions. This is your opportunity to move and change to another session, join one of the artistic workshops, catch up with a colleague, the choice is yours! 
• Once the session starts you decide how to participate. Session facilitators are expected to create a space that allows people across the group to speak and participate, in a co-produced conversation. 
• If the session is not for you, this is the time to exercise the ‘Two feet law’, which says that If a session is not serving you or your interests, you are welcome to leave to join another session, get some air etc. 

Community board: Proposing Sessions

• The community board is the nucleus of the event, this is where attendees can propose session ideas for the 2-3pm and 3:20-4:20pm slots.
• The board will be open all day from arrival, and held by a staff member, who can be there to listen and write down your brief discussion proposals , help pull together similar themes of conversation amongst attendees
• Once we have details of your session, we will allocate you a space in the room to host the conversation. 
• When the event resumes after the lunch break, the host will call out the session titles and locations. 
• If hosting a larger session is not for you, you can also post a request for a 1-1 conversation, that might happen at the event, or is scheduled at a later date. 

Hosting a session:

• Materials for your session will be available on a dedicated table, including different size paper, pens, pencils, post-it notes. 
• Note-taking: during your session we ask you to nominate a note-taker, this might be one of our event volunteers or another conversation attendee.
• A simple template will be provided which asks for 5 key session take-aways. 

More detail about the online event

• 11:00am Online attendees join the Zoom session, where the facilitator introduces the event online structure.
• 11:20-12:20 pm Three curated sessions take place during session 1, attendees can join any session via breakout rooms, and can move between sessions. 
• 12:20-12:30 pm Conversation proposals gathered for session 2, group leaves for break.
• 14:00 – 15:00 pm Facilitator returns to zoom, welcomes any new attendees, and guides people to choose a breakout session with new discussion topics.
• 15:00 pm Facilitator sums up session and session resources, zoom finishes.

If you have additional questions please email info@londonartsandhealth.org.uk.

Why is this opportunity only open to people based in London?
The event is about the future of London as a Creative Health City, and prioritises those living and working in London. It is funded by the Mayor of London and Arts Council England’s London managed funds.

Who will select the conversations for the event?
An Advisory and Accountability Group external to the three partner organisations will make the final selection of conversations and is feeding into the format of the day.

The aim of the group is to act as an advisory panel to London Arts and Health (LAH), the Greater London Authority (GLA) and Arts Council England (ACE) in the creation of the event – London Creative Health City: Building It Together. This event, targeting professionals in the arts and health sector, aims to foster inclusivity while addressing existing power inequities within the sector. The Advisory and Accountability Group will provide guidance on social justice models and social models of disability to ensure that the event design promotes inclusivity and actively challenges these inequities.

The panel includes:

• Gay Palmer, is the Social Prescriber Link Worker Team Lead South Southwark Primary Care Network and Trustee for the National Academy of Social Prescribing.
• Cedric Whilby is one of the leads for Southwark Culture Health and Wellbeing Partnership (SCHWeP) and a Community Southwark trustee.
• Rebecca Manson Jones has lived experience of long-Covid and is the Artistic Director / Joint CEO of Spare Tyre Theatre.
• Mairéad Ruane has lived experience of OCD and is the Lived Experience Programme Co-ordinator at Rosetta Life.

You can view the full event agenda for both in-person at Battersea Arts Centre and online, here.

• Safer space boundaries for the Creative Health City
• The four principles of Open Space Technology and the law of two feet for Open Space Technology
• Acronyms relevant to the Creative Health City 
• You can view our accessibility and Covid-19 policy document on Google docs here.
• You can view the volunteer pack on Google docs here.
• You can apply to be a volunteer on Google Forms here.
• You can tell us some demographic information to help with making this event as equitable as possible, on Jotform here.

Please read our accessibility policy which details all of our provision for the day.

Accessibility provision which has been planned for the in-person conference includes:

• Venue has step free access;
• Suggested Covid Protocol to keep attendees safe;
• Dedicated quiet space to use throughout the conference;
• Name tags for delegates;
• Financial bursaries will be available to support some delegates to be able to attend the conference; 
• Live captioning for keynote speeches / panels;
• Battersea Arts Centre can get cold: we advise wrapping up warm!

For the Zoom option captioning will be available, we will ask speakers to speak loudly and clearly and use things like image description and enabling captioning.

Please contact info@londonartsandhealth.org.uk for more guidance.