Creative

Participants are asked to illustrate a utopian or dystopian future scenario, highlighting aspects that they consider essential for a utopian future or fear losing in a dystopian scenario. A variation on this method is asking the participant to draw or paint a ‘postcard to the future’, with a picture of significance to them on one side and a message to a future recipient written on the other. Alternative mediums for the creative response to this activity could be models (future artefacts/object biographies), plays, or short films.

This activity was conducted as a classroom-based exercise with Primary School pupils, using the ‘postcard to the future’ version of this method. Developing the lesson outline, liaising with the teacher, and sourcing the materials for the exercises took an additional 2-3 days FTE (full-time equivalent) and involved contacting multiple libraries and archives. In total this activity required an estimated 3-4 days FTE, excluding analysis.

• Contact was made with the school and class teacher to see if there was interest in the activity in principle and whether it would be possible to schedule during the field visit.
• A session outline was developed with activities, materials and objectives. This was agreed in principle over email but was not discussed in detail until it was possible to visit the school and meet the teacher in person.
• In the meantime, learning materials were collated – in this case images and films related to blackhouses and crofting life in the West coast of Lewis. Useful in this regard were Canmore, the National Library of Scotland’s Moving Image Archive, and the Am Baile digital archive of the history and culture of the Scottish Highlands and Islands. Due to restrictions on copyright for the films, it was necessary to get DVDs from the NLS, which can take up to 3 weeks. Arranging appointments to look at archives or permission to use materials also required lead in times of several weeks.
• Once on Lewis, it was possible to meet with the class teacher at the school and talk through the lesson plan, agree the timings and flow of the day, and what needed setting up in advance (equipment and groups) and our respective roles.
• A letter of consent was sent out by the school to parents/guardians.
• On the day of the activity, we tested the equipment in the morning and then lead the class through the activities, which lasted all day. The pupils explored the history of Lewis as shown in pictures and films and produced a ‘postcard to the future’, drawing a scene of importance to them and writing a message to a child in the future.
• The postcards and messages were photocopied and the teacher kept the originals, some of which were worked on further ahead of the students presenting the work at a community gathering later in the week.

• The content or final form of the creative output was less significant in understanding the values associated with the site than the discussions it prompted. While the creative tasks took longer than expected, the discussions during and afterwards were the most useful aspect methodologically and should not be rushed.
• The creative activity showed that some of the values expressed by older participants were mirrored by younger participants; even though they were not expressed in the same terms. The children’s postcard images focused on to their day to day realities, suggesting an understanding of place that is rooted in immediate, personal experience, rather than memory and history. However, the messages and class discussions demonstrated that the children’s choice of image was in many cases connected to wider concerns, including the potential impacts of tourism and changes to their communities.
• Take advantage of what is already available! Without already collated resources or lesson plan, this activity required a considerable investment of time. If the activity could have been combined with an educational visit to the site, the time required for most of the class content development would have been removed.
• Additional researchers are helpful, as facilitation of the activities, delivery of the content, and observation was challenging as a single researcher, even with the teacher in attendance to assist with group work and manage the class more generally.
• At this age, the abstraction of a map proved difficult for pupils to engage with. However, having different types of visual input – videos, photos – worked well.
• The activity resulted in material that could be used in a follow-on engagements at a community gathering. The presence of the children and the focus on the postcards proved to be excellent catalysts for discussion among attendees, breaking down some established group dynamics.

Creative responses to place, including photography and video, painting and design, music and song, and spoken word, were referred to or observed in almost all the studies. Some of the creative practices identified were spontaneous and individual, others were in response to formal processes, such as design competitions. In other cases, pictures or objects were kept in more private settings (homes and offices) but were shared or referred to during interviews.

The more active modes of creating and doing proved effective in engaging younger respondents, who were often less communicative or willing to participate in other settings/activities.

In contrast, difficulties in securing adult participation in co-creative and arts-based activities highlighted the importance of identifying an acceptable medium and providing appropriate support and space (physical and emotional) for people to engage in a creative activity.

The aspects of experimentation and ‘play’ in creative and arts-based techniques are intended to be open to all, irrespective of experience or skill level, engaging in an unfamiliar activity can leave people (including the researcher) feel exposing and uncomfortable.

The presence of a long-term Masterplan and on-going discussions about future development of Kinneil House presented a relevant live context for future visioning activities. However, the proposed research activity was superseded by attendance at a community gathering, the Friends of Kinneil Annual General Meeting, where participants were invited to select images to create a promotional postcard.

Although this was a community-initiated activity and not proposed as part of the assessment, the activity and group deliberations closely mirrored a ‘postcard to the future’ exercise.

The participants worked in small groups of 4 or 5, deliberating which aspects of the House, Estate, surrounding area, and Friends’ activities were most important to present. They were provided with a selection of images to consider but could also propose other design ideas.

The images selected by most of the groups were quite similar and focused mostly on the scheduled monuments in the Estate. This outcome belied the diversity and richness of the discussions, which had covered many aspects of significance and value, and identified a range of attachments to the site, as well as some of the experiences and interests informing them. The discussions also highlighted the distinction between professional assessments of value, which the participants were very familiar with, and community connections or understandings of place.