Click here for our online Catchment Plan survey
From early April through May, the Wandle Trust is running a series of consultation workshops throughout the Wandle Valley to get local residents’ views on what the Wandle means to them at the moment, and what could be done in the future to make it healthier and more appealing.
The series of public workshops has now come to an end, but you can still take part by filling out our online survey.
So how are the workshops going so far? What have people thought and said, and are they finding the workshops as enjoyable as we hoped they would? Here are some updates:
People from nearly thirty different organisations and interest groups have participated, including charities, Friends Of groups and social clubs as well as landowners and managers. That’s not a bad cross-section at this stage!
With so many different backgrounds, there’ s a natural diversity of interests and priorities. Yet, interestingly, there’s frequently a large amount of agreement on key issues. I’m noticing it as I type up and consolidate the results, but it is something participants are also seeing at the workshops as we progress through the activities. One attendee commented that they liked the “Co-operation and diversity of ideas amongst participants”, while another enjoyed the “opportunity to interact with other local interested people”.
A key thing that seems to be a winner is the way the workshops are carried out using a piece of kit called Ketso. It is democratic, non-judgmental and, perhaps most importantly, being made of fuzzy felt with adhesive shapes, it is great fun to use! “Immeasurably better than a flipchart”, “very innovative and easy to use” and a “useful way of pooling ideas” are just some examples of the overwhelmingly positive feedback I’ve received.
Ketso is also proving that even people who come to a workshop feeling they might not have anything to contribute are finding it a good way to brainstorm. One popular sentiment that is emerging is surprise at how many different things are being thought of and how satisfying it is to look at when a session is finished and all the ideas are mapped out in front of you.
But don’t just take our word for it – come along and experience it for yourself!
Just in case you can’t get to one of the workshops, we’ve also created a special online questionnaire to help make sure you don’t miss out. So if you prefer to let us know your views this way, please take ten minutes to click here and have your say!