A event held at The Trinity Centre on Saturday 22nd March. The event starts at 10:00.
On Saturday, March 22nd, 2025, the Trinity Centre will come alive with The Bristol Commons - Festival of Commoning!!
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An Invitation to Celebrate Community Power, Collaboration, and Commoning!
All day and all night – on Saturday 22nd March @ Trinity
We invite you to participate in a vibrant, community-powered gathering focused on Recommoning Bristol and Strengthening Community Power! Building on two years of collaboration, creativity, and commoning, lets bring into action a collective vision for change.
Below is a brief overview of the event, as well as an invitation to you or your project/organisation to participate in the day by running a workshop relating to your work.
Join us for – a day and night of…
✨ Connection:
Meet changemakers, grassroots groups, and organisations shaping Bristol’s future.
✨ Collaboration:
The Bristol Commons and Trinity will be working in partnership to hold a people’s assembly. This is an opportunity to share your power and wisdom to help shape Bristol’s communities and futures.
✨ Celebration:
Share in live music, collaborative performances, Incredible food from The Community Kitchen and powerful stories by the fire.
✨ Evening Magic:
There will be stories, songs, fireside conversations and feasting. We will be hosting an open-mic as well as a dance powered by 1Relation Soundsystem, a local crew playing the best of roots dub & reggae.
Themes of the Day
The heart of the festival will be built around three pillar themes that will shape the day’s conversations, workshops, and activities. For this year’s festival, we’re focusing on
> Music & Arts: Explore how we can protect and nurture Bristol’s creative culture and celebrate creativity as a medium for connection and systemic change.
> Health & Care: Dive into community-driven solutions for well-being and mutual care.
> Housing: Discuss how we can protect and empower fair, sustainable, and shared living spaces for all.
There will also be a dedicated kids space for a portion of the day, so we are keen to receive session proposals for young people too!
Whilst being the main focus, the day is not limited to these themes and there will be workshops on a variety of other topics.
Festival Of Commoning – Open Call-Out!!
In the spirit of commoning and co-creation, we are inviting you! – your project or organisation – to propose a session/workshop to animate the day. The focus does not necessarily need to fit within the boundaries of the pillar themes and we are leaving plenty of space in the program for sessions to explore other themes that are important to you or your wider community. If you are interested we have created an open call-out.
Please follow this link to propose a session:
https://sessionize.com/bristolcommons
So…. whether you want to simply learn about ‘The Commons’, have some community fun, or get into a juicy discussion, you are so welcome! Additionally, there will be a dedicated kids’ space, with workshops on commoning designed to inspire and engage children with the principles and ideas of the commons.
What now?
Save the date: Below, click the link to have this event drop into your calendar The Bristol Commons Festival of Commoning:
https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0/r/eventedit/MnJvaXJlMDd2dThha2dmMnVobHRsNGtydDQgYmV4QGNvZXhpc3R1ay5vcmc
Save the location: Trinity Centre, Trinity Rd, St Jude’s, Bristol, BS2 0NW
Stay tuned: For more details in the coming weeks, including how to get involved, contribute, or perform!
--
What IS The Bristol Commons?
The Bristol Commons is a growing movement rooted in Community Power, Land Justice & Systemic Change.
With a focus on joy and creativity, our aim is to nurture a culture of collaboration and cultivate a network of reciprocity between communities and organisations across Bristol. By rebuilding the commons, we can reclaim our collective power and strengthen resilience in the face of unfurling crises.
See our website for more info!
https://thebristolcommons.org/
~ Get Involved ~
If you are interested in helping to plan and curate this event, please contact [email protected] as we are currently looking to grow the capacity of our events team!
~ Values ~
We value everybody. That includes ourselves, each other, our city, our natural world, our relationships, our communities, our planet. This may sound silly or obvious, but we want to be explicit.
This event and this movement is rooted in social and ecological justice. We want to co-create fairer, more engaging, more creative, more effective ways to look after the spaces, places and shared resources that we all need to thrive.
We are a mixed-race, multi-faith, LGBQTI+ friendly movement, and we work in solidarity with people who are marginalised by our society. We practise tolerance, but stand opposed to discrimination of any kind. We strive to create safe and brave spaces where we can express our authentic opinions and concerns respectfully - so that we are careful not to harm or negatively impact others.
We take collective responsibility for this, and Coexist and the volunteer team will be on hand to help hold the space in a caring and proactive way.
~ Accessibility ~
We want to make sure that this event and movement is accessible and inclusive as possible. It is being hosted at Trinity which is an accessible venue, with accessible toilets and step-free access throughout. For more details please visit: https://www.trinitybristol.org.uk/accessibility
~ Cost ~
As well as physical accessibility, we wanted to make certain that no-one would be financially excluded from the event. We have therefore decided to host on a donation basis - with a suggested donation rate for individuals (£5) and those coming on behalf of organisations (£10). No-one will be excluded due to lack of finance. The lunchtime meal will also be by donation - ensuring everyone has something warm and tasty for their bellies!
~ Background ~
Coexist held an invitation to co-create The Bristol Commons in March 2023. The idea arose from Coexist needing to reimagining its purpose since the eviction from its flagship project Hamilton House in 2018. In this transitory phase they opted to take a supportive role in nurturing community spaces as opposed to offering front-line services involved in running a community hub. This included assisting the set-up and running of the mutual-aid network that emerged during the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as re-launching the Coexist Community Kitchen in Easton. In addition, over the last few years Coexist has supported various community organisations including: Bricks (St. Anne’s House), PRSC, Docklands, St. Pauls Learning Centre and All Hallows Hall with resources, mentoring and advice.
This work informed a new strategy - to protect, champion and nurture Bristol’s cultural and community assets. This involves safeguarding vital spaces and places - as well as organisations and community projects - from the multiple crises we currently face. Austerity, rising energy costs, the cost-of-living crisis, climate change, community trauma, poor mental health, staff burn-out, the education crisis, lack of youth services, the housing crisis - the list of pressures is a seemingly endless and painful reality to many people and organisations in our community.
Neither Bristol City Council or the government has been able to mitigate these issues. They are systemic, endemic and intersectional: Many converge and affect the most marginalised people in our city. We need a new, strategic, dynamic and collaborative movement to solve these problems. We need people and organisations working together - not competing with each other - to create a culture and build a movement for change. Most of all, we need the space and resources to be able to create a bright future - and to do this we must Rebuild The Commons!
Entry requirements: no age restrictions
--
An Invitation to Celebrate Community Power, Collaboration, and Commoning!
All day and all night – on Saturday 22nd March @ Trinity
We invite you to participate in a vibrant, community-powered gathering focused on Recommoning Bristol and Strengthening Community Power! Building on two years of collaboration, creativity, and commoning, lets bring into action a collective vision for change.
Below is a brief overview of the event, as well as an invitation to you or your project/organisation to participate in the day by running a workshop relating to your work.
Join us for – a day and night of…
✨ Connection:
Meet changemakers, grassroots groups, and organisations shaping Bristol’s future.
✨ Collaboration:
The Bristol Commons and Trinity will be working in partnership to hold a people’s assembly. This is an opportunity to share your power and wisdom to help shape Bristol’s communities and futures.
✨ Celebration:
Share in live music, collaborative performances, Incredible food from The Community Kitchen and powerful stories by the fire.
✨ Evening Magic:
There will be stories, songs, fireside conversations and feasting. We will be hosting an open-mic as well as a dance powered by 1Relation Soundsystem, a local crew playing the best of roots dub & reggae.
Themes of the Day
The heart of the festival will be built around three pillar themes that will shape the day’s conversations, workshops, and activities. For this year’s festival, we’re focusing on
> Music & Arts: Explore how we can protect and nurture Bristol’s creative culture and celebrate creativity as a medium for connection and systemic change.
> Health & Care: Dive into community-driven solutions for well-being and mutual care.
> Housing: Discuss how we can protect and empower fair, sustainable, and shared living spaces for all.
There will also be a dedicated kids space for a portion of the day, so we are keen to receive session proposals for young people too!
Whilst being the main focus, the day is not limited to these themes and there will be workshops on a variety of other topics.
Festival Of Commoning – Open Call-Out!!
In the spirit of commoning and co-creation, we are inviting you! – your project or organisation – to propose a session/workshop to animate the day. The focus does not necessarily need to fit within the boundaries of the pillar themes and we are leaving plenty of space in the program for sessions to explore other themes that are important to you or your wider community. If you are interested we have created an open call-out.
Please follow this link to propose a session:
https://sessionize.com/bristolcommons
So…. whether you want to simply learn about ‘The Commons’, have some community fun, or get into a juicy discussion, you are so welcome! Additionally, there will be a dedicated kids’ space, with workshops on commoning designed to inspire and engage children with the principles and ideas of the commons.
What now?
Save the date: Below, click the link to have this event drop into your calendar The Bristol Commons Festival of Commoning:
https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0/r/eventedit/MnJvaXJlMDd2dThha2dmMnVobHRsNGtydDQgYmV4QGNvZXhpc3R1ay5vcmc
Save the location: Trinity Centre, Trinity Rd, St Jude’s, Bristol, BS2 0NW
Stay tuned: For more details in the coming weeks, including how to get involved, contribute, or perform!
--
What IS The Bristol Commons?
The Bristol Commons is a growing movement rooted in Community Power, Land Justice & Systemic Change.
With a focus on joy and creativity, our aim is to nurture a culture of collaboration and cultivate a network of reciprocity between communities and organisations across Bristol. By rebuilding the commons, we can reclaim our collective power and strengthen resilience in the face of unfurling crises.
See our website for more info!
https://thebristolcommons.org/
~ Get Involved ~
If you are interested in helping to plan and curate this event, please contact [email protected] as we are currently looking to grow the capacity of our events team!
~ Values ~
We value everybody. That includes ourselves, each other, our city, our natural world, our relationships, our communities, our planet. This may sound silly or obvious, but we want to be explicit.
This event and this movement is rooted in social and ecological justice. We want to co-create fairer, more engaging, more creative, more effective ways to look after the spaces, places and shared resources that we all need to thrive.
We are a mixed-race, multi-faith, LGBQTI+ friendly movement, and we work in solidarity with people who are marginalised by our society. We practise tolerance, but stand opposed to discrimination of any kind. We strive to create safe and brave spaces where we can express our authentic opinions and concerns respectfully - so that we are careful not to harm or negatively impact others.
We take collective responsibility for this, and Coexist and the volunteer team will be on hand to help hold the space in a caring and proactive way.
~ Accessibility ~
We want to make sure that this event and movement is accessible and inclusive as possible. It is being hosted at Trinity which is an accessible venue, with accessible toilets and step-free access throughout. For more details please visit: https://www.trinitybristol.org.uk/accessibility
~ Cost ~
As well as physical accessibility, we wanted to make certain that no-one would be financially excluded from the event. We have therefore decided to host on a donation basis - with a suggested donation rate for individuals (£5) and those coming on behalf of organisations (£10). No-one will be excluded due to lack of finance. The lunchtime meal will also be by donation - ensuring everyone has something warm and tasty for their bellies!
~ Background ~
Coexist held an invitation to co-create The Bristol Commons in March 2023. The idea arose from Coexist needing to reimagining its purpose since the eviction from its flagship project Hamilton House in 2018. In this transitory phase they opted to take a supportive role in nurturing community spaces as opposed to offering front-line services involved in running a community hub. This included assisting the set-up and running of the mutual-aid network that emerged during the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as re-launching the Coexist Community Kitchen in Easton. In addition, over the last few years Coexist has supported various community organisations including: Bricks (St. Anne’s House), PRSC, Docklands, St. Pauls Learning Centre and All Hallows Hall with resources, mentoring and advice.
This work informed a new strategy - to protect, champion and nurture Bristol’s cultural and community assets. This involves safeguarding vital spaces and places - as well as organisations and community projects - from the multiple crises we currently face. Austerity, rising energy costs, the cost-of-living crisis, climate change, community trauma, poor mental health, staff burn-out, the education crisis, lack of youth services, the housing crisis - the list of pressures is a seemingly endless and painful reality to many people and organisations in our community.
Neither Bristol City Council or the government has been able to mitigate these issues. They are systemic, endemic and intersectional: Many converge and affect the most marginalised people in our city. We need a new, strategic, dynamic and collaborative movement to solve these problems. We need people and organisations working together - not competing with each other - to create a culture and build a movement for change. Most of all, we need the space and resources to be able to create a bright future - and to do this we must Rebuild The Commons!
Entry requirements: no age restrictions
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