About this session
In this session we will look back on the project Cross-pollination: Growing cross-sector design collaboration in placemaking. This research project created a focused space to further explore and develop our cross-pollination approach, which we had been evolving and experimenting with over many years and through a range of projects and programmes. The cross-pollination approach brings people together to identify shared goals and objectives, identify and connect local projects and initiatives, and work together to unearth and mobilise local assets (skills, networks, physical spaces, tools and resources, funding pots etc ) as a basis for forming partnerships and collaborations.
In particular, through this research, we were interested in how this approach could serve place-based collaborations across sectors and engaging groups and organisations of different scales. It also created the space to explore how we could enable others to take up, adapt and use the approach within their own contexts.
Areas of Exploration
Themes we will explore in this session include:
- The power of cross-pollination as a means of identifying opportunities for and kick-starting place-based collaboration
- The power of experimental spaces for collaboration across sectors, disciplines, communities and different scales of organisations
- The mechanisms and infrastructures for nurturing and cascading collaboration and the creation of collaborative economies
- Looking back on the evolution of and experimentation with the Cross-pollination approach through both practice and research
You might like to have a look at the Cross-pollination Policy Brief before you join the session. However, this is entirely optional. Do also feel free to just turn up and find out more.
Click on this link to register for your free place.
About Research Rooms
The Research Rooms series is a collaboration between national charity The Glass-House Community Led Design and The Open University’s Design Group. These events share learning, resources and anecdotes from the many research projects we have done together.
Research Rooms are informal online spaces for discussion with members of the research team from academia, practice and communities. Those attending can learn about the projects, their outputs and outcomes and the influence they have had on those involved. There will also be space to share your own experience and explorations of the project themes.
More about the Cross-Pollination Project
Cross-pollination: Growing cross-sector design collaboration in placemaking (Jan 2022-Apr 2023), was a knowledge exchange project funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council under their Place programme. The Cross-pollination project was a collaboration between The Open University and The Glass-House Community Led Design, working with a range of local place-based partners. The team conducted participatory action research with thirteen partners in England, Scotland and Wales, working in different locations, from the hyper-local to city-wide. Our activities brought together people from different sectors and local residents, fostering collaboration across sectors and with the community to share assets and create ideas for joint place-based initiatives.
Local Partners included: Merthyr: Wellbeing Merthyr, Merthyr Valleys Homes, Healthy Hillsides, Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council, and The Open University in Wales; Glasgow: Many Studios, DTA Scotland and Glasgow Community Food Network; Edinburgh: Edinburgh Voluntary Organisations’ Council (EVOC); Sheffield: Gleadless Valley Partnership and Sheffield City Council; London: Becky Lyon and London National Park City. Through the project, we worked with over 50 organisations across sectors and over 450 people, including local residents, activists, community organisations, local authority officers, community development practitioners, housing providers, local councillors, artists.
If you would like to explore the project before the Research Room session, there are plenty of resources available:
- Cross-pollination Resource Pack
- Cross-pollination Blog
- Cross-pollination Policy Brief
- A series of films about the cross-pollination approach in action
- Journal paper: Alexiou, Katerina; Hale, Vera; de Sousa, Sophia and Zamenopoulos, Theodore (2025). The Cross-pollination Approach: Conditions for Incubating and Cascading Collaborative Civic Design Initiatives. She Ji: The Journal of Design, Economics, and Innovation, 11(1) pp. 76–98. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sheji.2025.01.004
More on The Glass-House website about the project include: