In August 2008, Greenbelt Festival hosted a conversation for anyone interested in exploring the possibility of ‘doing Greenbelt in Scotland’.
Around 30 people attended and there was enough interest to arrange a second exploratory meeting in Perth. So in November, another group of around 30 (mostly different people from the first meeting) met to take things a step further.
Identity & spirit
It was clear at both meetings that any future event in Scotland should have its own identity, should grow out of Scottish culture and concerns, and should not merely attempt to imitate Greenbelt.
Although initially inspired by the spirit that Greenbelt (and other events) manifests, it should:
* develop a distinct Scottish nature,
* responding to the specific conditions, context and needs of this place and time.
However, some of the positive values associated with Greenbelt were affirmed as being shared:
* its breadth and depth, both in terms of audience and contributors,
* its spirit of irreverence, experimentation and daring to ask difficult questions,
* its independence from any single organisation,
* its tolerance of difference and its attempts to be inclusive,
* its cultural engagement.
People felt comfortable having links with GB as a ‘sister’ festival. GB has been able to give advice and support and continues to do so for (what has become) thePROJECT.
There was discussion in Perth about what the next step might be, and quite a strong consensus that it will take a couple of years to get this underway (aiming for 2011 as the potential date for a bigger event). There was also a recognition that there is significant groundwork to be done in the meantime.
One of the unexpected outcomes of Greenbelt over a period of around 40 years has been the creation of a community of people who are personally invested in the festival – they run things, they make things, they volunteer, they look after the toilets – about 2000 of them every year. And one of the great benefits of doing something in Scotland would be to create a similar community of like-minded people engaged in the task of realising thePROJECT.
So the process…
a) Creating community
We want to develop a community of like-minded folk who might participate in, publicise and enable any potential event/s, larger or smaller, in Scotland over the next two years (2009-2010). And as previously mentioned, a larger event could then be considered in 2011.
We would like to have a series of small events, maybe 2 or 3 a year which would act as a forum for further discussion (consultation) but also be small-scale models of the kinds of activities (concerts, workshops, exhibitions etc) that a potential larger event would contain… in other words, time and space where people can talk, explore, plan and celebrate together. And a process of discernment, surprise and inspiration.
The aim would be to grow organically, encouraging as wide a constituency as possible to get involved. In the process we would be starting to build a volunteer base of people with skills to be able to contribute to the larger event.
b) Fleshing out
What might the bigger event might look like – would it be greenfield? urban? Or a hybrid model based in a Scottish town with infrastructure and population but perhaps also access to green spaces? What time of year would it take place? How many people might come? Who knows… anything is possible.
The series of small events throughout 2009 & 2010 would allow all interested folk to contribute their ideas.
c) Creating partnership & organisation
The 2009-2010 period would give us time to begin to create partnerships with sponsors and funders, to create a small organisation that has a bank account and a constitution.
Process & people
The Perth meeting tasked Dot Reid, Graham Maule and John Cross to identify people who would be on an initial interim Steering Group.
We were concerned that thePROJECT should be relatively independent, and not ‘owned’ by larger organisations, or become institutionalised. So the task brief was to identify people in terms of their interest and ability to take things to the next stage (and not in terms of being ‘representatives’ of organisations).
So the interim Steering Group will organise 2 events in 2009 to bring people together and to help think through the possibilities of thePROJECT.
This group is not intended as a permanent group, but has committed to the interim 2009-2010 stage. If there is then judged to be enough energy and enthusiasm for the large event by that time, a new steering group appropriate to any more extensive undertaking would be formed.
