Listening to the community
We originally created these audio recordings as part of a listening exercise to inform the Blue Heart Engagement Plan. Using an approach known as Community Radio, we encouraged people to speak freely about what matters to them using an open and appreciative style.
The listening exercise was a great way to explore the project area, meet local residents and business owners. Plus we familiarised ourselves with existing networks and relationships. We started mapping the skills, knowledge, resources, and energy already present in communities as part of our assets-based approach. The exercise’s scope expanded organically as we followed ‘leads’ suggested by initial interviewees.
We regularly revisit the recordings to ‘re-tune into’ the concerns and aspirations of the people we spoke with. Plus, we can identify those with whom we haven’t yet made links. They serve as an effective means of representing community stakeholders, even when they’re not there in person.
During our latest partner meeting, we included a compilation of clips from the interviews as the soundtrack to a short video, giving our partners an immediate and accessible way to understand the community context, concerns, and knowledge.
If you’d like to add your voice, please email Eleanor at contact@blueheart.org.uk.
Blue Heart Documentary
An overview of how water behaves in and around Eastbourne and south Wealden
Residents talk about their experiences of flooding, drought and water management, while historians explain how things have changed over the centuries, and engineers look to the future and how systems can be managed to build resilience in the face of climate change.
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Blue Heart 1: A Wonderful Community
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Blue Heart 2: In Days Gone By
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Blue Heart 3: Knee Deep In Water
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Blue Heart 4: Unstable World
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Blue Heart 5: An Environment For Wildlife To Live In
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Blue Heart 6: Where That Water Is Flowing
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Overview of Blue Heart
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Adam and Adrian at Treebourne
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The Star Inn at Old Town
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Sally at Grow Eastbourne
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Robert Slater at Pevensey Court House
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Pevensey and Westham Forest Garden
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Pete the Pond and John Hayward
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Oliver of Plastic Free Eastbourne
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Louise and Brian at the Allotments
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Katherine Buckland on Eastbourne Heritage
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Gather Community Garden
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Evan Jones on Ecology of the Marshes
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Eastbourne and District Model Yacht Club
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Clare Whistler on Water Week and poetry
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Andy Durling on Climate Crisis and Collaboration
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Andy Payne at Southdown Anglers