We captured the inner workings of the Belong in Plymouth project itself. Years of emails, meeting notes, reflections and updates were distilled into over 100 short blog posts.
Each post tells part of the story — the questions we asked, the lessons we learned, the things we got wrong and what we discovered along the way. Many include quotes from real exchanges between team members, making the behind-the-scenes work visible to anyone curious about how projects like this actually happen.
Journal
AI produced journal posts
Human + AI: Evolving Community Insights Toolkit
We’ve been thinking a lot lately about how technology fits into our community work. At Belong in Plymouth, we're exploring ways AI can support—but never replace—the human side of processing conversati...
Mapping Community Insights
Over time, we've learned that listening to stories is just the beginning. In the Belong in Plymouth project, we’re now turning conversations into insights—mapping what we hear into something we can al...
Barne Barton: Belonging Through Stories
In Barne Barton, something powerful happened. We gathered as part of Belong in Plymouth, not just to discuss ideas—but to listen to the personal, grounded stories of what belonging really means. Kare...
Insights from Workshop Reflections
We’re discovering that slowing down and making space to listen—really listen—makes all the difference. Across our Belong in Plymouth workshops, we’re creating room for reflection, grounding, and deepe...
Co-Designing the Future with Youth Leadership
After the buzz of the film premiere, the work continued. In early 2024, we held a workshop with young people to shape what comes next—not just in one project, but across our whole approach. This wasn...
Young Voices Lead the Way
For too long, young people have been invited into community conversations only at the very end—after decisions are made. So we flipped the script. In 2023, a group of young people in Plymouth took th...
Using Games to Navigate Complexity
What if we could learn to navigate complex systems the same way we learn to play a game? That’s the question behind our pilot for a systems games workshop—a playful, participatory session that helps ...
Bringing Belong in Plymouth to Life
In June 2023, the Belong in Plymouth team welcomed a filmmaker to capture stories from across the city. But this wasn’t just about documentation—it was about connection. Karen Pilkington explained th...
Building Cross-Sector Connections
Karen Pilkington said something that’s stuck with us: “Different parts of the system have different understandings of what it means to ‘speak with the community.’” It’s true—and it’s exactly why we’v...
Streamlining Collaboration: From Reviews to Strategic Flow
Back in June 2023, the Belong in Plymouth team held a bi-monthly Operations Update that revealed something important: while the work was full of energy, it lacked a clear space for strategic thinking....
Making Strategic Space, Not Just Meetings
One insight from our June 2023 Ops Update has stuck with us: we don’t have a strategic space. Karen said it simply: “We recognise we have reflective meetings (sprint review) and operational meetings…...
Recognizing the Importance of Internal Ops
In June 2023, we held one of our bi-monthly Operations Updates—and it quickly became clear that our internal structures needed just as much care as our community relationships. Karen summed it up per...