At the Reimagine the City event on May 5th 2024 one of the outcomes was a People’s Manifesto for Norwich.

Reimagine the City was a Creative Assembly led by artists with Culture Declares East and Norwich Doughnut, hosted by Norwich Theatre. See the background to this event here.

49 people joined artists at six Imagination Stations:

High streets and public spaces led by Hocus Pocus Theatre
Learning led by Climate Museum UK
Food systems led by Edible East & Sustainable Food Norwich
Sustainable fashion and economies led by Wastesmiths
A space for mental well-being and personal expression led by Norfolk and Waveney Mind
Collating dreams into a banner, led by Emma Skeet (SYSTA)

These are the big ideas – the Norwich People’s Manifesto

A future Norwich should be ethical and just, building on its radical history. A City of Stories and of Sanctuary, we can communicate with compassion and tolerance, listening and learning all the time.

Norwich can be a City of sustainable social and economic experimentation – leading in local Doughnut Action Groups by putting arts and culture at the centre of change. This needs strategic collaboration across social, cultural and environmental initiatives. Arts and Culture in Norwich can inspire imaginative ideas and can connect people beyond what is familiar, creating a big joined-up community. It can help reconnect us to nature too by sharing new and old stories of the land.

Local neighbourhoods should have hubs of resilient and positive change-makers of all ages, working together for the good of all. These can be arts-rich centres for sharing of ideas, skills, tools and resources, growing the time available for people to contribute to their community; and supporting existing schemes such as Repair Cafes, the Human Library and Libraries of Things.

Facing the reality of the environmental emergency, the council should involve citizens in developing a climate resilience plan for Norwich. Leaders should be inspired by eco-resilient exemplary practices from local governments and companies elsewhere.

Learning (formal and informal education) should be inspired by and working for nature, as our citizens depend on healthy conditions for biodiverse life, locally and globally. There should be greater emphasis in learning programmes on Emotional Intelligence – and all the capacities needed for relating to each other and the planet.

High streets, unused shops, hidden land pockets like rooftops, and public spaces could be planted to create a joined-up Norwich-wide Botanic Garden, providing local food, wildlife habitat, cleaner air, climate resilience and more joy and beauty.

Prioritise local, sustainable food:

a) More support for people to grow food, with garden and allotment ‘preservation stations’ – with food-growing information; equipment & training for food preservation; a system for land-sharing & volunteering; tool sharing; and space for food packing, storing and distributing to people who need healthy food.

b) A circular economy project e.g. to gather compost from cafes for allotments.

c) Local food procurement for council services such as schools in hospitals, increasing skills, health and economy.

A City-wide Quality of Life programme that measures happiness, creative & cultural participation and physical well-being as well as income factors. The key investments to generate Quality of Life would include:

a) A four-day working week with paid volunteer time invested locally;

b) A childcare co-op;

c) Social Prescribing of culture, gardening, nature stewardship etc.;

d) A social and environmental justice exchange, to channel donations and funding to the most effective actions.