At Narativ we always work in circles. This is a nod to our theatre roots - in a circle everyone is seen and heard, everyone’s contribution is valued, and in groups it’s a great way to flatten out hierarchies. The discipline of listening and telling stories in circles is (re)generative - one story inspires/creates the next in an infinite loop.
So we were delighted to be partnering with the National Interdisciplinary Circular Economy Research (NICER) programme on their Showcase day last month. Fiona Charnley, the Programme Director first invited us to collaborate with them about a year ago. We were standing in the busy, noisy foyer of the roundhouse in London midway through the Ellen MacArthur Foundation Summit. ‘Would you come and help us create the day - we don’t want it to be like a typical scientific symposium - it has to be more human and definitely to have more stories. So I thought of you!’
We jumped in with both feet, knowing that it wouldn’t necessarily be easy to put Story first. The aim of the 4-year NICER Programme was to facilitate research and innovation, and create the evidence base towards moving the UK to being a resilient circular economy. Research projects were set up in the fields of Textiles, Construction Materials, Circular Chemicals, Technology and Circular Metals. These projects were populated by expert scientists, academics and industry partners - all with unique voices and perspectives, and precise data to communicate. Our challenge was to find the stories that would make the complexity of the information human and therefore more accessible.
In designing the event, we first visioned the day as a ‘story’, paying attention to the journey for the audience, where it started, where it ended, and the peak moments along the way. Then we looked at the component parts of the Showcase, coaching and supporting each speaker to bring their work to life, sharing their stories of lived experiences and the impact created. We thought creatively about all the different ways we could present information to the audience from the stage, whilst at the same time encouraging their participation. Fiona Charnley and Peter Hopkinson compered with ease, warmth and humour, telling stories and inviting audience members to share their own experiences and reflections right from the start. We mixed up the dynamics during the day with different configurations of speakers - putting together people from different disciplines in facilitated conversation; more informal ‘fireside’ chat; partners in pairs reflecting on the experience with a pack of ‘surprise’ questions to prompt them; as well as impactful films by Paul Wyatt, stunning scribing by Burograph, and of course, solo presenters - with a strict limit on the number of slides!
Our venue was the hallowed Church House in Westminster in its appropriately circular event space. We considered all the senses in the experience - the colours and music in the main space; exhibition rooms where people could handle artefacts created by the various research groups; a NICER ‘Circular’ playlist where the audience could choose the songs to accompany the after-showcase drinks; and chances to connect and get into conversation with the other people attending, over food and drink.
It was a great day, with one story generating the next in an infinite loop of listening and telling, celebrating the discoveries and successes of the NICER Programme. Thank you, Fiona, for that invitation a year ago. It was a joy to work with you all, and super-inspiring to be immersed through 2024 in this environment of innovation and radical thinking.
JN/OCT24
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