In a first event in the Proud space in the Storey Creative Industries Centre in the center of Lancaster we introduced 25 HighWire PhD students to Proud. These are students undertaking a PhD that crosses between computing, design and management, the students take 4 years to complete the HighWire program with fees and living expenses funded by the EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Council).
In addition to exploring the possibilities of Proud in general we also used this workshop to start thinking collectively about how we engender a sense of community and collaboration when people drop into the Story part of the Proud project. We had a very stimulating afternoon where students role played different stakeholders and represented their agendas. This type of activity will be mirrored with a wide range of stakeholders in the coming month or two so that when the space has been refurbished fully we will be in a position to launch the space with an inclusive constitution in place.
Leon Cruickshank