Imandeep Kaur

‘It’s about quality of life’: Can Birmingham’s Retrofit House help fix the UK’s terrible housing? From flood protection and encouraging wildlife to fixing doors and reducing fuel bills, a new initiative aims to empower residents and make their homes more comfortable

"Looking at the work through social value, it’s not about how many people use the building but how much knowledge can you embed locally through turning everything into a learning opportunity" www.theguardian.com/artanddesign... Kudos @immykaur.bsky.social

😂

The systemic risks of underperforming housing. From a (predictably) fab set of slides on Civic Square by @immykaur.bsky.social docs.google.com/presentation...

We are using the Doughnut for Urban Development now too.

So kind, trying our hardest! X

I saw @raechelkelly.bsky.social today on a train platform and got to spend 3 hilarious and unexpected hours together. Going to try Blue Sky for real now.

Lord, 3 hour train with no plug, my battery died trying to scan my ticket.

The Texture of Quality A Play in Ten Acts by Kenneth Mikkelsen

One of the best things I’ve read all year.

The Texture of Quality A Play in Ten Acts by Kenneth Mikkelsen

One of the best things I’ve read all year.

Would be really happy to, when are you around in Brum? Or did you want to do it virtually?

We really lucky to host @grindrod.bsky.social a few years ago at Impact Hub Birmingham ❤️

“We must root ourselves back in the land; the way the land speaks to us; the way we build on the land; the way that the land can nurture us, and the way the land nurtures itself.”

—Abdi Hassan

www.instagram.com/reel/DICsBsp...

Just read another post about Nick Booth - this one by Kate Cooper.

Remembering Nick Booth Last week, I heard that Nick Booth had died and as with so many others who knew him even slightly, it stopped me in my tracks. A couple of weeks before I’d heard that Ben Whitehouse had also passed…

Sad to read the news about @podnosh.bsky.social in this post by @danslee.bsky.social. Nick was one of the early pioneers of social media across charities and local government.

That’s very kind John ❤️

www.instagram.com/reel/DICsBsp...

Really happy to help ❤️. A link to our work: www.instagram.com/civic_square...

For years I’d managed to avoid the work WhatsApp group life, and tried to keep phone as private as possible. Why is everyone organising on WhatsApp again professionally, please can we use Slack. It’s too much, even if you mute, there’s still stuff constantly.

But in my experience, there is always one essential ingredient: scrappy people who are willing to work backward from goals that seem impossibly ambitious at the start —
Ayana Elizabeth Johnson

But in my experience, there is always one essential ingredient: scrappy people who are willing to work backward from goals that seem impossibly ambitious at the start —
Ayana Elizabeth Johnson

'I thought about it in my head and I felt it in my heart and I longed for it to happen with all of my body and soul , but I made it with my hands.' — Rob Ryan

The greatest weariness comes from work not done.
Eric Hoffer

We used to have a cartoon that said "Everything I didn't do yesterday plus everything I haven't done today plus everything I won't do tomorrow completely exhausts me". Always rang true.

The greatest weariness comes from work not done.
Eric Hoffer

The post office (+ public libraries) are 🌟. We *could* think so much more capaciously + creatively about what they can be!

Check out our Local Media lesson on post offices (relevant slides start @ 48): localmedia.wordsinspace.net/spring2024/p...

And this recent talk is about civic institutions:

Excited to share a new report by Material Cultures, situating social and ecological possibilities and context for the retrofit of the Neighbourhood Public Square at @civicsquare.bsky.social. In part it shares an ecoregional mapping of Birmingham + West Midlands, + much more.
bit.ly/BuildingSkillsCS

👋🏽

Excellent work. I was part of a group in Birmingham, UK (cc: @immykaur.bsky.social) that similarly created and distributed benches throughout the neighborhood. Just saw one still in place this morning!

What a gorgeous connection! It didn’t quite work perfectly first time some have disappeared but I totally think we should keep trying 🩷

… you just get to wield power in a way that is very colonial rooted. So no, I’m not convinced this works either.