Co-Creating & Connecting Living Places
We are a community-led organisation rooted in our rural place, working together to create what’s needed for ecologically and socially thriving futures.
We bring people together, turn ideas into real projects, and build the infrastructure that makes transformative, community-led work possible, locally and alongside communities across the UK.
● Why we exist
Places already hold the knowledge, relationships and care needed to shape better futures.
But for too long, decisions and resources have flowed away from the communities they affect — making it harder for people to respond to the social and environmental challenges on their doorstep.
We’re building a different way forward, places where people have agency, local economies create value for their communities, and ecological recovery and social justice are part of everyday life.
● Where are we based
We Create & Connect Living Places in…
Somerset and Dorset: rooted in our rural place and working as neighbours.
South West England: collaborating to shape a Living Bioregion.
UK-Wide: alongside place-based practioners, national organisations, funders and partners.
● What we do
We bring our community together, make sense of what’s happening, and build what we need.
Our work acts as a container for this process, where lived experience, local knowledge and new ideas can come together and take shape.
Together, we build a shared understanding of where we are and where we want to get to, connecting what’s already known in the place with ideas and inspiration from elsewhere.
From there, we explore what needs to change, how local systems are working, and what relationships, skills and infrastructure are needed.
Then we organise, take action and develop projects, growing our collective ability to shape the future of our place.
● What is a Living Place?
People shape the future of their community together.
Relationships are strong, and people have the time and capacity to care for one another.
Land is looked after, not just used.
Culture is alive, evolving through shared stories, creativity and everyday life.
Local economies support the people who live there, creating value that can be reinvested back into the place.
Power and resources flow locally, not away.
Difference is not feared or avoided, but celebrated, people are able to live alongside each other, navigate tension, and build shared understanding.
This isn’t an impossibility. But it does require a different way of organising. Right now, many of the systems we rely on pull time, energy and resources away from place, making it harder for these things to exist.
We’re interested in what it takes to rebuild them.
A living place is somewhere where:
● How We Work
We co-create and connect Living Places through four strands of work…
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Local people shaping the future of where they live.
We organise spaces for our neighbours and collaborators to come together around shared questions - building trust, confidence and collective direction.
From there, our communities develop practical plans for housing, food, energy and culture, and strengthen stewardship of local assets.
We do this in collaboration with local community hubs and groups, building the resilience of a network of community efforts as we go.
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Understanding and reshaping the systems that influence everyday life.
We look at how land, equity, money, trust and decision-making move through place — and where power is held.
Together with our neighbours and collaborators, we map these flows, build shared understanding and design practical shifts that move from extraction toward regeneration.
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Stories, skills and cultural practices that build agency and belonging.
We create storytelling projects, creative events and skill-sharing spaces that surface overlooked knowledge, celebrate local culture and strengthen community identity.
When the stories of a place begin to change, so does what people believe is possible. This work helps grow confidence, creativity and collective agency.
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Connecting isolated efforts into coordinated action.
We connect residents, practitioners, organisers and funders so learning, energy and resources can move more freely towards and between Living Places.
By creating links between local, regional and national efforts, we turn isolated efforts into collective momentum.
● Work With Us
Create Living Places with us
Living places grow through collaboration.
If you’re a resident who wants to strengthen your village or town…
If you’re part of a local organisation interested in refining your role in the community…
If you’re a funder or national partner looking for grounded, grassroots insight…
If you’re building change in your own place and want to connect…
We work locally, regionally and nationally, always collaboratively, and we’d love to hear from you.
