Taster sessions





inCommons has held three successful and empowering residential weekend workshops as part of our ongoing efforts to develop the full MCA. These weekends were designed to preview how the course will run, including using a participatory pedagogy, creative site visits, and in-depth expert case studies presented by activists, practitioners, and researchers.
Previous sessions
Brighton 2022
Our first taster session was held in Brighton, in June 2022, hosted by the Institute for Development Studies (IDS) and the University of Sussex. This session featured walks in the woods, an evening social at the Bevendean – the only cooperatively owned pub on a council estate in the UK – and a keynote talk by Italian political theorist Massimo DeAngelis on the crisis of (re-)production.
Keynote by Massimo DeAngelis
Learn more about the Brighton taster session
Blencathra 2023
Our second taster session was held in the Lake District at the Blencathra Field Studies Centre near Keswick in January 2023. Welcoming nearly twice the participants of the first taster, this session featured wild swimming and mountain hikes, an impromptu table tennis tournament, and a keynote by American geographer J.T. Roane on fugitive Black commons in the USA.
Keynote by J.T. Roane
Learn more about the Blencathra taster session
Bristol 2023 ‘the second course’
In September 2023 participants from the Brighton and Blencathra taster sessions came together for our first urban residential weekend workshop. Framed around relationships to place, the second course included sessions on utopias and counter-mapping, projects on transforming Bristol through commons, and an exciting game from Red Plenty [link them] that set groups working to address crises and needs through creative collective action. We also reflected on the development of the MCA, and welcomed as keynote Dr Hali Healy of the University of Johannesburg whose talk “Commoning Xolobeni – Past Present and Future” was complimented by an interactive photography exhibit.
Keynote by Hali Healy
Learn more about the Bristol taster session
Next steps
Our taster sessions have delivered effective feedback on our proposed methods of development and delivery. They all created enjoyable and effective learning experiences for participants and organisers and improved understanding and skills for commoning. Participants were highly engaged in the learning activities and made meaningful connections with others. Almost all participants registered interest to attend a follow-up taster session and, when available, the whole MCA course.
The steering team is working on developing the next of firm plans for inCommons and the MCA, updates and information on future events will be shared via our email list.
