The top ten things inspiring the Catalyst Producers this month.
How? Just how? How is it almost the end of the year? Some of us are still recovering from 2019, nevermind the endlessly long years that were all of 2020 and 2021! And now 2023 is just around the corner!
Okay, okay, okay - enough of the disbelief. Like many of you, the Catalyst team are on the final stretch, pushing hard as we approach the end of year. Ideally things would be slowing down as we hit the autumn/winter season, but in many ways it feels like things are still in acceleration mode. We’ve been busy onboarding our wonderful new additions to the extended team - from our Communications Partner, to our Virtual Assistant, to our shiny new Steering Group. We’ve been busy running roundtable convenings; co-budgeting with our Initiative Leads; and being held with kindness by our friends at Outlandish - it’s been a time, to say the least!
With all that said, we’ve still found time to be inspired by the wonderful things out there, being created by folks inside and beyond our networks.
So, here’s a list of our top ten sources of inspiration this month:
- Producer Jo shared this timely reminder of how to stay focused on your contributions when times are challenging and everything feels complex - this deeply resonated, as holding complexity is a key part of life at Catalyst!
- Producer Ellie has been attending this series of events curated by Healing Justice London, called Movement Medicine - she’s found the experience profoundly moving. Sign up to the final few Healing Justice London events, while you can!
- This blog post, 'Beliefs that hold social organisations back from sharing value', by our friend Tess at Collaborative Future is a valuable reminder of the importance of challenging toxic beliefs that might be holding your organisation back from valuing those who contribute their lived experience to their design and research projects.
- The governance geekery continues - check out these reflections by James Plunkett on what governance and democracy could mean in 2040 (!)
- My old pal, Leon Sealey-Huggins, has written this thought-provoking piece asking us to (re)imagine reparative justice as a worldbuilding tool, with new economic systems including reparations as part of their vision.
- And because right now our heads are very much in Impact & Learning mode, I’m wheeling this read up again, as I continue to ask ‘What Does Black Feminist Evaluation Look Like?’
- We’ve got a new Steering Group here at Catalyst! And the road ahead is full of possibility - check out reflections from one member of this new forum, Linda Humphries, on how things are going so far.
- One of our Initiative Leads, Ross, has written up this super thoughtful guide to designing events that feel more inclusive.
- Into deep house? Need a new mix to add to the playlist you turn to when it’s time to chill and/ or focus? I’ve been obsessed with this mix by Loc’d Grooves. Enjoy all 1hr 8mins of gorgeousness!
- And finally, need some theatre? If you’re in London and/ or able to head to Bush Theatre in Shepherd’s Bush, Tania Nwachukwu’s ‘The Kola Nut Does Not Speak English’, an immersive storytelling experience through movement and song, is running until 17th Dec 2022. Grab tickets here
If you have a resource of any kind that you think we should have on our radar, please share it with us! We would love for the wider community to influence our work and provide creative input.
Drop us a line at hello@thecatalyst.org.uk Or tweet us @wethecatalysts.
How? Just how? How is it almost the end of the year? Some of us are still recovering from 2019, nevermind the endlessly long years that were all of 2020 and 2021! And now 2023 is just around the corner!
Okay, okay, okay - enough of the disbelief. Like many of you, the Catalyst team are on the final stretch, pushing hard as we approach the end of year. Ideally things would be slowing down as we hit the autumn/winter season, but in many ways it feels like things are still in acceleration mode. We’ve been busy onboarding our wonderful new additions to the extended team - from our Communications Partner, to our Virtual Assistant, to our shiny new Steering Group. We’ve been busy running roundtable convenings; co-budgeting with our Initiative Leads; and being held with kindness by our friends at Outlandish - it’s been a time, to say the least!
With all that said, we’ve still found time to be inspired by the wonderful things out there, being created by folks inside and beyond our networks.
So, here’s a list of our top ten sources of inspiration this month:
- Producer Jo shared this timely reminder of how to stay focused on your contributions when times are challenging and everything feels complex - this deeply resonated, as holding complexity is a key part of life at Catalyst!
- Producer Ellie has been attending this series of events curated by Healing Justice London, called Movement Medicine - she’s found the experience profoundly moving. Sign up to the final few Healing Justice London events, while you can!
- This blog post, 'Beliefs that hold social organisations back from sharing value', by our friend Tess at Collaborative Future is a valuable reminder of the importance of challenging toxic beliefs that might be holding your organisation back from valuing those who contribute their lived experience to their design and research projects.
- The governance geekery continues - check out these reflections by James Plunkett on what governance and democracy could mean in 2040 (!)
- My old pal, Leon Sealey-Huggins, has written this thought-provoking piece asking us to (re)imagine reparative justice as a worldbuilding tool, with new economic systems including reparations as part of their vision.
- And because right now our heads are very much in Impact & Learning mode, I’m wheeling this read up again, as I continue to ask ‘What Does Black Feminist Evaluation Look Like?’
- We’ve got a new Steering Group here at Catalyst! And the road ahead is full of possibility - check out reflections from one member of this new forum, Linda Humphries, on how things are going so far.
- One of our Initiative Leads, Ross, has written up this super thoughtful guide to designing events that feel more inclusive.
- Into deep house? Need a new mix to add to the playlist you turn to when it’s time to chill and/ or focus? I’ve been obsessed with this mix by Loc’d Grooves. Enjoy all 1hr 8mins of gorgeousness!
- And finally, need some theatre? If you’re in London and/ or able to head to Bush Theatre in Shepherd’s Bush, Tania Nwachukwu’s ‘The Kola Nut Does Not Speak English’, an immersive storytelling experience through movement and song, is running until 17th Dec 2022. Grab tickets here
If you have a resource of any kind that you think we should have on our radar, please share it with us! We would love for the wider community to influence our work and provide creative input.
Drop us a line at hello@thecatalyst.org.uk Or tweet us @wethecatalysts.
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