The Blueprint Architects
Subheading
The Blueprint Architect group is composed of an evolving 20-30 people representing community leaders, organisations, activists and residents who are engaged in the food system of Tower Hamlets. The group are involved in the research and co-design of a blueprint for a climate-friendly and socially just food system that tackles the issues specific to an urban borough like Tower Hamlets.
The aim of this group is to decide and develop the core information needed for this blueprint and to guide the work of Just FACT. By year 5 of the project, we will have created our vision for how different parts of the local food system could be transformed, evidence of ideas and grassroots action, and recommendations for change at different levels.
The Blueprint will contain our big ambitions as a community, showing what it would look like if we fully succeeded and had a just food and climate transition in the borough. By ensuring local communities and individuals with a wide range of much needed local and cultural perspectives and experiences are shaping the work, we will keep equity and justice at its heart.
Although Just FACT is Tower Hamlets focused, we hope to design something that can be used as inspiration for other urban areas in the UK and beyond.
This group and research is led by Platform London.
RESEARCH PROCESS
The Blueprint Architect group will research the different interconnected parts of the food system, drawing on existing grassroots projects and best practice across Tower Hamlets; from food production, distribution, consumption and waste.
The research is a fluid process which aims to generate a better understanding of what change is needed in our local food system. This means that the exact direction of the research or types of data collected are constantly evolving, through collective decision-making by the blueprint architect group.
People in the group are a living, breathing embodiment of the Blueprint across the many projects which they are part of. What is being learnt on-the-ground and through the projects will shape the Blueprint and its recommendations. Equally, what is being learnt through the research will inform the funded Just FACT projects. In this way the Blueprint will be alive and evolving, and by year 5 we will have a tried and tested approach.
BLUEPRINT PUBLICATIONS
We will be sharing our work through publications, community zines and art installations.
Our fist publication shares food stories from the Blueprint Architect group, and our key findings from the first 2 years of blueprint research. It is a part one of a series of 3. Part 2 will be launched by August 2023.
