In the last week of September, Laurianne Debanné, Asia Benford, and Sophie Kutuka travelled to Bridgewater to relay the results thus far back to community members. Before the visit, they prepared a short-form gallery walk with interactive questions and a long-form presentation with engaging activities. The team was also invited to present at an Energize Bridgewater event in the style of Pecha Kucha. Promotion for the events began a month earlier with social media posts and reaching out to service provider partners, and continued when the team members arrived by putting up flyers in high-traffic areas.
The goals of the community outreach events were threefold:
- Present research findings to the community;
- Hear insights from community members related to our work and find out what people think should be prioritized;
- Identify how to transform findings into an accessible format.
First, the gallery walk was set up in the LCLC, a central community location with a public library and important sports facilities. Each slide was accompanied by a question sheet where we invited participants to write their thoughts, and questions or dot vote. This provided us with important insights into what the community was thinking and feeling, as well as what they found most striking from the research.
Next, team members presented their results on Friday and Saturday. This presentation included interactive activities, which helped engage participants and hear more about what they thought about the results. One of the activities is "idea basketball," which is a way to receive feedback, thoughts, and questions anonymously.
Overall, this was an excellent opportunity for team members to share findings, hear back from residents, and solidify connections with community members.