Spaces of Hope has been applied in a diverse array of contexts. Here you will find gatherings of content, which express Spaces of Hope through writings talks, dialogues and larger project work. These should give you a sense of the different ways Spaces of Hope can be applied.
Shared Lives Plus - October 2021 to Feb 2022 - Matthew was engaged as a Strategic Advice Consultant to help the development of the Strategic Advice offer by Shared Lives Plus; a membership organisation supporting carers and schemes nationwide to deliver the cheapest and most effective form of social care (according to the CQC). This work included conducting scheme reviews with social care schemes across England, including stakeholder engagement, carer and stakeholder Interviews, reporting and editing, and strategic insight and reflection on service design and development.
Climate Emergency Response - St Helen's - May 2021 - May 2022 - Matthew was commissioned to work with a group of churches who new they had to respond to the climate challenge, but were unsure how. The brief was to design and deliver funding and project strategy for combatting climate crisis across multiple sites in the town, which offered holistic solutions to both the climate challenge and issues of food poverty, poor mental health and other ills in communities in the top 1% of MID. The project successfully delivered 400%+ ROI, sustainable heating solutions across multiple sites, and stronger relationships with local officials.
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Dialogue Society Conference - June 2021 - Curating Spaces of Hope: exploring the potential for faith based organisations and intra-communities dialogue in post-pandemic society - Matthew was invited to speak at this conference as part of a panel exploring dialogue spaces and communities in a post-pandemic context. The video of the full panel is included here and Matthew's paper is on second, at 17min 42 seconds.
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Doctoral award confirmed - April 2021 - Dr Barber-Rowell was officially awarded his PhD from Goldsmiths College, University of London. The thesis is titled 'Curating Spaces of Hope: towards a liminal, rhizomatic, and productive paradigm of faith baed organisation'. The supervisor for this thesis was Prof Chris Baker (Goldsmiths College, University of London and William Temple Foundation). The examiners of the thesis were Prof Peter Scott (Lincoln Theological Institute, University of Manchester) and Dr Sara Silvestri (City College, University of London).
Climate Emergency Strategy - Diocese of Liverpool - October 2020 to Feb 2021 - Matthew was commissioned to conduct a Feasibility Study for the Diocese of Liverpool, which explored what the response to the Climate Emergency might look like, across the area. This covered the technical and prophetic challenges facing faith groups and set out what was needed to tackle these challenges in the decade ahead.
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Government commissioned research - 12th November 2020 - Dr Barber-Rowell, was one of a team from the Faith and Civil Societies Unit at Goldsmiths University of London, and William Temple Foundation who conducted research on behalf of the APPG for Faith and Society mapping responses by faith groups and local authorities to the Pandemic. This research took place following lockdown 1 of the pandemic and covered the United Kingdom. The report, launch at Parliament, can be found here. Following the release of the report, it was subject to a Debate at Parliament on 11th Feb 2021. Link to the Hansard record of the debate is included here
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Lockdown, Liminality and Local Leadership - June 2020 A recent blog by Matthew for William Temple Foundation about the way local leadership shapes the emergence of spaces of hopeful possibilities, including 1) a brief study from work that has been ongoing for a long time in the Parish of St Andrew's Clubmoor, 2) data from last years Spaces of Hope gathering looking at leadership in a liminal age, 3) how we might move forward. Find the Blog Here