The Cambridge Room News Archive
LET’S TALK ABOUT IT! …. SERIES
Let’s talk about it!… is a series of conversations on hot planning topics in the Cambridge region. If you are interested in learning more about the intricacies of planning in the context of Cambridge this event is for you.
Let’s talk about the Beehive is first event in this series.
26th March 5:30pm - 7:00pm. We will discuss the events and processes that have led to where we are with the Beehive planning application, facilitated with the assistance of planning professionals in our team.
Please register at this link
04 MAR 2025
Our pop-up space at the Grafton is now open! Free and open to all. Please drop by to have a look at our new exhibition, featuring local school children’s art work, Cambridge in TV films, and a living atlas of community activism in Cambridge and its surrounding areas.
More events and projects to be announced soon!
Find us at Unit 57, The Grafton Centre (opposite H&M Home and Boots).
You can walk in on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 10am - 5pm, and on other days by appointment.
Please reach out to us at thecambridgeroom@gmail.com if you would like to book the space for an event.
WE ARE OPENING OUR POP-UP SPACE
ADAPT! POP-UP MUSEUM @THE GRAFTON
16 NOV 2024
This Saturday, we hosted our first public-facing pop-up event outside our future home at the Grafton. We worked with the University of Cambridge Museums to showcase their Adapt! Pop-Up Museum. Through the displays and hand drawings, this one day event offers an opportunity for families and visitors to discover six species from around the world and reflect what we can do to help nature thrive.
PUBLICATION: HARTREE IDEAS EXCHANGE
09 OCT 2024
This report explores the additional social value benefits of Citizens’ Assemblies in planning, beyond their fundamental purpose of improving participation in democracy. It aims to identify key impact of the deliberative process beyond the direct influence on the planning process and outcome. We draw on observations and interviews with a small sample of 10 participants including citizen members, engagement facilitators, property developers, and architects from an ongoing participatory process in Cambridge, UK — the “Ideas Exchange” for the future neighbourhood of Hartree.
Please see more details at our Publication page.
WE ARE A CHARITY NOW!
23 SEP 2024
We are pleased to announce that the Cambridge Room has been awarded registered charity status! Our board of trustees put together a thorough application to the Charities Commission, and we are proud to share that the Cambridge Room has been formally recognised as a charity established for the public benefit.
We are now on the Register of Charities with the Registered Charity Number 1210177.
Our objectives:
1. To advance education for the public benefit in the planning and design of built environments and their impact on physical and mental health;
2. To promote good citizenship for the public benefit by encouraging and facilitating participation by the public in democratic and legal processes of the planning system, including through research, and the publication of the useful results of such research, in improving the reach and quality of public participation in the planning and design of the built environment to ensure that a diversity of voices are heard, in particular those from marginalised groups;
3. To develop capacity and skills, particularly of socially and economically disadvantaged groups in the region, in such a way that they are better able to identify, and help meet, their needs and to participate more fully in society.'
LET’S GO FLY THE KITE
6 SEP 2024
Together Culture, Anglia Ruskin University, and The Cambridge Room are working together with the support of The Heritage Fund, to rediscover the remarkable story of The Kite in Cambridge; its extraordinary story of non-conformism, cooperation, and creativity - that helped shape our country, not just our city.
10 local residents are being trained as oral historians to listen to and document your story, your ideas, your dreams. See more details and activities on our events page or Together Culture.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR A CITY TO GROW?
4 JUN 2024
At this public event, Flora Samuel shared updates about the Cambridge Room and how the ‘room‘ could foster inclusive debate between communities, local authorities, universities, industry and practice. Two of our trustee members Cllr Katie Thornburrow and Peter Studdert also reflected on their past experiences of planning and managing the growth in Cambridge.
The event was hosted by the Department of Land Economy, The Bartlett School of Planning and CRASSH.
ENGAGE! (SUMMER 2024)
3 JUN 2024
The Cambridge Room joined the Engage! (Summer 2024) event at the Meadows Community Centre with many other local organisations and community groups. The one-day mini-conference with a theme of community engagement included a co-created events calendar, workshops and a marketplace of support.
The event was hosted by Cambridge Council for Voluntary Services (CCVS) and Cambridge City Council.
THE DARWIN ERASMUS SEMINAR
8 MAY 2024
In this talk at the Darwin College, Flora Samuel shared a series of pragmatic research projects that have sought to improve inclusion in spatial planning, culminating in a discussion of the Cambridge Room, an ‘urban room’ for Cambridge. Flora mentioned that the particular focus of the room is on the inclusion of children and young people in decision making about their areas and on the making of maps as the basis of an evidence based planning system.
CAMBRIDGE ARTS NETWORK CONFERENCE 2024
27 FEB 2024
In this conference, Prof Flora Samuel gave a key-note speak and talked about the potential for cultural community consultation and engagement in making the planning system more inclusive. She talked about what is known about the impact of cultural engagement in planning before moving onto to describe a series of UK based research projects that have been conceived to help knowledge from cultural engagement feed into planning decision making. Flora also introduced the concept and the charter of Cambridge Room to participants from the arts, academia, local government, and youth organisations.
