The resources from an innovative project which used audio walks to create a sense of community in one of Cardiff’s inner-city neighbourhoods, are being launched at an event next week.
The ‘Sounding the Way: Audio Walking in Cardiff’s Urban Neighbourhoods’ project was funded in 2010 by the Beacon for Wales and led by Dr Kate Moles at WISERD Cardiff University and Dr Angharad Saunders at the University of Glamorgan.
As part of the project, residents of Grangetown in Cardiff were encouraged to explore their neighbourhood through producing audio walks. Grangetown is one of the more deprived areas within the immediate vicinity of Cardiff city centre, with a high population of young people who don’t typically engage in their local area.
This project had at its core the idea of engaging these young people in producing audio walks about their communities, about where they like to go. The work involved enrolling the young people not just as participants in producing these audio walks, but as active contributors, developers, researchers and producers.
Dr Moles said: “Audio walks allow people to share their stories, memories, and knowledge of the area, empowering them as community stakeholders and authorities on their locality. Walking is an act of exploration; it enables us to access the secret, often marginalised, yet everyday textures of the city.”
The work also involved intergenerational interactions, with young people working with older people in the exploration of their shared neighbourhood, thus empowering the residents and making them engage with and think about their areas in new and exciting ways.
The maps and audio walks that have been produced are now available to the entire community as a resource to use and enjoy. The event next week will launch these resources and attendees will have the opportunity to listen to the audio walks, watch a film about the project and read the audio walk guide.
The launch event is open to everyone and takes place on Monday May 14th at 3.30pm at The Deck Coffee House, Harrowby Street, Cardiff.