The participatory grant making (PGM) project saw representatives from groups across gmsc come together to decide how to allocate £400k funding from Lankelly Chase and GMCA. This was the first time that many funded partners had been through this kind of participatory decision making process together and there was a lot of good learning to take forward. Although the project officially completed in early 2024, some of those involved are looking at how we might organise to take on decision making around funding from other sources into the future.
Cross-Organisational Demonstrators
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Participatory Grant Making
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Systemic Action Research Group
Being led by The Institute of Development Studies (IDS), a group of organisers and activists in Greater Manchester are being taken on an 18 month long journey to be trained as Systemic Action Researchers. We have been working with Jo Howard and Danny Burns from IDS to create a learning programme specifically for us in GM. We have been drawn to SAR as a method because, as Danny says, ‘Systemic Action Research emphasises the importance of holding ”learning from action” and ”learning from collective analysis” in balance. Each must inform the other to create transformative change.’
We have been nurturing the creative processes that elevate the experiences of often intentionally marginalised people. As well as surfacing how and what it takes to shift systems so we can influence others to come along on this journey with us.