News/Blog

Wild Essex Imaginarium call for contributors

CERG Present: Wild Essex Imaginarium Symposium 1 VENUE: The University of Essex, Essex Business School (EBS.1.1, EBS.2.1 and EBS.2.63), Colchester Campus DATE: Saturday Sept 27th 2025 TIMES: tbc GUEST SPEAKERS: tbc Call for Papers, Performances, Creative Interventions, and More “Re-enchanting the Essex Landscape in Times of Climate Crises” The first public event of the Wild Essex Imaginarium (WEI) invites participants, including – but…

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Coming soon: Wild Essex Imaginarium, Sat 27th Sept

Just putting this out there… The date of the event is confirmed. The venue booked. The full call will be announced soon. Time to imagine. More to follow. CERG Present: Wild Essex Imaginarium Symposium 1 VENUE: The University of Essex, Essex Business School (EBS.1.1, EBS.2.1 and EBS.2.63), Colchester Campus DATE: Saturday Sept 27th 2025 TIMES:…

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“Museum” for Rochford Community Engagement Toolkit

CERG started to roll out our Community Engagement toolkit at two events in March. A trial run with Cllr Sarah Jane Page in attendance followed by a well-attended and animated event at Great Wakering Community Centre. The kit includes an emotional geographies map, which splendidly triggers lots of passionate memories about place and lively conversations…

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CERG research on “emotional geography” referenced in Parliamentary speech

Following a presentation of our research at the Key Cities conference in Bradford last November, Prof. shirley congdon, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Bradford referenced CERG’s work on emotional geographies during her speech at the third annual Cities in Parliament reception with City Leaders, Parliamentarians, University Leaders and place stakeholders from Plymouth, Sunderland, Cumberland, Salford,…

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Museum for Rochford

We have two community engagement events this month (March) to help shape the Museum for Rochford project. The first is at Rochford WI on Thurs 13th – 7-9pm The second in Great Wakering on Sat 22nd. The concept of a ‘museum’ has been raised regularly over many years by local groups and individuals who would…

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Mezzolevel - Sampson, Tofield and Branch

CERG present Emotional Geographies at Key Cities Conference in Bradford

The Key Cities Innovation Network Conference provided an excellent platform to present CERG’s community development research directly to leaders in local government, the Arts Council England, and the Arts and Humanities Research Council. In collaboration with the Centre for Coastal Communities at the University of Essex and various regional non-academic partners, the Cultural Engine Research Group (CERG) is working closely with…

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A New Museum for Rochford Town

Join us on the 12th September 2024 at 6.30pm in the WI Hall Rochford to discuss ‘A New Museum for Rochford Town’. Free to anyone who wants to attend – no need to book. The concept of a ‘museum’ has been raised regularly over many years by local groups and individuals who would like to…

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Nature Writing Event for the Rochford District

Nature Writing Event for the Rochford DistrictSaturday 28th September 20246.00pm to 10.00pmRochford WI Hall, West Street, Essex SS4 1BE An evening with four writers whose work explores our connection to the natural world. See a new film focused on Cherry Orchard Country Park in Rochford. Come along and listen to some excellent and insightful talks,…

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Mezzolevel - Sampson, Tofield and Branch

Revised Mezzo-Level Policy Diagram for RGS Conference, 2024

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CERG to present initial findings of Frinton/Walton Pride-in-Place workshops at Royal Geographic Society Conference on 29th August 2024

From Economic to Emotional Geography: Understanding the Importance of the Mezzo-Level in Community Development Authors Abstract Local Authorities (District/Boroughs) play a crucial role in leading community development initiatives, despite facing numerous challenges in responding to the macro/micro level model of community development. These challenges include the competitive and uncertain nature of macro-level funding mechanisms, mainly…

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