Think it - Make it - Grow it

In partnership with The National Festival of Making, two co-creation sessions were held at the Making Rooms in Blackburn to develop an urban food intervention. The residents of Blackburn were eager to create something that represented them and their ideas.

The final design was based on the concept of a tree trunk and branches. Upon the trunk, planting boxes were hung, which were filled, planted, and decorated during the first day of the festival. The branches held rainwater-collecting funnels, which were piped into a central reservoir. These were decorated by visitors on the second day of the festival.

The completed project illustrates the power of the co-creation process, which enables unusual, yet amazing, projects to come to life. Described by one visitor as “bonkers but beautiful”, the community food tower was designed by the people of Blackburn and completed by the people of Blackburn.