tools to act

Year 2 Report for the Every One Every Day initiative in Barking and Dagenham 

“It is no exaggeration to say it is work like this which can save the world. If we are going to learn how to live in the face of climate change, tackle the vast inequalities that divide us, come together across differences of race, history and religion, it will be through experiences like this. It won’t be through protests and it won’t be through textbooks – vital though both those can be – it will be through lived experiences of doing the everyday differently.”

It is not best seen as an alternative to conventional ways of changing the world. It should, instead, be understood as the beginning of a new strategy to do just that. When we see it that way, we should realise it is one of the biggest sources of hope in a profoundly dark time. 

Marc Stears, Sydney Policy Lab

“The Council is a staunch advocate of the Participatory City Foundation and of the Every One Every Day programme. This is because people are at the heart of our mission: people’s relationship with themselves – their sense of identity, worth, power and agency; their relationship with one another; with wider civil society; with the economy; and with the state. Central to our approach has been a belief, or rather an instinct, that presumes there is a personal and public good in fellowship, that relationships can be established and nourished in every day practical participation and that through those interactions great things are catalysed.” 

Chris Naylor, Chief Executive, London Borough of Barking and Dagenham

“Every One Every Day is well on its way to showing that a systems-level approach to participation not only helps the residents of Barking and Dagenham plant gardens and build play spaces, but also forges new friendships and fosters trust among neighbours. Perhaps most excitingly, the initiative will show how this work scales across a community and, we hope, can transfer to other cities across the globe.”

Andrea Coleman, Bloomberg Philanthropies

“Positive systemic change at the necessary depth and speed is not something that can be imposed from elsewhere, or for that matter, that governments or the private sector can accomplish by themselves. It requires community-wide mobilisation. By connecting people and ideas where they live and work with a sense that we can and must do better, Participatory City and its partners are creating the conditions for an enduring and hopeful societal transformation.”

Stephen Huddart, Chief Executive, McConnell Foundation