What could Improbable and Bore Place create together? Click here to read the full report INTRODUCTION For over twenty five years Improbable have been a peripatetic company, making theatre of every ilk - improvisations, plays, operas, outdoors spectacles, musicals, puppetry, circus - and now we are looking for a home. A creative base. We've been on a treasure hunt to find out where, and we think we might have found somewhere: it's called Bore Place, home of the Commonwork Trust, a non-profit organisation focused on regenerative agriculture and supporting people to live happy, fulfilling and sustainable lives through connecting with nature and each other. To explore the possibility of an Improbable home on the Bore Place site, we have agreed to enter a period of research with the Commonwork Trust. You can read more about our journey to this point here. We invited a group of Improbable and Commonwork Trust friends to a weekend of shared conversation and dreaming, about what Improbable could learn from those who live and work at Bore Place, what we could bring to the community and land there, and about what we could create together. We worked in Open Space, which is a way for people to self organise around areas of shared interest and passion, and to hold creative, authentic conversations. The event ran for two days from Fri April 1st- Sat April 2nd, 10.30am-5.30pm but participants were welcome to attend for as long or short a time as they wished. We were so happy to spend that time with a brilliant range of people including a mix of partners, staff, trustees and the one living founder of the Commonwork Trust, Jennifer Waite. We found so much common ground and shared passions, particularly community, education and sustainability. You can read a full list of the sessions that were called below. Friday ● How can we make wildlife a priority? ● What is at Bore Place and what happens here? ● Who are you? ● Why does Improbable want to be at Bore Place and why? ● Improbable. What next and why here? ● Why here? Why not? ● Improbable: any questions? ● Can we find a way to work with young people from disadvantaged city areas? ● Collaborations with scientists - soil, mycelium, trees ● Where shall we live? ● Immersive interval ice cream ● How can we encourage diversity / promote inclusivity? ● With this collaboration, and in general, how do we remain optimistic, but realistic? ● Ghosts and history ● What is your practice and process? What do we share? How can we do that in a university environment creatively? ● What can you do here - together (Bore Place)? Can you 'Improbable' bring some colour to the university of Lincoln? ● Why does the team at Bore Place want Improbable / an arts / creative programme? ● Where might this lead? How does it involve me? ● In collaboration, what could our arts programme curriculum look like? ● An iconic beautiful arts creation centre. What's the vision? What might it be like? ● Can we look at the footprint? ● What do we have in common? What is our common work? What is our difference? ● Incorporating fun. What fo we have to do the fun things at lunch? Can we schedule a 'work' hour for this? ● What did you think when you arrived at Bore Place? ● If you could build or make anything here, what would you do? ● What role can children have at Bore Place? ● What can we do to bring people to Bore Place? ● The Dream... ● Accessibility for all kinds of communities ● Everything costs money! Where will it come from? ● Endings - do we need a new life to regenerate or is it better to end and immerse ourselves in that finality - so that something new arises. Saturday ● Could you build a parkour course here for...? Kids / young people / mental health ● Documentary film making course for children? Would you like that here? ● First impressions: creating the right welcome ● How can we teach children about food? ● I need to find - or found - a new school for my neurodiverse children Near here or here - help! ● What are we to do about schools? Can we start our own? ● How can we integrate Improbable with Bore Place without disrupting what is already here? ● Can we make a labyrinth from found materials by the raised beds? ● Sticks and stones. How to build a place to hold heart, body and mind ● Creating community beyond the land ● Interviewing Jennifer ● And having said all that...what now? ● Theatre expression - sustainability ● Kent (and theatre making) ● Let's go for a walk ● Creating a makers space... ● Where are we? ● What can we take inspiration from to help our creativity grow? This document is a collection of the reports written during the Open Space weekend from the participants that took part. They haven’t been edited in any way and so are offered as the author intended. If you’re reading this report on The Gathering circle on Qiqochat, then you will have the opportunity to leave comments below. Please do share your thoughts and reflections on this report and the event itself. Click here to read the full report