Participatory Collective and Initial Ideas
Participatory Collective (PC) is a network of community groups, individuals, and organisations in Hull and East Yorkshire. It was created to bring people together to shift power, change systems, and support communities to flourish in a welcoming, equitable space. PC started with Ideas Fund projects but now welcomes anyone who wants to work in a relational participatory, ethical, and human-centred way. This means putting people’s knowledge and experience at the heart of decisions – not just doing things for communities, but with them.
The Participatory Collective is an expanding initiative in Hull and East Yorkshire that unites community organisation researchers and leaders with lived experiences to collaboratively generate knowledge and social innovation and enhance mental health and well-being.
In the principles of participation and co production the Collective emphasises the importance of collaboration lived experiences, creativity and the equitable distribution of power between communities and researchers. Each initiative within the Collective exemplifies a distinct partnership where research is conducted in collaboration with communities rather than on them. These partnerships address urgent local challenges ranging from addiction recovery and dementia care to youth well-being, justice reform, and community revitalisation employing creative, inclusive, and action oriented approaches.
The mission of the Collective is to revolutionise the design and delivery of research and support services ensuring they accurately represent the realities voices and aspirations of those most impacted by the issues at hand. In this endeavour a network characterised by trust, empathy, and shared learning which fortifies communities and contributes to the establishment of more equitable systems of care and well-being.
The final prototype aims to showcase and represent all of Thea’s ideas and key factors. The main goal moving forward with the prototype was to maintain the collective values while also addressing as many needs and wants as possible. My strategy for this involved aligning with the ideas fund website, incorporating elements such as their story, mission, vision, projects page, and their community work. I also wanted to include more video content and information about upcoming events, as well as a space for customers to build a deeper relationship with the participatory collective. Additionally, the idea fund emphasised expanding social media, which I also aimed to enhance through the website. A great way to boost media presence was to make the campaign as social media-focused as possible to reach a new audience.
My personal goals for this project focus on making the campaign about a collective effort, as I’ve said multiple times. It’s all about uniting different viewpoints and life experiences to form a cohesive whole that resonates with our mission to empower communities by connecting them with researchers to work together on innovative solutions. I can’t fully articulate it, but after all the research I’ve conducted, I often wonder what the next generation will think of us. How will they view recovery, justice, and care in the future? That’s why I want to call the campaign ‘In Future We Trust.’ I think this is a powerful statement because I want something distinctive rather than a typical campaign. Instead of focusing on the present situation, it highlights what could be if we believe in and collaborate to make improvements. This concept provides a strong foundation for moving forward, allowing me to build around it and create something that reflects the ideas of a collective approach.
A brief yet polished idea for the campaign ‘In Future We Trust’ is to involve all groups in a joint effort to create their ‘ideal’ future stories or artworks that imagine a more compassionate and just society. We plan to showcase these in local communities, but mainly promote them through short films on social media to maximize engagement and reach as many people as possible. Over time, the group from the participatory collective that gains the most attention and attracts new members will receive extra support. This is just a succinct initial idea that fits well with the campaign.
Given that we cannot predict the appearance of the system in 10 to 30 years, I prefer not to constrain anyone’s imagination by specifying a particular color palette. I aim to maintain a black and white scheme, allowing all audiences to form their own perspectives and ideas regarding its future appearance. Additionally, I intend for all assets to appear somewhat rough and worn, as I wish to empower the audience to determine whether the outcome will be positive or negative. I am convinced that this interactive approach could greatly enhance engagement and draw in numerous new members.
Campaign ‘IN FUTURE WE TRUST’
The campaign runs on various platforms, each with its own specific role, but all share the same message and visual style. The main content of the campaign consists of short films, artworks, and stories that look ahead, all produced by community groups. These are mainly distributed via social media to enhance reach and interaction, featuring a black-and-white style that doesn’t dictate how the future should appear, but rather encourages audiences to envision their own ideas.
A focused campaign website serves as the main center offering context depth and transparency. It features campaign videos profiles of the groups involved details about events and straightforward ways for audiences to connect more with the Participatory Collective. This more thoughtful space encourages a deeper understanding and fosters long-term relationships beyond just social media interactions. The campaign also reaches into real community spaces with pop-up exhibitions screenings workshops and printed materials like posters and billboards etc. These offline components make it easier for those who are less engaged online and strengthen the campaign’s dedication to inclusion trust and collaborative efforts.
Importantly, In Future We Trust views engagement as a shared measure instead of a competitive one. As time goes on projects that spark greater public interest and involvement gain extra support promoting teamwork and mutual growth instead of a hierarchy. Visually and conceptually the campaign welcomes imperfection. The rough and aged look symbolises uncertainty and openness emphasising that the future is still a work in progress and influenced by collective efforts. People are encouraged to choose whether the future they believe in will be positive or negative and what part they will take in shaping it. In the end In Future We Trust is not a definitive claim about what the future will hold, but rather a belief in working together understanding each other and shared accountability. By engaging across digital social and physical spaces the campaign fosters an inclusive and participatory environment that amplifies community voices builds trust and supports the Participatory Collective’s goal to envision fairer systems of care and wellbeing.
In Future We trust Posters
In Future We Trust takes on a thoughtful, optimistic and deliberately open ended tone that promotes conversation instead of just giving orders. The campaign steers clear of clear cut answers or strict messaging instead allowing room for doubt creativity and group understanding. This method showcases the Participatory Collective’s focus on relationships and human-centered values, where meaning and knowledge come from shared experiences rather than being dictated from above. The tone is welcoming and easy to understand using simple language that emphasises empathy trust and involvement over formal or scholarly perspectives.
The campaign mainly targets community members and grassroots organisations who have firsthand experience with issues like mental health recovery justice and care in Hull and East Yorkshire. These groups are not just seen as information receivers they are active participants whose insights and creativity help shape the campaign itself. The secondary audiences include researchers practitioners funders who are interested in participatory along with younger audiences who are digitally savvy and can be reached through short videos and social media. All these audiences together represent the Collective’s goal of connecting lived experiences with research in fair and meaningful ways. The main objective of In Future We Trust is to elevate community voices through creative storytelling that looks to the future while also fostering trust and connections among communities researchers and organisations. The campaign aims to challenge the usual negative narratives by focusing on possibilities and shared responsibilities. Its strategy includes increasing the visibility of the Participatory Collective enhancing its online and social media presence attracting new participants and collaborators and establishing the Collective as a trustworthy and ethical model for participatory research and social innovation. Engagement is measured not just by like views and shares but also by the depth of participation the quality of relationships built and ongoing involvement over time.
Every part of the campaign is carefully matched with the core values and operational needs of the Participatory Collective. Participation and co production are integrated through content creation led by the community and shared decision making. Equity and power sharing are shown by the lack of hierarchical messaging and the collective acknowledgment of all contributors. Relational working is emphasised by linking digital platforms with physical community spaces making sure that accessibility and trust are built beyond just online interactions. Creativity is seen as a valid way of producing knowledge while ethical and human centered practices guide all interactions representations and outputs.
More Mockups
Short Film Advertisement
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/7jHS4gpquKs – Participatory Collective Reel
https://youtube.com/shorts/tI8aaV4rzkc – In Future We trust Reel
Project Walkthrough Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlsI-C_1D2Y
Reference
Blogreadymag – How to Make a Design Portfolio that stand out -2025 –https://blog.readymag.com/how-to-make-a-design-portfolio/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22586836017&gbraid=0AAAAADl0HQub1QD9K-9W2Ix1iZ8oIBl5I&gclid=Cj0KCQiAvOjKBhC9ARIsAFvz5lgGcZPSFkdncU8VaqD3uetkd8b42dRaxKKUhjcXuBgvEcWHBHrf-DwaAlvOEALw_wcB [Accessed 01/01/26]
Imagekit – What are brand Standards and Why do they matter ? – 2025 – https://imagekit.io/blog/brand-standards/ [Accessed 01/01/26]
All Images sourced from Adobe Stock – Adobe Stock 2025 – https://stock.adobe.com/pl/promo/firstmonthfree?ef_id=Cj0KCQiAvOjKBhC9ARIsAFvz5lg8JjrWcdXLdYp2CjHF0XNEUhywq1vgsQwqpZaO1OPzpKRDi9p0yfAaAq-lEALw_wcB:G:s&s_kwcid=AL!3085!3!730317947432!e!!g!!adobe%20stock!328133046!21503362566&as_channel=sem&as_campclass=brand&as_campaign=PL_CPRO_STOCK_BRAND_ROI_CORE_na_STOCK_EXACT_CROSS_SEARCH_na_GG_PL&as_source=google&mv=search&mv2=paidsearch&as_camptype=acquisition&sdid=BMVV34ZM&as_audience=core&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=328133046&gbraid=0AAAAADi4nP4UGnwyoEqi55OiD36Aaj8ro&gclid=Cj0KCQiAvOjKBhC9ARIsAFvz5lg8JjrWcdXLdYp2CjHF0XNEUhywq1vgsQwqpZaO1OPzpKRDi9p0yfAaAq-lEALw_wcB [Accessed 20/12/25]
Images on the High Fidelity Prototype – The Ideas Fund (2025) – https://theideasfund.org/regional-partnership-funding/about-this-funding [Accessed 20/12/25]