Towards Equitable Futures

Bristol-based arts venue Watershed presents a diverse programme of films, events, festivals, artist commissions, workshops and conferences with audiences and participation at its heart. After witnessing the impact of the pandemic, and through deeper exploration of its commitment to social justice and climate breakdown, the Watershed team felt there was an urgent need to do things differently. ‘Towards Equitable Futures’ has seen Watershed undertake deep, reflective work to understand its governance, design, and decision-making processes and how they perpetuate power structures.

Recognising that change has happened within the interdependent structures of white privilege, patriarchy, disablism and extractive capitalism, Watershed has aimed to invert the power dynamics of traditional futuring processes to ensure a fairer, more equitable future. Values have been at the heart of this work, with Watershed starting the project “from a position of love”. This is based on the belief that we urgently need more love in our public and professional lives and spaces, as well as an understanding that to love others in their difference is to recognise your own value.

Working with a group of experts and members of the community who have been underrepresented in decision-making, the Watershed senior management team investigated how to build common ground, whilst reconsidering what needs to change in the present.

Through a series of workshops, the group has helped to shape a future vision for Watershed – one that features co-designed programmes with different communities, new language, greater courage to address and respond to political issues and social justice, as well as slower and deeper relational working. It has also worked to develop a new methodology for inclusive futuring, which it hopes other organisations and groups can use to have more equitable conversations about the future. 

With the initial series of Equitable Futures visioning workshops completed, Watershed is now focusing on how it shares the findings and embeds the outcomes in terms of method, relationships and ideas.

Find out more about the work in these project blogs.

Image: Jasmine Thompson