Frequently Asked Questions...

What is Citizen Power Peterborough?

Citizen Power is a collaboration between the citizens of Peterborough, the RSA, Arts Council and Peterborough City Council to explore new ways of making the city a better place to live. The idea is that by building connections between people and communities, we can support them to become active citizens and make a positive difference in Peterborough.

Citizen Power includes six interconnected projects, each of which addresses a priority identified by the local authority and Peterborough residents.

To find out more, take a look at this flyer.

How do I find out more about each of the projects?

Click on the links below for more information.

• Arts and Social Change: putting art at the heart of the city
• Peterborough Curriculum: connecting what we learn with where we live
• Civic Commons: empowering local people to take action
• Sustainable Citizenship: making green innovation a reality
• Recovery Capital: supporting long term recovery from problem drug and alcohol use
• ChangeMakers: unlocking the hidden wealth of community leaders

How do I find out who to get in touch with about a specific project?

You can find out more about each of the project leads, including their contact details, on our Citizen Power website and, for RSA staff, on the RSA website. 

How do I find out more about the thinking behind Citizen Power Peterborough?

Take a look at the RSA website for more information about the ideas behind the Citizen Power programme. You can also read some of our latest publications, including the intial scoping report and the recently launched one-year interim report.

Who is this 'Citizen' you're talking about?

In the context of this project, we use the term 'citizen' to refer to someone who lives or works in Peterborough and is keen to find solutions to problems that matter to them, in order make Peterborough a better place to live.  

How can I get involved?

The ways in which you can get involved really depend on your own passions, interests and level of commitment.

You’ll have seen that the Citizen Power programme is divided up into six different projects. Each of these have a specific focus (whether it’s education, the environment, health, the arts, etc) and work with fairly specific groups of people.

Depending on where your interests lie, you might like to come along to a Sustainable Citizenship workshop, where you can find out more about applying for support for your own local environmental project; a Peterborough Curriculum event, where you can get involved in creating new ways of learning for children in Peterborough; or a Creative Gathering, where you can find out more about local spaces and funding for the arts in Peterborough. Or, you might simply want to contribute to the blogs, event listings and discussions on this website or our Facebook page, or follow our tweets.

Where can I find more photos or videos of things happening in Peterborough?

Check out our facebook albums for pictures from many of our recent events, and our video page for short films of local people in Peterborough. You can also upload your own photos, videos and blogs to any of our sites, or send us a link to your own webpage.

What if English isn't my first language?

We've added a Google translator bar to the right side of each page of the website, so you can translate the text into 58 different languages.

Why have you aimed at empowering groups instead of individuals?

We’re interested in building the capacity of people, both individually and collectively, to make the changes they want to see in their community. An important part of this is making sure that individuals have the skills and knowledge to participate in local projects and decision-making processes. However, it’s often the case that groups of people working together can effect greater change than individuals working on their own. While we in no way want to exclude individuals from being active participants in Citizen Power projects, we find that it’s often more effective to bring together people with similar interests or concerns (e.g. environmental sustainability, drug and alcohol recovery, education, arts, anti-social behaviour) to work together to solve common problems in their community.

What is the role of the RSA?

The RSA is an organisation that looks at finding innovative solutions to social, political and environmental problems (to find out more, take a look at the RSA website). It’s one of the three funding partners supporting the Citizen Power programme, together with the Arts Council and Peterborough City Council.

What if I have a question that hasn't been answered?

Drop us a line (susannah.willcox@rsa.org.uk) and we'll do our best to answer it! You can also leave a comment on our Facebook page, or send us a tweet.