{"id":5775,"date":"2014-12-08T16:38:49","date_gmt":"2014-12-08T16:38:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beta.devon.gov.uk\/community\/?page_id=5775"},"modified":"2025-06-09T14:45:02","modified_gmt":"2025-06-09T13:45:02","slug":"running-an-ideas-farm","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/communities\/how-do-i\/getting-local-people-involved\/running-an-ideas-farm\/","title":{"rendered":"Running an Ideas Farm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>What is it? <\/strong><br>An Ideas Farm is a format for structuring a workshop with local people when you\u2019re beginning with a \u2018blank canvas\u2019 in terms of issues and potential projects. It aims to bring a range of local people together \u2013 not just those who like attending traditional meetings. It also aims to build new connections between local people and groups, and to surface exciting new ideas that people in the community can work on. Above all, it\u2019s about creating a situation where people feel more able to take action themselves, as a community, instead of just being asked for their opinion by a \u2018powerful\u2019 organisation like the council.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Key principles: <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>This is NOT a consultation event where people are invited to share their ideas in the hope that someone else goes away and takes action \u2013 people have to \u2018grow their own\u2019 ideas (hence the farming metaphor) by discussing them with others. It is about bringing people together to think about what THEY would like to explore doing collectively, as a community, to change something that matters to them.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>There is no prior agenda \u2013 people in the room vote with their feet, joining in with the discussion that most interests them.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>This is about focusing on what local people CAN do, not what they can\u2019t. It shouldn\u2019t just be an opportunity for people to complain. At this sort of event, there\u2019s no one \u2018in charge\u2019 who is consulting or seeking feedback \u2013 so there\u2019s no point in people using the time just to raise gripes. A key question to your neighbours in the room should be \u2018so what can WE do?\u2019<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Situation: <\/strong><br>This format works well when your initial aim is to bring your neighbours together to start conversations about improving the area. There may be some issues or projects which you want to bring to people\u2019s attention, or which are likely to be popular choices for discussion, but the point is that the workshop does not start out with a set topic \u2013 it all depends what people want to talk about on the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a title=\"Ten step guide to running an Ideas Farm\" href=\"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/communities\/how-do-i\/getting-local-people-involved\/running-an-ideas-farm\/ten-step-guide\/\">Ten step guide to running an Ideas Farm<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What is it? An Ideas Farm is a format for structuring a workshop with local people when you\u2019re beginning with&hellip;\n <a href=\"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/communities\/how-do-i\/getting-local-people-involved\/running-an-ideas-farm\/\" aria-label=\"Read more - Running an Ideas Farm\"><span>Read more &gt;<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"parent":5577,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-sidebar.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-5775","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-05 11:09:39","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/communities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5775","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/communities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/communities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/communities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/communities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5775"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/communities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5775\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/communities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5577"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/communities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}