Re-imagining LGBTQ+ Intergenerational Communities, 2023-2024

From 2023-2024 the UKRI funded 'Re-imagining LGBTQ+ Intergenerational Communities’ (Between LGBTQ+ Generations) project. Between LGBTQ+ Generations ran from September 2023 to June 2024 in Brighton, UK. It brought together people aged 18-35 and 55+ in a series of 8 workshops. Each workshop had a different theme and drew on a different creative method. The intervention was designed, developed and delivered using creative methods and community-centred frameworks that acknowledges community development as self-cultivating, with external resources acting as a catalyst for this work. Funded by the UKRI Healthy Ageing Challenge and University of Sussex, this project responds to a call to address public health inequalities, tackle market failures, and support healthy ageing. This project interprets healthy ageing as bidirectional, in which both older and younger LGBTQ+ groups hold expertise around healthy ageing. The files from each workshop are indicated by the workshop number in each filename.<p>This project brings together LGBTQ+ University students and older LGBTQ+ Brighton &amp; Hove community members with aim to tackle loneliness and social isolation through intergenerational community building. The principal aim of this project is to encourage LGBTQ+ intergenerational community ties that promote communication, solidarity, and in-person knowledge exchange following the isolating effects of Covid-19 pandemic. Statistically, LGBTQ+ people are less likely to grow old than their non- LGBTQ+ counterparts, and they are a group more likely to die by suicide. At the same time, the covid pandemic has disproportionately affected the mental health of LGBTQ+ students at Universities in the UK. A recent study by student minds shows that these students are more likely to struggle with mental health due to a sense of loneliness and isolation at University. The project will take place through in-person befriending meetings (weekly or bi-weekly), visual arts design workshops (once monthly), and 'knowledge cascading' research workshops (once termly). The project will run over university term-time (1 September 2023 - 30 June 2024), in two 16-week cycles, with opportunity to adjust workshop models and content. The aim of the workshops is to use visual arts to create empowering narratives that picture local LGBTQ+ history, identity, and community. In the workshops, we will use comics, zines, photography, and other visual storytelling mapping exercises to think about LGBTQ+ identity and what resilience looks like. This project develops a knowledge cascading community model where knowledge flows down from older LGBTQ+ participants to LGBTQ+ university students, and back up again. While there will be room to talk about personal experience, the aim of the workshop is to materially visualise LGBTQ+ identity, and to create a picture of what community looks like. Alongside the workshops, the students and community members aged 55+ will also meet in pairs to encourage community building and knowledge exchange. This will be managed by the lead researcher, who has a conversation with each participant, and matches participants by age (there should be two older community members and two university students in each 'befriending pod'). These pods will then be instructed to meet in-person at least twice a month, for 30 mins to an hour during each meeting. They will be provided with conversation starter packs (which include questions to ask, short 'icebreaker' art activities) to help them along. The purpose of these meetings will be stated: to improve the community knowledge exchange, and to address a key challenge outlined in this project: loneliness and isolation. There will four other initiatives running alongside the workshops and befriending scheme: a bespoke workshop for participants interested in learning more about 'knowledge cascading' and community research; ongoing wellbeing recommendations through partnerships, as well as a 'mental health and community building' wellbeing pack which signposts mental health support routes; placement recruitment and design (various courses at the University of Sussex are interested in using this project as a placement option for their students); development of a civic engagement toolkit that can be used by Universities across the UK (including placement models, content design, partnership suggestions); and the creation of a Community Interest Company to ensure the project is sustained through a civic engagement model used by Universities.</p>2023年至2024年间，英国研究与创新署（UKRI）资助了“Re-imagining LGBTQ+ Intergenerational Communities”（Between LGBTQ+ Generations，即“酷儿代际之间”）项目。该项目于2023年9月至2024年6月在英国布莱顿落地开展，邀请18至35岁及55岁以上的群体参与共计8场工作坊，每场工作坊设有独立主题，并采用差异化的创意创作手法。本干预举措依托创意手法与以社区为中心的框架开展设计、开发与落地工作，该框架认同社区发展是自我培育的过程，外部资源仅作为此项工作的催化因素。本项目由英国研究与创新署（UKRI）健康老龄化挑战计划与萨塞克斯大学（University of Sussex）联合资助，旨在响应解决公共卫生不平等、应对市场失灵以及助力健康老龄化的号召。本项目将健康老龄化解读为双向过程：年长与年轻的酷儿群体均具备与健康老龄化相关的专业经验与知识。 各工作坊的相关文件均以工作坊编号作为文件名标识。 本项目汇聚了英国高校的酷儿学生群体与布莱顿-霍夫地区的年长酷儿社区成员，旨在通过代际社区建设缓解孤独与社交孤立问题。 本项目的核心目标是强化酷儿群体的代际社区联结，在新冠疫情带来的社交隔离效应之后，促进群体间的沟通、团结与线下知识交流。统计数据表明，酷儿群体的预期寿命低于非酷儿对应群体，且该群体的自杀死亡率显著更高。与此同时，新冠疫情对英国高校酷儿学生的心理健康造成了不成比例的负面影响。英国学生心理健康慈善组织（Student Minds）近期发布的一项研究显示，由于在校期间饱受孤独与社交孤立的困扰，该群体学生更易出现心理健康问题。 项目将依托三类活动推进：线下结对互助会面（每周或每两周举办一次）、视觉艺术设计工作坊（每月举办一次）以及“知识级联”（knowledge cascading）研究工作坊（每学期举办一次）。项目将在高校学期时段内开展（2023年9月1日至2024年6月30日），分为两个16周周期执行，并可根据实际情况调整工作坊模式与内容。 工作坊的核心目标是借助视觉艺术创作赋能型叙事作品，以呈现当地酷儿群体的历史、身份认同与社区风貌。工作坊中，参与者将通过漫画、同人小刊物（zines）、摄影及其他视觉叙事绘图练习，探讨酷儿身份认同与韧性的内涵。本项目构建了一套知识级联的社区模式，知识可从年长酷儿参与者向高校酷儿学生单向传递，亦可反向回流。尽管活动中可为参与者提供分享个人经历的空间，但工作坊的核心目标是通过具象化的视觉创作呈现酷儿身份认同，并勾勒出社区的真实样貌。 除工作坊外，高校酷儿学生与55岁以上的社区酷儿成员还将以结对形式开展会面，以推动社区建设与知识交流。此项结对工作由项目首席研究员统筹：研究员将与每位参与者进行一对一沟通，并按年龄组别匹配参与者（每个“互助小组（befriending pod）”需包含2名年长社区成员与2名高校学生）。各互助小组需至少每月开展两次线下会面，单次会面时长为30分钟至1小时。小组将获得对话引导包（内含提问参考、简短的“破冰”艺术活动方案），以协助会面顺利开展。此类会面的既定目标为：深化社区知识交流，破解本项目聚焦的核心难题——孤独与社交孤立。 本项目还将同步开展四项配套举措：为希望深入了解“知识级联”与社区研究的参与者开设定制化工作坊；通过合作方持续提供健康福祉建议，并推出“心理健康与社区建设”健康包，为参与者指引心理健康支持渠道；开展实习岗位招募与方案设计（萨塞克斯大学多门课程均有意将本项目作为学生实习合作项目）；开发一套公民参与工具包，可供英国境内各高校使用（内容涵盖实习模式、内容设计及合作建议等）；成立社区利益公司（Community Interest Company），依托高校通用的公民参与模式保障项目的可持续运营。