Enable buskers to be recognized by Camden residents through the exchange of transferable skills
In Camden, there is no consistent method to recognize significant social action contributions, despite the skills and confidence citizens bring and gain. This lack of recognition and accreditation framework must be addressed urgently.
Partner with
Camden Council Participation Team, Public Collaboration Lab (PCL), Somers Town Community Association (STCA)
Services
Field Research, Workshop, Community Social Action, Skill Recognition
Skills & Tools
Field In-depth Interviews, Persona, Journeys Map, Skills Toolkits, Workshop, System Map, Service Blueprint
The Challenge
How can we support street artists through the exchange of skill recognition to increase employment opportunity for residents in Camden?
The Process
We adopted field research and co-design approach to explore the possible social actions to help residents to be job-ready with skills recognition framework. Attracted to the vibe of music and arts in Camden area, we integrated the insights from street artists with stakeholders and delivered online workshops on skill recognition for buskers. I mainly contribute to field research, interviews, workshop with the tools of Persona and user journey, service blueprint.
The Results
During pandemic, the project delivered 2 online workshops with 8 participants and 2 artists, enabling the street artist to be recognized by residents who seek for arts career and the exchange of transferable skills with the skills recognition toolkit.
The impact
Coins & The Hats helps the street artists’ talent and transferable skills to be recognized by residents, which increases busker’s career opportunities with more visibility and connection to the community. Meanwhile, it provides Camden the chance to reclaim the reputation around arts for education and tourism.
Online workshop’s tools
Online workshop-Coins & the Hats
Background
As a team, we walked around Euston, King’s Cross, MAKE @Story Garden and Camden town areas, explored community centers and the local social actions to identify the problems. We mapped out insights to find connection among social issues like housing, mental well-being, healthcare, poverty, etc.
Step 1: Discover the life of street artists
Understanding the life of buskers with exploration
At first, as a team, each of us identified different social issues to tackle around Camden area. However, the music and street artists caught our attention. What is their life look like and what brings them here? We went to field research and approached as many as street artists we could for some insightful conversations.
Discovery activities:
10 field observation
7 street artists involved
15 in-depth interviews
Step 2: Zoom in the life experiences of street artists
Seeing the gap between buskers’ skills and needs for career
All the journey of buskers are respecting and complicated. Based on those in-depth interviews, I built up Personas and mapped out their journey to identify the design opportunities for street artists, which lied in their skills and stories being recognized, more connection with audiences and community.
Step 3: Co-design workshops for the skill recognition framework
Prototyping the toolkit and iterating to utilize the service
We used skill recognition card set Rebel developed by a team from Central Saint Martin(CSM) to validate the potential transferable skills identified from buskers. We tested the card through online workshop with artists and our peers before the final workshop.
Engaging with audience to identify transferrable skills
The second round of online workshop was hosted with several audiences from the UK, Thailand, Mexico. They were glad to hear the stories of the musicians and helped to identify their skillset, while getting motivated to identify their own possibility for arts and transferrable skills. They are inspiring and have different useful skills that can be developed into other career paths as well.
Step 4: Propose the framework for residents in Camden
Moving into the real world to increase the job opportunities in Camden
The workshop of transferrable skill recognition helps the buskers to be visible and connected to the audience and Camden community. It can be developed into a community framework for not only the buskers, but the Camden residents to attend regularly, supporting the residents to be more job-ready and skills accredited.
The reflection
Over the period of 3 months, it’s the dedicated exploration around field, the collaboration among us, the empathy towards our audience and the iteration of workshops helped the project to be delivered. It can be further proposed to the Camden Council, Mayor of London for busker community.
