‘Up Our Street’ is about taking collective social action in our City of Birmingham. This online resource tries to outline every activity that students can participate in, that help grow our local communities together, for the better.
The content of this site was co-designed in June 2017 by a University of Birmingham student team: Korinna, Lorna, Ninnah and Tihomir with Careers Network. The idea was conceived to build broader, practical and accessible opportunities for long-lasting community engagement.
To help build greater impact in specific Birmingham locations, Careers Network has been working with the Centre for Research in Ethnic Minority Entrepreneurship (CREME) and Citizens UK. Sparkhill, (based along the Stratford Road) was chosen as our first community focus because CREME and Citizens UK are working on a project to specifically build an inclusive eco-system for business development and growth in disadvantaged areas, which includes Sparkhill, Lozells and Small Heath. Links with community groups were established.
In 2018, for the Up Our Street Dissertation Projects, Careers Network will be working with Dr Julie Gilson and the USE IT! Programme lead, Dr Peter Lee, to enable students to connect their research interests to an area of the City: Icknield Port Loop, focusing on regeneration.
Working with Alison Sharp and Daniel Stone in Careers Network, we all recognised that by working together with community groups, we could affect change more easily, supporting the West Midlands Combined Authority’s agenda to tackle some of the bigger issues affecting people's lives in Birmingham.