On Saturday the 20th of June we took the Engagement inflatable to central park in Plymouth for the Big Green Trail, run by Climate Connections and Plymouth City Council.
We developed the engagement inflatable following audience insights which showed us one of the larger demographics we were missing was parents with young children. We explored options for increasing opportunity for engagement and following the idea that happy kids mean content parents we came up with the idea of a device which keeps children entertained allowing us to engage with the parents. Development of this idea led us to the creation of a bouncy castle which not only keeps children entertained but which can be used as an education tool as well. The castle is a side-by-side race, culminating in a slide to finish. One pathway is a road, the other a wiggly river full of obstacles, the idea being to demonstrate the benefits for flood resilience by slowing the flow of water. The road always wins, therefore it’s the quickest, the wiggly river comes last, therefore the slowest and better for flooding resilience.
We had over 230 people through the castle, of all ages, and managed a genuine conversation about the topic it addresses with about a third of those.
It was great to be part of such a packed line-up of local organisations, too. Among our highlights from the day: making buttons from milk bottle lids with Precious Plastic Plymouth, getting up close with moss with The Art and Energy Collective, tasting edible flowers, having a go at the buzz wire with Eljay Energy, and crafting with Plymouth Scrap Store.
Throughout the conversations we had over the course of the day it was encouraging to hear that everyone had an awareness of the issues our rivers, and us, are facing but also a wider understanding of the underlying causes of them.
