connections

The first stage of the project was to understand what connections people have to Dalston: to its past and future, and to other people who live in the area. Connections are an important part of community cohesion, and as an area experiences new people moving in, it is important to build connections between old and new residents. Dalston Bridge has started out by creating innovative financial connections and wants to widen this out to other ways of linking people up. I wanted to understand what connections people already have – and build on these – as well as understanding the visual language of Dalston connections so I can communicate with people about them. I used visual tools – such as maps, prompt cards and design games – to conduct interviews and workshops with community members to gather this information.