How to collaborate with communities?
Practical Tools for Ethical, Creative & Sustainable Community-Led Projects
Working with communities is essential for ethical, meaningful and sustainable collaboration today. But doing it well requires care, trust, and the right tools and training. This online course by Art Voyage is designed for artists, curators, and cultural practitioners who want to move beyond tokenism and create community-led projects with real impact.
Drawing from funded public art, heritage, and social engagement projects, this course offers practical frameworks, honest conversations, and tools you can apply immediately, whether you are developing a new project or refining an existing one.
If you believe communities are collaborators, not audiences, this course is for you.
Limited places available
Duration: 2 days (3.5–4 hours per day)
Format: Live Online Sessions + Group Clinics
Group size: 16 participants (maximum limit)
Ideal for:
- Organisations & collectives
- Funded or long-term projects
- Councils, museums, universities
- Practitioners needing depth & strategy
SYLLABUS
DAY 1: FOUNDATIONS & ETHICS
Module 1: What Does Community Collaboration Really Mean?
- Community-led vs participatory vs outreach
- Power, authorship & consent
- Who benefits, and who doesn’t?
- Case studies from funded projects
Key takeaway: Clear understanding of what ethical collaboration looks like, and what to avoid.
Module 2: Trust, Listening & Entry Points
- Approaching communities with care
- Working with lived experience
- Cultural sensitivity & safeguarding
- Schools, councils & grassroots groups
Key takeaway: Stakeholder & trust-mapping
Module 3: Co-Design & Project Planning
- Designing with communities, not for them
- Managing expectations & timelines
- Accessibility & inclusion
- Avoiding burnout (yours and theirs)
Key takeaway: A clear, realistic project structure.
DAY 2: DELIVERY, FUNDING & LEGACY
Module 4: Delivery, Risk & Conflict
- Managing challenges & disagreements
- Transparency & accountability
- Care-based leadership
Module 5: Funding, Evaluation & Impact
- What funders actually want to see
- Writing strong engagement sections
- Measuring impact without tokenism
- Quantitative vs qualitative evaluation
Key takeaway: Turning your project into a fund-ready outline
Module 6: Documentation, Visibility & Legacy
- Ethical storytelling
- Archiving community voices
- Exhibitions, publications & digital outputs
- Maintaining relationships beyond the project
The course will conclude with a final presentation allowing participants to present their final ideas and provide the space and time for peer and facilitator feedback. Participants will leave the course with the knowledge and tools necessary to take the next steps on their individual journeys and projects.
WHAT PARTICIPANTS RECEIVE
✔ Live teaching & discussion
✔ Downloadable workbook
✔ Community collaboration toolkit
✔ Ethical checklist & templates
✔ Funding-ready language
✔ Certificate of completion
✔ Access to post-course resources
What makes this course different
> Built from real funded projects, not theory
> Designed for real-world application
> Honest discussion of mistakes & challenges
> Strong ethical framework
> Community dignity at the centre
> Small groups & active participation
Thank You to the Community
Thank you to everyone who took part in the Crafting Connections workshops.
Your hands shaped this sculpture.
Your stories are sewn into its fabric.
Your voices give it meaning.
We welcome you back to see the work you helped bring into the world.
