Land of the Fanns 100 Stories Project Â
Kinetika is a Purfleet based arts organisation and we are working with Land of the Fanns to deliver a Community Mapping project. We are inviting local people and communities to identify and celebrate 100 Stories gathered in response to the different Landscape Character Areas within the Land of the Fanns area.
Over 2019 and early 2020 we collected stories and memories of places across the Land of the Fanns area through creative workshops in drawing, writing and photography as well as walking events. Over Spring/Summer 2020 there were free creative workshops in film-making and the silk painting process known as batik to create the 100 silk flags. The culmination of the work on the stories and flags  will be the at the Tales of the Fanns walking arts festival which will take place in May 2021.
The âCommunity Mappingâ project is comprised of three elements, relating to the recording, sharing and protecting of community valued heritage across the landscape. The project will commence in Year 2, building on the narrative framework enabled by the Land of the Fanns book synopsis (B1.1) and the recording of historic features in the âDesigned Landscapesâ project (B2.1) both starting in Year 1.
Recording
The first element â recording – will entail reaching out into the community to capture feelings and memories that can be mapped against heritage sites across the Land of the Fanns area. To kick start this process (which commenced on a limited scale during the development phase), up-front training and support in heritage research and recording will be provided so that a core group of volunteers can be involved in collecting the information and stories. Throughout the rest of the LotF LPS, further rounds of story collection will take place to develop an archive of information and to ensure that a wider range of people can participate in the project. The ongoing commitment to gathering information will also allow the project to be tweaked as needed during the scheme in response to volunteer and community feedback.
There could be an opportunity to link this project to the Arts Trail/Festival (D2.2), working with artists to capture stories and memories in creative ways. This could help ensure linkages between the cultural story of Land of the Fanns, and a wider arts-led festival that reaches a wider audience. This opportunity will be explored further during Year 1 of the Scheme.
Sharing
The second element of the project â sharing â will ensure that the information gathered from the community is easily accessible via the various digital and physical channels created by the Landscape Partnership Scheme. In particular, this information will be linked to specific points and areas on a Land of the Fanns map so that the significance attributed by the community to identified heritage sites can be clearly identified. This will be supplemented by a programme of local events/lectures so that volunteers can share their findings and stories. The stories will also help inform some of the walks (D1.1)
Protecting
The third element â protecting â will see specialist planning support commissioned during the second half of the Landscape Partnership Scheme to help create a case for adding community mapped heritage sites to local place-making related frameworks (e.g. local heritage lists in planning; community assets lists). This will include assessing the legislative opportunities available at the time. Where relevant, the cultural map of the landscape will be factored into the Landscape Management Plan (A1.1) in order to shape operational delivery as relevant. The purpose is to ensure that developments that might affect locally loved heritage assets are required to factor in the identified significance as part of any decisionmaking framework. This will support the legacy for the Landscape Partnership Scheme as a whole.
