(the) STEPS Initiative/ STEPS Consulting

STEPS is an innovative consultancy offering creative (often arts-based) community-based research, engagement and placemaking services. The Sustainable Thinking and Expression on Public Space (STEPS) Initiative is a collective of artists, activists, architects and academics using art to connect people with their local environments. We are committed to enabling the use of art to challenge and change: - the ways in which public spaces are currently being used - the ways citizens communicate on environmental issues and - the role of the artist in community development. STEPS is empowering citizens to take a creative hands-on approach to their environments. In service of our mission, STEPS is developing a series of tools which include an online meeting ground where citizens can find resources about and engage in dialogue on the growing movement of ‘Public Space ARTivism’ (the use of art to enliven the relationship between people and their local places); a Public Space ARTivism Manualfesto that profiles this type of work at its best and the findings of over 150 ARTivist interviews; a series of workshops and a documentary film.