Explorer of the World playshops: seeing the world through a new lens
The Explorer of the World playshop series is part of a set of projects developing tools and methods that enable individuals, regardless of background or geographic location, to (re)build relations with their environment, collaboratively and creatively devising solutions to the real problems they face.
What is the purpose of the playshops?
The playshops create spontaneous spaces for learning and sharing through inquiry, exploration, and experimentation. Through playfulness, this build capacity and confidence for people to initiate their own journeys of inquiry and projects. The playshop methodology is adaptive with activities that fuse the arts and sciences into the transactions of everyday life inciting engagement in science and technology but in people’s own terms. The goal of each playshop reflects the character, state of mind, and interactions of the researchers.
What happens in the playshops?
Through a series of indoor and outdoor activities that build on each other. Using mixed media (from action-cams to repurposed electronic equipment and scavenged finds) and approaches ranging from observation and rapid-prototyping to improvisation theatre we spark our imagination and (re)connect it with wonderment and exploration. We distinguish ‘training’ from ‘inciting/stimulating’ and ‘participant’ from ‘researcher/explorer/tryer’. The ‘tryer’ ‘dips their toe’ in inquiry and DIY to discover for themselves how they would pursue their own questioning of the world around them and their own investigations.
What are the outcomes of the playshop series?
It also provides a better understanding of what people do with and through DIY practices as well as what these practices do to them. Together, explorers and facilitators ‘track’ our experiences, reflections, and learning in a conceptual ‘tree’. These experiential memories contribute to a model of engagement that provides guidance for communities and researchers to maximise the benefits of citizen-initiated and led inquiry and investigations.
How can we get involved?
Visit our event page to sign-up to our playshops! The playshops are currently open to anyone 18+. It is an invitation especially to those who have never done anything like this before. We are continuing the series as a predecessor of the Exploring Borders through Art playshop series and its successor For the Love of Mess playshop series. Each playshops series runs once a year with around five 2-2.5 hour-long playshops in each series.
Playshops in this year’s series
Playshop #1: We are all explorers!
Playshop #2: Observe, contemplate, wonder
Playshop #3: Explorer’s day out + picnic!
Playshop # 4: Bringing it all together!
Playshop # 5: Explorer’s day hacking
Playshop # 6 Building our own tools: Arduino humidity & temperature sensor
What are people saying about the Explorer of the World playshops?
You can read people’s reflections on the different playshops on their blog posts:
- …a few thoughts on being an “Explorer of the world” ;
- A conscious journey into the unknown;
- open up and set off for exploration – the Explorer of the World playshops;
- 3rd Playshop of Explorer of the World….. Treasure hunt!;
- Why do we explore? – 4th Playshop – Explorer of the world;
- We are hackers! -5th Playshop of Explorer of the World.
You will also read about our reflections on the Explorer of the World playshop series in our upcoming blog post – what works, challenges, plans for the future.
One of the videos made as part of one of our playshops:
…
Extreme Citizen Science blog 
Hi! I’m a UCL student at the Institute of Education, doing a PhD on Education for Sustainable Development and use of technology. I’d be interested to discuss your work but can’t figure out who you are on the EXCITES staff pages – my email is Alexa dot Joyce dot 14 at UCL. Would be great to have a chat!