Co-producing Community Narratives Across North Wales
The Co-producing Community Narratives project was developed to complement traditional data-led approaches to understanding communities across North Wales. By working creatively and collaboratively with people in six distinct locations, the project sought to explore how place is experienced, felt and imagined by those who live there.
What emerged was a rich, human picture of community life, one that statistics alone cannot capture.
Listening through creative practice
Across all locations, arts-based engagement proved highly effective in enabling participation from a wide range of people, including elderly residents, children, teenagers, migrant communities and individuals experiencing poverty or ill health. Creative activity offered a non-threatening entry point for conversation, allowing participants to speak openly about their lives without feeling judged or scrutinised.
Working through trusted community partners, such as foodbanks, care settings, youth groups and cultural spaces, was essential. These relationships created safe environments where people felt confident sharing honest perspectives, including criticism of services and systems.
Shared challenges, diverse experiences
While each community was distinct, common themes emerged. Transport was repeatedly identified as a major barrier to participation, closely linked to isolation and access to opportunity. Loneliness, accessibility, environmental quality and the loss of community spaces featured across age groups and locations.
At the same time, experiences differed by demographic. Older residents spoke acutely about isolation and stigma, migrant communities highlighted language barriers and discrimination, and young people expressed frustration, disconnection and concern shaped by wider social influences.
Learning for the future
The project demonstrated that creative, narrative approaches can deepen understanding of wellbeing, complementing quantitative data with lived experience. Participants did not simply describe problems; they articulated values, assets and aspirations, offering insight into what meaningful change could look like.
Co-producing Community Narratives shows that listening differently — with care, creativity and time — can lead to richer, more grounded insight. It provides a strong foundation for future engagement, policy development and investment that genuinely reflects the lives of people across North Wales.
