May 16th-17th saw the 2024 edition of our Annual Consortium meeting. We were thrilled to see a robust gathering of project members with a mix of experts from every type of organization and group involved in the project. Popular culture and sports organisations, community activist associations, scholars from knowledge institutes, policy organisations, cultural programs, universities, hogeschools, museums, and more.

We workshopped our work in progress. We also walked quite a distance across campus, from breakout rooms to lunch, enjoying conversations along the way, and also seeing the encampment in support of Palestine which was prominent and peaceful. 

In almost every session we reviewed and discussed our innovative working style in the project, which is deeply consultative and ‘iterative.’ We check in with each other and adjust how we work, and how we are conducting research and producing outputs to try and ensure ethical processes and practical relevance. 

Highlights included the BMX and Breakdancing displays, and also keynotes by Dr. Melanie Acosta & Prof. Kevin Hylton that varied greatly, from instructive and policy driven, to interactive and reflective. An artistic and reflective high point was the screening of the film Zwarte Ibis, and the Q and A with producer Emma Lee Amponsah afterward. 

We are already planning next year’s edition, even as we reflect with joy and improved knowledge of each other, on the last. 

Read the full report for the more detailed breakdown.

(Written by Isabella Hall Allen, and Rachel Gillett, with contributions from Bérénice Boukaré, Griff Rollefson) 

Scroll for some photos of the Annual Consortium: