A festival of community psychology

The 8th Community Psychology Festival is being held in Newport, Wales on 9-10 October 2024 at Newport Food Market. The theme is 'Nourishing the soul of Community'.

Organised by the British Psychological Society's Community Psychology Section, the Festival is intended to be an accessible alternative to an academic conference, where public participation will be encouraged and supported.

The organisers said: 'This year we are bringing the Festival to Wales and holding it in the heart (and belly) of Newport, close to the Welsh valleys (Cymoedd De Cymru). Some of us have ties to this land and we want to hold space for festivalgoers to channel the Festival's liminal energies towards the soul of this community.'

For previous years, the organisers commented:

'This is an invitation to us all to wholeheartedly join in a celebration that will take us right to the heart of what community psychology is about, both in terms of the core ethos and values of community psychology; but also in terms of how what we will share there will touch our hearts, and move us, or transport us, to new and exciting places in our practices, in our connections and in our lives.

In line with the key values of community psychology, we wish this festival to take place in the pursuit of liberation. Therefore, we are working to organise a festival that will be praxis-driven, thought-provoking and diverse community event and that has at its heart social justice and inclusion. Dear Psychology, while we confess, pursue individualistic improvements, and we at large passively adapt to our environment, how may we collectively hold our institutions accountable? We very much hope that you will want to be part of this collective reflection.'

To mark the Festival, why not join us on a themed trawl of our archive? You can find loads via the search, and here are some highlights.

• Let there be chaos! Miltos Hadjiosif makes the case for autoethnography, in its image, and introduces a set of pieces from his students.
• Finding joy in decolonising: a report from the 2019 festival
• Using community psychology approaches to reduce the impact of inequality
• A mutual aid approach to Covid
• Restoring and honouring community
• The landscape of poverty
• Creative collaboration and homelessness
• Being 'out there' in unfamiliar territory
• Your friendly neighbourhood psychologists
• A report from the 2019 Annual Conference and another
• A discussion with Sally Zlotowitz on 'psychology for social change'
• A report from the 2017 festival
• An interview with Jim Orford
• Carolyn Kagan on her work
• A renewal of ethics – Mark Burton's award article
• Life as a community psychologist supporting brain injured people in rural Wales
• One on One with Jacqueline Akhurst
• One on One with Roger Ingham
• Charting the 'mind and body economic'
• The impact of austerity on a British council estate
• Neoliberal austerity and unemployment
• The Society's Community Psychology Section on austerity
• Stephen Joseph takes a look at psychology, social injustice and mental health, from a community psychology perspective
• Questioning the science and politics of happiness
• Fabian A. Davis on the secret ingredient that enables people to 'bounce' back as active citizens. 
• Music and change
• Community psychology has been big in Chile
• Links with Liberation Psychology in the US and Latin America
• Psychosocial support within a global movement – the work of the British Red Cross
• Lisa Lim Ah Ken on working with aid organisations
• An interview with Angela Southall
• Can community psychology meet the needs of refugees?
• Rebecca Lawthom conference report
• Engaging with the emotional lives of men
• Carl Harris spoke at the Psychotherapy Section conference
• Community was at the fore in this 'new voices' piece about the ethics of rural practice
• A community psychology based approach to dealing with the aftermath of Rwandan rape and genocide. 
• Launch of Psychologists Against Austerity.
• Big Picture: The path to participation
• Beyond individual therapy - David Harper
• Striving for a fairer society - we meet Maggie Peake