Fablevision has been developing educational interventions for schools and education authorities since 1984. Alongside this Fablevision has developed or has been commissioned to develop some very powerful community-based interventions nationally and internationally. Alien 8 is the logical next step – bringing all the strands of expertise together within the company towards a holistic approach.

The Issues

Anti-social behaviour is one of the biggest problems facing most people in Britain today. The difference between crime and fear of crime is that the latter is most insidious in disadvantaged communities. The new project from Fablevision aims to bring together the perceived 'victims' of anti social behaviour with the 'perpetrators', in order to develop empathy and respect for each others point of view.

 
Development

Over the last twenty-one years Fablevision has worked with local authorities, the police, health boards and many more partners to try to find positive ways of tackling this kind of behaviour in our communities. Our education department has spent ten years developing interactive performances that engage young people with these issues and help them make informed choices about the challenges that they may face in life.

 
The Project

The beginning of the project will involve the creative team from Fablevision shadowing community wardens in areas where anti-social behaviour is widespread. The creative team will visit different areas and make a short film from the street interventions. The team will talk to the kind of people engaging in ASB as well as children, older people, shop keepers, local authority and voluntary organisation workers and other residents or stakeholders in the area. The aim is to target and engage some of the most disengaged young people in Scotland's communities.

Point of Reflection

An intergenerational dialogue between different members and factions within the community will be encouraged and developed with each stakeholder having the opportunity to tell their story and have that story feature in the film. The main aim here is to hear the voices from each faction and to discover the points of common ground as well as the divisions and barriers young people and others engaging in ASB face. Each film will be specific to each neighbourhood, featuring familiar local faces. The participants will learn how to use some of the highest quality film and video equipment in the business during the project.

Event

This film will then be shown in each community outdoors at night - projected onto a popular hang-out building or lane. The contributors and the local community will be invited to attend the showing. During the process the strategic development officer will work with housing associations, the local authority, community safety partnerships, community councils, police and social work services. These organisations will be asked to follow the process and share findings at a seminar in each community led by Fablevision. An external evaluator will follow the process on behalf of Fablevision and provide a full report on all findings.

One aspiration discussed with Glasgow Housing Association is that the focus on the “hang out” spaces during the project could be the catalyst for public space development in a similar way to the internationally acclaimed partnership with the Royston Road Project.

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