Last week at Hazel Hill Wood we ran a ‘dream walk’ with staff and trustees. The aim was to tune into our long-term hopes and aspirations for the site, as we continue the responsibility of creating a thriving place for care and learning.
Hopes and dreams are part of what a place is trying to do. They arise from our relationships with place and help steer the flow of change.
We began with Zuma Puma’s Box-Clearing warm-up (a technique I learnt from one of my clown teachers —more on that in another post), then set out into the woods. The rules were simple:
- Walk to a place in the wood.
- Walk with your gaze slightly raised to invite in fun and curiosity (another technique from another clown teacher, Robyn Hambrook)
- Share what you’ve always hoped for this place.
- Imagine how it could be, how it might change.
- Speak until you’re done.
- The next person picks up — not to challenge, but to add their own dreams.
We captured dreams in audio and notes, later mapped across the site.
What I learnt from facilitating the process
- The temptation to say why not is strong — the delivery mindset of Horizon One is never far away. With reminders, we shifted into a more open Horizon Three frame.
- Some dreams resonated and compounded — one voice building on the next until a vision took shape.
- Some spots felt dream-silent, as if they were low-energy places. Others flowed with possibility, hinting at where change energy gathers. This was a real ah-ha moment for me.
This dream walk supported three things at once: observation in Continuous Place-Based Design, imagining Horizon Three in the Three Horizons model, and adding inputs to our Kalideascope.
You could consider carrying out a dream walk where you are: walk, notice, and speak your dreams of place aloud. You might be surprised by what takes shape.