Events

ACTionism Spotlight: Emma Bearman - Playful Anywhere

ACTionism

14 Jul 2025 — 1 min read

We were delighted to host this inspiring spotlight call with Emma Bearman, founder of Playful Anywhere, a Leeds-based Community Interest Company that works with communities to transform their relationship with place and space.

Emma described play as a "Trojan horse" - a powerful tool that opens up deeper conversations about how communities connect with their environments. Through her work, she demonstrated how playful interventions can unlock new possibilities for community engagement and place-making.

In this spotlight call, we explored:

Emma's journey setting up Playful Anywhere as a CIC
How play becomes a catalyst for meaningful community conversations
Practical, play-based approaches you can try in your own places and spaces
The transformative potential of playful community engagement

Whether you were curious about creative approaches to local engagement, working in community development, or passionate about place-making, this session provided both inspiration and practical tools to take away.

Participants left thinking differently about how we connect with our communities and spaces - and perhaps discovered the playful ACTionist within!

Watch the full call here:

We will be writing up an inspiration guide with Emma, with lots of ideas about play as a way to connect with you community. If you have ideas and would like to contribute, please email us

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