“Taking back control”, they said. If that means being active citizens and active listeners, there may be hope.

Brexit has presented us with a series of new challenges and revived some old ones. While these are of continental magnitude, very practical ways forward at the very local level (that people can engage with organically) can be more effective than grand solutions that too often seem ‘out of touch’.

Neighbourhoods are not the only unit of political organisation, interest or identity. Indeed, some people simply use their address to sleep and receive bills, while others use their address as a base around which to have meaningful social interactions, create community and become active in their neighbourhood. This means that not everyone will engage with the concept of ‘neighbourhood’, but here are a few good reasons from the #BristolBrexit discussions to start doing so.

In the last decade, our neighbourhoods have been affected by the financial crisis (e.g. planned buildings haven’t been built), by our politicians and media blaming our society’s most vulnerable people, by the effects of national cuts, and now we brace ourselves for the local (Bristol City Council) cuts and the unknowns of Brexit.

Understandably, many residents do feel like helpless victims. So it was good to have, among others, the two wards least “satisfied with their neighbourhood” (in the 2015 Bristol quality of life survey) represented at the workshop. We heard residents of Barton Hill, Filwood and Hartcliffe share their experiences. The UK 2011 census describes the demographics of Filwood and Hartcliffe as ‘blue collar communities’ (white working class). In contrast, Barton Hill is a residential area that includes retail and industrial premises and boasts 77 nationalities.

Will the communities that currently feel ‘left behind’ by Westminster-plus-Brussels also be left behind by Westminster-minus-Brussels?

The day after the referendum there was much derision towards areas of the country currently receiving vast sums of money from the European Union that, having voted for Brexit, started panicking and wanting assurances that this money would continue to be received … from somewhere! Everyone receiving funding – whether from local or central government, corporate giving or even private philanthropy – is at risk of losing that income stream if the money isn’t available post-Brexit, irrespective of how well the need is documented and presented.

What about those who were already ‘left behind’ before the referendum?

But what about those who were already ‘left behind’ before the referendum? We heard about Hartcliffe, a housing estate of 11,000 people with no bank or launderette, and with a number of social issues. And Barton Hill’s seemingly fragmented communities that, we were told, cohabitate ‘well’ by tending to remain in safe groups and not interacting with each other. Tensions rise when fighting over limited resources (e.g. fighting in the launderette) as seemingly harmonious living is made worse when focusing on what people don’t have.

In Brexit Britain, there is a very real risk of Westminster being much less immune to lobbying by corporate interests than Brussels is. This is both positive and negative: positive change might be easier to implement, but so too will negative change. Depending on the specific details of the negotiations, Brexit has the power to change everything we thought we knew. But how confident are we that the needs of the communities that were already not thriving are being represented during these negotiations?

Interim solution: There needs to be active listening from decision makers at a local level

Actively including people living in neighbourhoods where the English language, literacy, and/or access to the internet are not guaranteed can be achieved. For example, the ‘Up Your Street’ initiative has helped people to have their say by asking people questions on their doorstep in a language they understand. Also, community organisations have held the Bristol strategy consultation as face-to-face discussions in their community spaces and then filled in the online form, so that the city council could receive feedback from residents who hadn’t responded using the more traditional lines of communication.

Interim solution: Local solutions for local problems, or empowerment rather than dependence

As Bristol fades out its neighbourhood partnerships at the same time as we transition out of the EU, we need to be skilling people up: equipping them to face the uncertainties of the future. In order for people to step up, a new depth of understanding is needed (e.g. about governance, about how funding works, or even how to interact in meetings) to be able to influence decisions, to be effective active citizens and to pioneer the local solutions we need.

How can communities who suffered from the post-referendum race-hate crimes respond?

Media coverage and the tone the debate was allowed to take – which previously would have been deemed not ‘politically correct’ – is an inescapable theme when discussing Brexit. This has created an atmosphere where open racism is no longer culturally taboo, and people wanting to believe that the referendum result means more than half the voters are racist feel justified in using abusive behaviour towards people who don’t look or sound like them.

In Filwood, there are few interactions on the Broadway and social spaces are closing down one by one.

We need more facts and information and fewer opinion pieces that disseminate prejudices – even those we want to believe – since these lead to distrust, segregation, hatred and ultimately, victims. The themes of the media and racism were well covered in the workshop, but sadly I need to mention them here as my neighbourhood was not free of post-referendum race-hate crime. My neighbourhood wasn’t the only one, as the stats from Bristol have shown a surge in this type of reported crime since the referendum. In a show of solidarity for the victims, a Peace Picnic was organised in Filwood Broadway on 31 July 2016.

While reconciliation and education are needed as remedies, one simple solution was discussed at length from the ‘neighbourhoods’ perspective:

Interim solution: inclusive shared spaces: ‘us’ and ‘the other’ interacting in neighbourhoods

The importance of shared spaces is that they allow us to fact-check some of the disinformation by putting us in contact with the people that the tabloids vilify. But with fewer and fewer shared social spaces to interact in, where are people going to meet people that are different from themselves, to learn from them?

We heard that in Barton Hill, a high rise residential area, streets are not social spaces, and community spaces are not actually shared: people seem to take turns to use the space rather than co-occupy the park or the launderette. In Filwood, there are few interactions on the Broadway and social spaces are closing down one by one. First one pub became a block of flats, then another pub became a Tesco; now 100+ houses are being built on the Filwood Park green space.

In a time when people are either behind their mobile phone or behind closed doors, and when Bristol’s housing market is reinforcing social segregation whether it is by class, generation or ethnic groups, shared spaces can still be created. For example, initiatives that engage families can also benefit the elderly.

Facing the future, together

The Brexit debate has brought out a lot of ugly things into the open that have changed the feel of our communities. Now that they are visible, it is time to engage our city as it really is: the examples above are from Bristol. While we could hope that a few individual residents might take on the challenge of actively making non-Bristolians (including non UK nationals) feel welcome in Bristol, such as by learning Polish, in terms of scalable action it would already be a challenge to get neighbours to interact more to generate community cohesion. Interaction is a risk many people avoid, it is often perceived as safer to keep oneself to oneself. The top ten interim solutions the ‘neighbourhoods’ discussion table would like to see us now prepare are:

That individuals:

That the city of Bristol:

That researchers: