Open Futures – Discover Together
The Open Futures Network is service user and community led, bringing together local groups and local services, artists, activists, health care professionals and academics within collaborative and dynamic partnerships for well-being.
It is the tenth integrated research group in the new Centre for Social Futures at the Institute of Mental Health in Nottingham. As such, Open Futures creates a precedent in being driven from within by the voices of lived experience.
The Open Futures Network promotes mental health, resilience and well-being by expanding Open Dialogue approaches in the field of mental health to embrace communities and wider society. The Open Futures vision offers huge potential for improvements in service development and delivery and for more humane and compassionate relationships in society at large. Through modelling and building on the principles of Open Dialogue, the Open Futures Network aims to:
- embrace chaordic energy
- orchestrate polyphony.
- celebrate differences
- explore boundaries.
- liberate dialogue.
- discover stories
- re-frame power.
- enjoy playfulness
- cultivate kindness
- hold uncertainty.
- create agonistic spaces
- navigate divergence and dissent as activism
The network leads are Caroline Fox and Julie Gosling, who are working with clinical lead Steven Coles. Open Futures remains open to new members and partnerships with a strong commitment to include the least well heard voices as active informants and collaborators.
Open Futures commits to the aims and activities of the Institute of Mental Health in the confidence that by honouring narratives of lived experience, we will discover together a liberating vision of wellbeing and the proactive spaces that enable it.
contact:
Julie Gosling – juliegoslingopenfutures@yahoo.com
Caroline Fox – carolineopenfutures@yahoo.com
Steven Coles – steven.coles@nottshc.nhs.uk
openfuturesvision 
Do you have meetings and a newsletter (if so can I join and how) or is it just blogging. I am not sneering at blogging it’s just that I prefer to do my communications on a more person to person basis.
Hey Michael,
Thanks for getting in touch and yes,we agree, it would be lovely to do all of this face-to-face. With that in mind, we do hope you can make the launch of MAD16 Oct 6th IMH 9:30-4:00 and meet us in person 🙂
We are consulting with communities at present to find the best way of involving people in OPEN FUTURES and there are likely to be events, work groups and meetings starting up over the next year.
A news sheet would be good. Are you volunteering??
In addition we love meeting people in our office base at Making Waves, 70 Carlton Road, Nottingham NG3 2AP. Email us to arrange time for a chat. On the other hand we also enjoy meeting people in different community spaces..
What works best for you Michael?
Keep talking to us!
Kind regards
Julie and Caroline.