BIRMINGHAM 2022 COMMONWEALTH GAMES SEEKS COMMON GROUND WITH THE WEST MIDLANDS

INNOVATIVE COMMUNITY RESEARCH PROJECT LAUNCH

As part of its three years to go celebrations, the team behind Birmingham 2022 is dialling up the countdown to the Commonwealth Games by rolling out an art-led community research project that aims to connect communities across the West Midlands. 

Birmingham 2022 is staging an innovative research project called Common Ground, which will visit nine locations across the region throughout June and July, inviting people to have a conversation about the Games and to explore how Birmingham 2022 can benefit their community and create a legacy in the region. 

Featuring local artist illustrators Room 0121 and Void One who will be joined by a team of researchers, Common Ground hopes to engage local people to explore how they feel the Games can bring people together and provide a catalyst for change to benefit them and others living in their local area. The findings will be used by the artists to create a visual interpretation of the conversations, as they happen, at each location.  

Common Ground will conclude with an exciting Birmingham 2022 milestone, an event called Commonwealth Social taking in Birmingham city centre on Saturday 27 July. The Commonwealth Social will mark the momentous milestone of three years to go until the Opening Ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in 2022 by uniting the people of the city and the region, who are pivotal in helping to shape Birmingham’s inaugural Games. The Commonwealth Social will also reveal the new Birmingham 2022 brand identity, which has been co-created with local communities across the West Midlands to truly reflect the region. 

Common Ground will take place in the following locations on the dates below:

Saturday 22 June Cannock Cannock Shopping Centre 

Saturday 6 July Coventry Broadgate

Sunday 7 July Wolverhampton Wolverhampton Food & Drink Festival

Friday 12 July Stourbridge Ryemarket Shopping Centre

Saturday 13 July West Brom Sandwell Arts Café, New Square

Sunday 14 July Sutton Coldfield Community Games, Wyndley Leisure Centre

Wednesday 17 July Solihull Touchwood Shopping Centre

Saturday 20 July Walsall Saddlers Shopping Centre

Saturday 27 July Birmingham City Centre – Centenary Square

Josie Stevens, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer for Birmingham 2022, said: “We’re putting local people at the heart of the Games and celebrating what makes the region special. For us to do this effectively it’s important that we hear from local communities and give them a voice to share their ideas, which in turn will help shape our approach. We want to create a Commonwealth Games that unites the region, benefits local people and marks the occasion in a way that only Birmingham can.”   

The Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that will bring athletes, officials, spectators and local people together in a unique celebration of sport, culture and business, creating growth and positive change in Birmingham and wider the West Midlands.