Scene & Heard Joins the Melting Metropolis Initiative with Storyteller in Residence
We are thrilled to announce that Scene & Heard is a community partner in Melting Metropolis, a Wellcome-funded international project exploring the everyday histories of urban heat and health in cities including London, New York and Port of Spain.
As part of this exciting collaboration, we have welcomed local storyteller Adam Njenga as our Storyteller in Residence. Over 18 months, Adam will work with our Member Playwrights, volunteers and the wider Somers Town community to gather and share powerful stories about living in the city and how heat affects our lives, health and environment.
Telling Heat Stories with Children and Young People
In Somers Town, Adam will be working with the children and young people who take part in Scene & Heard’s programmes, helping them explore their experiences and ideas about heat, weather and city life. Through workshops and storytelling sessions, the young people will help shape and share stories inspired by their own lives, neighbourhood and imaginations. These stories will become part of the wider “Heat Stories” project. They will help everyone understand what it feels like to grow up in a city that is getting hotter and why these voices matter.
About Melting Metropolis
Led by researchers at the University of Liverpool, Melting Metropolis brings together historians, scientists and communities to better understand how people live with urban heat. Supported by the Wellcome Trust, the project includes academic research, community engagement and creative storytelling from major cities.
The “Heat Stories” strand partners with local organisations including arts, heritage and wellbeing groups to co-create and share personal and collective stories of heat and health. In London, we are proud to be working alongside other local partners such as the Somers Town Community Association and A Space for Us.
To learn more about the Melting Metropolis project, visit meltingmetropolis.com.
We look forward to sharing local voices, stories and more as this journey of creativity and climate awareness unfolds.