Talking Place
Welcome to Talking Place
The podcast bringing placemakers and storytellers together to talk about place.
The Talking Place podcast is your go-to podcast for exploring the power of storytelling in shaping narratives and identities for neighbourhoods, towns, cities, and nations.
Join your host, Concept Culture’s Creative Director Tanisha Raffiuddin as she talks with experts across the built environment, sharing their knowledge and stories on placemaking, branding, sustainability, language, finance, health, culture, and more.
Whether you are an urban designer, architect, planner, developer, investor, marketeer, or simply curious about places and stories, this podcast is for you.
Listen to our latest episodes of Talking Place and join the conversation on social media!
Follow us on:
Instagram: @talkingplacepodcast
X: @tppodcast_
LinkedIn: Talking Place Podcast
Bluesky @talkingplace
TikTok: @talkingplacepodcast
Host: Tanisha Raffiuddin
Production: Concept Culture
Talking Place
015 - Place Literacy - unlocking the value of a shared language to empower people and places with Devorah Block
In this episode of Talking Place, host Tanisha Raffiuddin is joined by Devorah Block, founder of the Place Literacy Project, to explore why ‘place’ sits at the nexusof today’s polycrisis,and how a shared language could unlock collaboration across the built environment, policy and the general public.
Together, they unpack what ‘place literacy’ means, teh need for agreed definitions, why conversations across the built environment sectors often fail owing to a lack of a shared language, and how promoting incredible work already being done could help us create more inclusive, resilient, and democratic places.
From Devorah’s journey from art history and museums into strategic consulting for the Built Environment Trust, to her vision for a place literacy framework and lexicon that bridges silos, this conversation challenges how we think about place, placemaking, and our own role in shaping the spaces we inhabit.
Discover:
- What “place literacy” is - and why it matters for everyone, not just practitioners and policy makers
- How siloed language and vertical barriers are holding back progress in the built environment
- The role of shared language in connecting climate, equity, migration, and other intertwined crises
- Why definitions of ‘good’ places are never universal - and how they can change over time
- The lessons from projects like Civic Square in Birmingham that give true democratic agency to communities
- How the Place Literacy Project’s workshops are helping everyone from schoolchildren to policymakers engage with the complexity of place
Whether you’re an architect, planner, policymaker, developer, or community organiser, this episode will expand how you think about collaboration, language, and the future of our shared natural and built environments.
Join us as we ‘talk place’.
🔗 Links & Mentions:
Learn more about the Place Literacy Project:
Website: https://placeliteracy.org
Devorah Block:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/devorah-block
To learn more about Tanisha – visit here:
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/tanishaa
Website: www.conceptculture.co
Twitter: @tanisha.rr
Instagram: @tanisha.rr
To learn more about Talking Place – visit here:
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/talking-place-podcast
Website: https://www.conceptculture.co/talking-place-podcast
Instagram: @talkingplacepodcast
X (Twitter): @tppodcast_
Bluesky: @talkingplace
TikTok: @talkingplacepodcast
To learn more about Concept Culture – visit here:
Sign up for the Talking Place newsletter here:https://mailchi.mp/conceptculture/newslettersignup
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/concept-culture-uk
Website: www.conceptculture.co
Twitter: @_conceptculture
Instagram: @_conceptculture