The socially produced spaces within which we live shape our actions and thoughts. As these spaces change, our thoughts and the ways in which we interact with the space change as well. This theme will explore how a community in a specific local area adapts to the economic, geographic and environmental changes, and how the community copes with these changes. Focus should be placed upon how a given community has developed over time and how such developments have enabled the transitions. Often, this development will be from a traditional to modern entity; however, a community may have cherished its traditional roots and has thus attempted to resist modernity.

Audio/visual stimuli, such as photographic evidence and video production, match naturally with this theme, as they will show how the community has resisted or welcomed change. Research would entail the examination of catalogued evidence in local libraries, museums and the Internet.  Learners should encounter archived information regarding their community and compare their findings to the present situation. Their findings should be compared to the developments of communities within the UK and China in order to fully understand the true nature of a changing community. Within their research, students should also be given the opportunity to visit senior members of the local community who have seen the most change. Through conversations and interviews with such community, the personal impact of change can be conveyed.

A natural action point for community outreach in the second phase should come through the identification of an area of the learners’ community that is in need of change. Learners should develop a plan that will bring about public awareness of the need for change in this area. Once this public awareness has been generated, learners should take steps toward the production of positive change in their target area. This process should be developed concurrently with schools in the UK/China, as similar public outlets/structures should be focused upon.