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Among our community of members we have been holding interesting encounters, meaningful conversations and learning experiences that connect academia, mental health professionals, civil society associations and diverse communities from around the world.
9th Community Psychology Festival
In October 2025, Norwich, UK, hosted the 9th Community Psychology Festival, an annual event founded in 2014 by the British Psychological Society Community Psychology Section as an accessible and engaging alternative to an academic conference. As it moves around the country the Festival brings together psychologists, artists, collectives, activists, community organisations, academics and students together to showcase and celebrate community psychology practice and practitioners. This year we were delighted to be an international Festival, with Festival-goers coming from Spain, Norway, Germany, France, and South Africa, to name a few! This Festival acts, I think, as a canvas Festival-goers can paint together as we wish. The Festival experience is one of erasing the lines around the boxes that keep us restricted. Instead we can inhabit a space where we can connect with each other authentically and spontaneously, guided by conscience, compassion and creativity. At the Festival we are all valued, unique human beings who can be part of a community where our connectedness means radical imagination is possible and there is infinite potential.
Festival-goer Izzy beautifully captures what we hoped the Festival would be. She writes, “This year, I was fortunate to travel to Norwich to attend the annual BPS Community Psychology Festival - having also attended last year’s event in Newport, which left me feeling deeply inspired. As a third-year trainee Clinical Psychologist with a growing interest in community psychology approaches, I often find myself in our community psychology teaching sessions (of which we are lucky to have so many here at Plymouth) wondering: how do I actually do this work? The NHS Long Term Plan calls for us to move beyond the clinic and serve our communities more effectively, making the question of how increasingly vital.
The festival offers an opportunity to learn from those already embedding community psychology principles into their practice and working in harmony alongside community members. Speakers shared not only what they are doing but also how they got there - and how we might adapt our own practice to follow similar paths. This year’s festival went above and beyond expectations. The theme, “Untold Stories: Tales of Community Strength,” came alive through a vibrant tapestry of artwork and live creative projects that greeted visitors as soon as they entered the space.
The speakers shared stories of projects that, despite the numerous challenges posed by austerity and cuts, had collaborated with communities to create innovative - and often remarkably simple - ways of connecting, addressing local issues, and improving wellbeing. From problem-solving booths uplifting community strengths in Brent, to social mapping initiatives empowering residents to shape services, to Muslim women finding belonging through boxing and the food justice movements transforming access to nutrition, the festival brimmed with stories of hope and possibility.
This was such a refreshing contrast to the often deficit-focused narratives we encounter in discussions about “vulnerable” communities and the social determinants of ill health. We spend so much time analysing what’s wrong, yet so little exploring what can be done differently. That’s why I was particularly heartened to see talks focusing on embedding community psychology ethos and practice within training programmes - an essential step if we are to shift mindsets and systems in meaningful and sustainable ways.
What I loved most about this festival was the way it embodied community psychology in action. Members of the public were free to wander in, engage with creative projects, and contribute to the atmosphere of shared learning. It wasn’t a conference sealed off in sterile, over-air-conditioned rooms. It was a celebration - of people, ideas, creativity, and resilience, beautifully closed with the voices of Not Your Average Choir. A festival of brilliant folks doing brilliant things together, in spite of the barriers and challenges of our sociopolitical landscape.”
October 2026 sees the Festival make its way to Plymouth, with South West England being a long standing vibrant hub for community psychology activity. To hear more about this year’s Festival and get the latest updates about next year’s Festival follow us on Facebook and Instagram (@compsychfest).
Written by: Dr Meltem Osman - Clinical and Community Psychologist, Chair of the British Psychological Society’s Community Psychology Section and Isobel Bros - Trainee Clinical Psychologist
Care and Liberation 100 Years after Fanon: A Series of Conversations on Mental Health, Resistance and Decolonisation
Between 3 and 8 of November, the University of Bologna organized a series of international seminars dedicated to the 100 years of Frantz Fanon. The discussions illustrated the connections between mental health, colonial oppression, and liberation practices and included a seminar titled "Care and Liberation 100 Years after Fanon: Mental Health, Resistance, and Colonial Oppression in the Time of Genocide". In a global context marked by militarization, coloniality, and border violence, these seminars attempted to created bridges between academia, mental health professionals, and organizations committed to solidarity with migrants.
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