Collecting Dreams in Farsta
On the 14th of February we organised a dream market in the suburb of Farsta (South of Stockholm). In the local shopping centre we set up a small market place where people could “buy” a heart shaped chocolate cookie with a special kind of currency – their dreams. In less than three hours we managed to talk to around 150 people and collected 120 dreams of the people in Farsta. And what is it the people in Farsta dream about? All kinds of things, from new jobs, travelling, starting their own business, doing something for a charity, thanking the people around them for their support during hard times. The diversity in all these dreams was unbelievable, but also very inspiring. Dreams lie so close to the heart, that it seemed impossible not to be touched by this experience.
Vi är Farsta
The dream market was part of our ongoing project Vi är Farsta, an initiative that gathers and shows all the great things that are happening in this particular suburb. We are currently working with a special programe for young entrepreneurs, supporting them to start their own business. Focusing on the dreams of these young people is inspiring to us and we hosted the dream market to find more people that are trying to follow their dreams.
The outcome of the dream market was great, as you can see in the slideshow below. We gathered one hundred and twenty dreams from people with all kinds of background and age. This really showed us how diverse the community in Farsta is.
The concept
The dream market concept was developed during the ACSI social innovation camp that took place in Malmö last year. Based on the challenge “How do we best stimulate people’s ability to take initiative and create development?”, a multi-disciplinary team came up with the idea of hosting dream markets. The concept is based on the idea of creating a temporary place where people are invited to dream, think about their aspirations, inspire themselves and the others around them. Based on their dreams, the facilitators of the dream market can make connections between people that have similar or matching interests. By doing this you can create a ecosphere in which people dream, meet, connect and take initiative. A first successful test took place last October in Farsta, which was repeated this year to spread the idea of dreaming even more.
Why talk about dreams?
The one thing we all have, no matter where we are from or what we do, are our dreams. Dreams often motivate us and make us think about life in a more creative way. This is why we at Impact Hub always talk about our dreams to inspire each other. Often our businesses are based on dreams and hearing about this can motivate each other to pursue what we really want to do in life. All dreams are accepted as a valid currency in the dream market
Do you want to organise a dream market yourself?
Please do not hesitate to contact us. We are more than happy to share our experiences and the material we have gathered so far. In our experience it does not take much money or time to set up. The reward however, spreading happiness and inspiration, will compensate your investment beyond your imagination!
