Author: Rachel Seoighe

On March 1st, co-creators and facilitators gathered in Margate for the second of three workshops to discuss sewage, public health concerns, and the impact of pollution on our everyday life. 

Through creative mapping exercises, participants mapped personal and collective experiences through often vivid examples of interactions with E. Coli and sewage spills. Public health, safety concerns and the impact the sewage crisis has on everyday lives and swimming habits were dominant themes as we mapped our stories onto the map of the coast. We also plotted the history of the sea  as a place of healing and Margate as a location of rehabilitation. This was juxtaposed with our current situation where worries about the sea as potentially unsafe due to sewage dominate. 

Our Flow.Walk.Drag. co-creators gathered on a cold Saturday afternoon at Margate’s People Dem Collective HQ. Sharing ginger tea and vegan buns, we dipped our toes into deep conversations about our relationships with the sea, the everydayness of sewage pollution, local ecologies and activist strategies. 

The workshop began with an introduction from the Flow.Walk.Drag team. They spoke about the purpose of the project, pointed co-creators towards the live ethics document and offered recent (shocking) data about sewage releases by Southern Water. They introduced E. coli – describing the microbe’s key characteristics, its impact on human bodies (positive and negative) and contributions to science and ecology and asked questions like ‘is E. coli misunderstood?’ 

The group took some time to imagine ourselves as microbes, playfully imagining what our microbial characteristics would be and the conditions we would need to thrive. One co-creator would be a mossy multi-tasker with multiple hands, thriving in the freshness of the lungs. Another would be a hot, sweaty, shy little microbe, always the last to leave the party. Others were characterised by their faith in collective action, inspired by mycelium and collective care. Rest, recharging and hibernation were important for some, and some would be catalysts for action. Life spans ranged from 2-3 weeks (short and sweet) to forever. One microbe was actually ‘the oldest.’