On 25 May 2004 the following people participated in a one-day charrette focusing on visionary social and environmental proposals for activities in the greenbelt, at Barnard’s Farm in West Horndon, Thurrock.

Nathalie de Vries is an architect and founding partner of mvrdv, based in Rotterdam, NL. The practice specialises in the fields of architecture, urbanism and landscape design. Particularly concerned with the concept of density, the products of mvrdv’s approach range from buildings of all types and sizes, to urban designs, to publications and installations. Realised projects include the Dutch Pavilion for the World EXPO 2000 in Hanover, the Silodam Housing complex in Amsterdam, the Matsudai Cultural Village Centre in Japan and two houses at Borneo Sporenburg in Amsterdam. Nathalie regularly gives lectures and workshops at schools and institutions around the world. She has also been a guest teacher at the Berlage Institute, the Academy of Architecture in Arnhem and the Faculty of Architecture of the Technical University of Delft. Nathalie is a member of the board of the Netherlands Architecture Fund and Guest Professor at the Technical University of Berlin.

Nils Norman is a London based artist whose work explores alternative urban economic systems. Informed by urban politics and the traditions and histories of utopian thinking, Nils’ work presents a series of imaginative proposals for improving urban living conditions through community-based initiatives. Recent exhibitions and projects include Hamburg Mapping at the Hamburg Kunstverein (2003), Geocruiser at the University of Cambridge Botanic Garden and the The Institute of Visual Culture, Cambridge (2001) and Dismal Garden at the American Fine Arts Co. Ltd, New York (2001). He designed the education suite at Camden Arts Centre, London (2004), and he is working as a consultant for the City of Roskilde, Denmark to design a wetland, lake and bridge (since 2003). Publications include An Architecture of Play: A Survey of London’s Adventure Playgrounds (2004) and The Contemporary Picturesque published by Bookworks (2000). Nils has curated a number of exhibitions and has been Visiting Professor at many institutions across Europe and the USA. He is currently Visiting Guest Professor at CCC, Geneva.

Nerys Jones is an applied biologist and landscape architect. She is currently Chief Executive of the National Urban Forestry Unit, an independent charity which champions the contribution which urban trees and woods make to improving the quality of life. Nerys has extensive experience of cross-sectoral partnership approaches to urban greenspace planning and has recently spent a year advising the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister on its greenspace strategy for the Thames Gateway. She has particular expertise in the naturalistic and cost-effective establishment of greenspace and regularly travels internationally to promote the benefits of a holistic approach to its design and management.

Martina Reuter is an artist and lead member of activist art co-operative WochenKlausur, based in Vienna. On invitation from various art institutions, WochenKlausur has been developing concrete proposals to effect small improvements to ‘socio-political deficiencies’ since 1993. WochenKlausur has delivered 18 international projects in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Japan, Sweden and Macedonia. Martina was a founding member of Kunststoff, an association of artists working in projects concerning landscape research and education in Vienna. She was also founding member of RechercheBüro in Berlin from 2000 –2003, a research office for cultural institutions in Berlin.

SIMPARCH is an artists' collective that produces works operating on the borders of architecture, design, and popular culture. Creating large-scale works that take into account the specificities and histories of a given site, SIMPARCH highlights how popular iconographies and artistic languages and concerns intersect. Uniting all of SIMPARCH’s projects is an overarching concern for the work's social potential. Ultimately acting as sites for communal interaction and social exchange, these structures infuse the languages of art and architecture with a desire to connect a diverse range of participants. Chris Vorhees, who has worked with SIMPARCH since 1999, also works individually in sculpture and design. Chris is developing the SIMPARCH website (www.simparch.org). In 1998-9, Chris co-authored (along with SIMPARCH and the Sandbox artist collective) The Object D'Art project (www.objectdart.org). This website presents the Object D'Art Project and Chris's individual pursuits.

Paul Grover (Facilitator) trained as an architect and is now Director of The Glass-House, a national design service for tenants and residents. With a focus on housing it includes training courses, a small grants programme, advisory service and demonstration projects and was launched in June 2002. Paul has experience of teaching post-graduate architecture courses and in 1997 he joined the Architecture Foundation to manage the Roadshow (1998-2000), an initiative that used creative techniques to involve local people in the design of public-space projects in three London boroughs. Other projects developed by Paul at the AF include developing the brief for Accommodating Change, a competition for innovative housing in partnership with Circle 33 Housing Group. The brief encouraged architects to explore ideas for a site in Bow, east London, with particular emphasis on high density, socially sustainable housing solutions for the inner-city. Since 2003 Paul has also become an Advisor for the Neighbourhood Renewal Unit of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. This sees him in the role of an ‘enabler’, helping non-professional people understand the complexities of the design and construction industry and thereby helping them to make more informed decisions about the regeneration projects with which they might be involved.