Care is a political, emotional, and structural commitment. It refers not only to individual acts of support, but to a broader culture that values interdependence, ethical relations, and responsibility within communities. Care here is understood as reciprocal, systemic, and deeply tied to social justice.

A term coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw, intersectionality recognises how overlapping systems of oppression, such as racism, ableism, classism, and sexism, shape individual and collective experiences. In this Toolkit, intersectionality informs how we approach access, representation, and structural inequalities, ensuring that practices aim to remain responsive to the realities of marginalised and historically excluded groups.

The process of bringing together different parts of life — such as caregiving and artistic practice, rather than compartmentalising or fragmenting them. Integration also speaks to how ideas, identities, and methods can co-exist and inform one another, enabling more holistic approaches to work and living.

Not interpreted through a capitalist lens of expansion or productivity, but as personal and collective
transformation. Growth includes rest, redefinition, and learning from failure. It is slow, cyclical, and
nonlinear, allowing for reflection, reorientation, and depth.

A model that recognises care as embedded within all aspects of community and cultural work. Rather than being an add-on, integrated care informs organisational structures, spatial design, timekeeping, and funding strategies. It centres the needs of parents, carers, and children without marginalising them from the main activity.

Used inclusively to refer to people who mother or perform caregiving roles. This includes birthing mothers, adoptive parents, non-binary and trans parents, and those whose caregiving does not align with normative gender roles. We are mindful of how the term “mother” carries social and political weight, and seek to use it both critically and expansively, alternating with terms like “parent,” “carer,” and “birthing people” to reflect lived diversity while recognising ongoing gendered inequalities.

In our context, pedagogy refers to a relational and collaborative approach to learning that centres care, lived experience, and creativity. It encourages mutual exchange across generations, where both adults and children learn from each other. Inspired by child-led, exploratory models, it values curiosity, autonomy, and co-creation. 

Sustainability here includes emotional, relational, and financial dimensions. It acknowledges the unpaid labour and burnout common in feminist and grassroots organising, and the difficulty in accessing core funding. This principle calls for moving beyond hierarchical models towards collective, care-based approaches that value rest, shared labour, and long-term support. Inspired by thinkers such as Tricia Hersey and the SLOW movement, sustainability also looks into creating conditions where people and ideas can flourish over time without exploitation or depletion.

Socialised care refers to the redistribution of care and project responsibilities within a group or community, challenging conventional hierarchies and capitalist divisions of labour. It acknowledges that all forms of contribution—emotional, logistical, creative, administrative, or otherwise—carry value, regardless of their visibility or traditional status. Rather than assigning tasks based on fixed roles or perceived expertise, socialised care invites collaborative processes that honour lived experience, promote skill-sharing, and support mutual accountability. It is a tool for collective organising that resists burnout and builds cultures of care grounded in equity, reciprocity, and sustainability.

More than a static manual, the Toolkit is a living resource grounded in practice and reflection. It
collects methodologies, frameworks, and lived experiences to support cultural work rooted in care,
equity, and collaboration. It is meant to be adapted, questioned, and reshaped by those who use it,
while being rooted in shared core values and principles.

A flexible and evolving concept that extends beyond physical locations. Work space includes in-person studios, domestic environments, digital platforms, childcare areas, and activities like proposal writing, open call submissions and knowledge sharing. It acknowledges that creative and cultural labour often happens alongside—and in conversation with—care responsibilities. This term also encompasses the structures that support engagement: commissions, residencies, digital forums, and informal networks. By expanding the definition of work space, we honour the diverse conditions in which artists and organisers operate, and challenge dominant notions of productivity, presence, and value systems.