Lucy-Mary and the Orchestra Principle

The word 'together' can evoke harmony or tension.

When people get together, you could get a party or a fight - and let's face it, maybe both at the same time! One reason is because it's hard to honor the uniqueness of individuals within a collective. Lucy-Mary Mulholland has managed to approach 'togetherness' in a way that helps her work at Aaiotanga Peace Place called the 'orchestra principle'. "(It's about) everyone finding their instrument or their role," Lucy-Mary says. 'What kind of impact can we have when we're all playing our unique roles…in a unified and aligned sort of way?" To get an orchestra playing well together takes heaps of listening and creating the right conditions for co-discovering, co-creating and "collective composing," Lucy-Mary says. "It takes a lot of skill to bring together all the different stakeholders of a place (and it be a) reconciling process." 

From her background in creativity, psychology and art therapy, Lucy-Mary has always had a holistic and connective approach to her endeavors. Even with Aaiotanga, situated on a historic part of Auckland, Lucy-Mary is wary of its rich past, present challenges, but mostly the potential of the space and its surrounding community. That's where regenerative development comes in, a practice that Lucy-Mary is deeply involved in. It is the process in looking at the uniqueness of a place and its inhabitants (human or not) and working towards its potential. This looks like "(lifting) up the wholeness of the place", says Lucy-Mary, from Aaiotanga's apartment dwelling neighbours on Emily Place, to the endangered bee colony down the road.

Lucy-Mary Mulholland from Aaiotanga Peace Place

The story of Emily Place and its rich history

Community event outside Aaiotanga Peace Place on Emily Place reserve

Aaiotanga Peace Place

What does regenerative development look like day to day at Aaiotanga? Lucy-Mary and her team recently put on a community get-together, and though it seemed like a small event, it was a big step for their community. "I'm excited for a new network that's growing (and) taking ownership for the evolutuon of our neighbourhood," says Lucy-Mary. "We're starting to build that collective voice, our orchestra and the distinct sound we are creating." 

Coming back to listening, SpacetoCo has been proud to be a part of this journey. "We're not just numbers to you guys," explains Lucy-Mary. "(You are) listening for the uniqueness of this place." Another gift that SpacetoCo gives is its connectedness with other community venues. As Lucy-Mary puts it, the company's "relational service" and "network of community spaces" helps Aaiotanga and other venues become "stronger through the sharing of ideas". 

“Our place is alive and whole. It has a voice.”  says Lucy-Mary, and she is just one of the amazing humans who help their communities be heard. But, she adds “we can’t do it on our own, it takes a collective listening. When we all hear that unique melody that’s trying to emerge in our place, we start to get excited about picking up an instrument and playing some small part in making that potential real.” That's why SpacetoCo exists - to build a supportive, inclusive and diverse society, full of unique communities working in beautiful harmony.

Our Why

Sustainability

We believe that there are plenty of spaces and it’s not always necessary to build more. By utilising existing assets more efficiently and by making it easier to book spaces online, we all play a part in a more sustainable future.

Local Economies

We believe in the importance of driving growth to local area economies. By providing a means for people to access local spaces, we hope to stimulate a buzz of activity within towns, precincts & localities . We believe that when local economies thrive, communities come to life.

Community Connection

We believe space activation plays an important role in community development and building connectedness between people.It is through this that we work towards building a supportive, inclusive and diverse society.