How can creative participatory democracy help communities and policymakers co-create better health, housing, and climate policy, for a more equitable and sustainable future for all?

Take part in an interactive introduction to the Legislative Theatre methodology, for practitioners, activists, and policymakers, and anyone seeking new ways to inject accessibility, creativity and joyfulness into decision-making and systems change. The hands-on workshop will be followed by an open dialogue between Legislative Theatre practitioners and LSE global health researchers, sharing outcomes from recent projects and investigating how Legislative Theatre could help communities collectively imagine and build a better, healthier future in the face of the climate crisis.

Meet our speakers and chair

Katy Rubin (@KatyRubinTO, @katyrubin.bsky.social) is a Legislative Theatre practitioner and strategist based in the UK, and director of The People Act hub for creative civic practice. She works in partnership with local and national governments, advocacy organizations, and community groups to co-create equitable and innovative public policy, through participatory processes that are joyful, creative, and inclusive. She is currently collaborating with cities around Europe, implementing policy-change projects on housing and homelessness, health and welfare, the climate crisis, and more. Katy is also a Senior Fellow with People Powered: Global Hub for Participatory Democracy, an Associate with Shared Future CIC, and a Senior Atlantic Fellow at LSE, as well as former executive director of Theatre of the Oppressed NYC. Her Legislative Theatre work with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority was awarded the International Observatory of Participatory Democracy’s 2022 award for Best Practice in Citizen Participation. 

Samra Said is Arts & Homelessness International's (AHI) Co-Director & Cultural Producer. She works with diverse stakeholders to co-create and bring positive change to people, projects and policy in homelessness through arts and creativity. Samra co-ordinated and co-designed several local government-based legislative theatre projects since 2020 to enable policy makers to democratise decision-making with people who are or have been homeless.

Miqdad Asaria is Assistant Professor in Department of Health Policy. Miqdad is a health economist with extensive experience in both academic and policy making settings. His research interests include health inequalities and the health impacts of climate change with a particular focus on the health systems in India and the UK. Miqdad also teaches graduate students on the interactions between socioeconomic inequalities, health and climate change making use of legislative theatre in his teaching. 

More about this event

This event is part of the LSE Festival: Visions for the Future running from Monday 16 to Saturday 21 June 2025, with a series of events exploring the threats and opportunities of the near and distant future, and what a better world could look like. Booking for all Festival events will open on Monday 19 May.  

The Global Health Initiative (@LSEGlobalHealth) is an interdepartmental research platform that applies LSE’s tradition of rigorous social science research to emerging global health challenges.

Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity (@AFSEE_LSE) is a fellowship programme for activists, policymakers, researchers, and practitioners who believe inequality can be defeated. We are building a catalytic values-led global community of people who are committed to using collective leadership to work towards social and economic justice for all.

The Department of Health Policy (@LSEHealthPolicy) trains and inspires people passionate about health by advancing and challenging their understanding of health systems and the social, economic and political contexts in which they operate.

Hashtag for this event: #LSEFestival