Why local? Why social? Why networks?
Local
Most of what I know about using technology to connect people has been figured out with residents and community organisations, by spending time together in their own homes and neighbourhoods. I think it’s only by working on small, focussed neighbourhood projects that we can really understand how digital tools and other technologies can have relevance for people in their everyday lives. This is why the simple text message that lands in your pocket, the chalk writing on the boarded up window of an old mill and the hand painted banner strung across your neighbour’s front garden have a power and immediacy that the most sophisticated digital tools just can’t match. Just being there (or just being here) matters. One of the many things that people do better than organisations is to stand in the queue at the corner shop. To listen. Communities are not abstractions. We need to understand how technology fits in, not how it stands apart. Andrew Wilson says that the most interesting and valuable digital projects happen “where technology almost touches the ground”.
Social
I live in a place where there’s lots of community activity. I didn’t always feel such a part of it. Yet making contact with a few people in my area who have similar interests and concerns has somehow led to me co-ordinating a thriving local food community, being a heritage campaigner, running a local funding panel and being involved in (and creating connections between) many local groups. Some of this activity is recorded, evaluated and celebrated, but I reflect a lot on the huge and often hidden impact of people getting to know each other and quietly helping each other, week in, week out.
When we talk about ‘not being fair weather gardeners’, we don’t just mean that we carry on digging the allotment when it’s raining, we also mean that we support each other, even when it’s not easy (especially when it’s not easy). I’ve come to understand that we’re not just growing fruit and vegetables, we’re growing a resilient community – our relationships with each other are our greatest asset. Robert Putnam says that participating in community groups and activities has a huge impact on our health and wellbeing: “Joining and participating in one group cuts in half your odds of dying next year.” (now read that again)
Networks
As part of Huddersfield’s first timebanking project, I’ve seen how the principles of co-production can help us to value each individual and create new opportunities for people to support each other. These values have helped us to progress from knowing the names of other local organisations to knowing the names, skills and interests of people within those groups. There’s a big difference. It’s these personal connections that start to enable people to support each other. Most people don’t like asking for help, but acknowledging our interdependence is a means of valuing individuals and strengthening communities. One person in need of support is also one opportunity for someone to do something to help, and to feel useful and valued. The act of asking for help becomes not a show of vulnerability, but fuel for a more resilient community.
I believe in the value of always listening to the quietest person in the room. That person might be me (or you). It isn’t that we don’t have anything to say or contribute, it’s that somebody else isn’t leaving a space in which others can speak. Networks are about listening. When you listen to and begin to understand the other participants in any network, it creates lots of possibilities. I’ve learnt a lot by listening to people who live and work here and by making connections further afield. Everyone should.
What might be possible if our council embraces the principles of co-production and understands where we fit in as part of local social networks? What new things might we learn by being in spaces where others have the confidence to speak? And how can digital technologies help us to create and strengthen local social networks? Edgar Cahn says: “One cannot create trust without memory – about who did what when. Computers provide a new kind of neighbourhood memory.”
Maybe some of those social tools that many people are suspicious of could actually help us to trust each other, in the same way that I’ve seen timebanking become a tool for building trust in my community.
Connected Communities is an action research programme from the RSA that explores ‘social network’ approaches to social and economic challenges and opportunities. This has included looking at the connections that make up people’s day-to-day lives, working out ways of mapping these connections across communities and thinking about how we can build more connected communities.
Local social networks 