Processes

Teams, networks, and communities define how we think about the groups within the system of community building. But an entity is what it does. Community building, as we are presenting it here, cannot be reduced to one or two activities. Moving the system toward a state of health and vibrancy requires a wide variety of processes, tools, and resources. This is an overview of the major activities to nurture that goal.

  • Build relationships. Build, strengthen, and expand relationships between all members of the team, network, and community – within a particular issue/system (education, economic development, etc.)
  • Map the relevant system. Build a working picture of each issue/system, identifying the players, their functions, their capital holdings and assets, the relations to one another, etc. In other words, map the system to understand what’s there and how it functions.
  • Make all voices heard. Research, give voice to, and understand the range of community voices on any given issue.
  • Provide context to understand an issue. With the community and network, build contextual information pieces to define the problem, identify resource gaps and make the case for innovation. Make sure that the whole remains always in focus.
  • Gathering places. Permanent and temporary places, real and virtual, where members from any of the groups can meet and exchange for a variety of reasons.
  • Events and programming. Live opportunities to meet new people, hear and exchange ideas, discuss differences, and build consensus around an issue/system/innovation.
  • Inspirational stories. Timely narratives from the network and community which help more clearly define the range of voices present and inspire more forward movement.
  • Contextual information. Background, historical, cultural pieces that help all members better understand how the issue came to where it is today and how it relates to other issues/systems
  • Open network. The extend group of people beyond the teams with the greatest active focus on the issue/system.
  • Resources for doing more. Additional community resources – again real or virtual – that are needed to move forward on a particular issue.
  • Partnerships. To create an infrastructure of relationships and resources to get more things done.