Social media platforms connect us with people around the world. But how do we start a conversation with our neighbours? Enter 18Blocks - a free, hyper-local, online network designed to help neighbours connect around common interests.
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I became aware of the power of networks in the 1990s while working in the field of community economic development (CED) overseas and in Canada. While the majority of the microenterprise programs were supporting individual entrepreneurs to establish their own businesses to generate additional income for their households, the pioneers at the Appalachia Center for Economic Networks were weaving together small and medium enterprises into mutually supporting economic networks. The difference in revenue, profits and economic activity was dramatic: networks really exemplified the old adage that the whole can be greater than the sum of its parts.
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This beautiful video, Neighbours Deepening Community, debuted last month at the 2015 Neighbours: Policies & Programs Gathering.
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Engaging unusual partners is integral to successful Collective Impact efforts. The fresh perspectives these partners bring offers an opportunity to gain a richer perspective of your community and the issue you are hoping to impact. And, their connections and endorsement of the work of a Collective Impact effort can be tremendously valuable in advancing your efforts more quickly.
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Developed and endorsed by a multi-sector rural health hub advisory committee, the Rural Health Hubs Framework for Ontario was finalized in January 2015. A central recommendation within the framework calls for the development and implementation of local Community Health Plans in rural communities in collaboration with local health and social service providers and community members.
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This is the second blog in a series I am writing about collaboration, collective impact and unusual partners. When communities are trying to work and shift more complex issues like poverty, homelessness, the environment, etc, they require the shared wisdom of a wide-variety of diverse partners. This means opening up the collective impact experience to both usual and unusual partners. The usual partners are those organizations and individuals that we feel most comfortable working with. If you work in the community sector, it is likely that your organization feels most comfortable with other community sector organizations, government partners and funders. But there are a wide variety of other partners and resources in many communities that can be pivotal to successful collaborative and collective impact efforts.
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