Building a community
How do you create a strong, active network?
As much as possible the network should create a community with intent. Communication and knowledge capture and sharing are important to engaging with the outside world effectively, while appropriate tools should be used to allow and encourage effective information sharing internally.
As much as possible the network should create a community and sense of collective identity and belonging between participating cities. These relationships will outlive the network and spark more opportunities that we cannot imagine. The community can supercharge any other types of support that might be offered by programme activities as it allows people to take the lead and ask for what they need from one another directly. Making change and doing things in new ways in a city authority can be hard. Each city team includes people with deep technical expertise who can offer their counterparts support and guidance based on their previous experiences. There is also a strong sense of peer support for when progress is hard – a feeling of being ‘in it together’ through the turbulence of changing politics and external shocks like a pandemic.
Our approach and methods
- The culture of the network: Think about the culture of the network. The participants that signed up to the programme are likely changemakers within their respective governments, with a stronger innovation mindset. The network should be a place to encourage and feel this common sense of identity.
- Shared principles: Develop together with all participants shared principles at the start of the network. ASToN’s philosophy and shared principles were:
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- Transnational exchange based on mutuality
- Learning by doing, being prepared to try new things we have never done before
- Highly collaborative and participatory, including local stakeholders from across all sectors and truly listening to them
- Openness and experimental mindset: the curiosity and willingness to ‘get out, and go-see’ and the honesty to say when things aren’t working
- Building relationships, investing the time to get to know each other
- Connect people around areas of expertise: Think about areas of deep technical expertise, how can you link up people with similar roles and remits across the network.
- (In-person) network events: Invest in in-person events/ network events, these are moments when everyone in the network comes together, meeting in person and connecting on an individual level, learning together and eating together.
- A digital space for collaboration: Create a digital place where participants from cities across the different participating countries can connect with each other with the support of digital tools. We used Basecamp to share information and WhatsApp for general discussion (more details below).
- Multilingual communication: Where possible, think about communicating in 2+ languages. Use technology to reduce the barriers to community building that language barriers can create eg. use the in-zoom translation function, in person translators, etc.
