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The Importance of Social Networks to Empower Communities

Connected Communities, represents an interesting new piece of research from the RSA on how social networks power and sustain the Big Society. It believes Social Capital is the currency of the Big Society, and social networks hold the reserves of that currency. The report explains:

Traditional approaches to community regeneration which define communities in solely geographic terms have severe limitations. They often failed to deliver on key social capital improvements such as improving trust between residents or fostering a greater sense of belonging.

The RSA's Thomas Neumark sums up the main idea of the report as:

Social network analysis offers a powerful approach to community regeneration.

The report argues for a new approach to community regeneration, based on an understanding of the importance of social networks. This approach has the potential to bring about significant improvements in efforts to combat isolation and to empower communities.

Connected Communities - How social networks power and sustain the Big Society

Some Key Points in the report include:

  • Traditional approaches to community regeneration (defining communities in solely geographic terms) have failed to deliver on key social capital improvements such as improving trust between residents or fostering a greater sense of belonging.
  • Efforts to build the ‘Big Society’ , such as training for community organisers or initiatives aimed at increasing the membership of community groups, should draw heavily on social network analysis. If they fail to do so they risk replicating existing inequalities within communities.
  • While we believe social networks offer a powerful tool that may well enable communities to solve problems and shape circumstances more effectively, no social network can provide a substitute for capital investment, or form the rationale for significantly withdrawing support and funding from areas where entrenched disadvantage is acute.

The RSA also has a few good reasons for why you should read their report.

For more on the report, check the Guardian's piece 'Big society' faciliatators are found within communities

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Stephen Goldsmith on the Power of Social Innovation

Interview with Stephen Goldsmith - Daniel Paul Professor of Government and the Director of the Innovations in American Government Program at Harvard Kennedy School - on the Power of Social Innovation.

Spotlight Webcast: Social Innovation with Stephen Goldsmith from Spotlight on Vimeo.

The interview above discusses Goldsmith's book The Power of Social Innovation. The book describtes itself as providing "tools for civic entrepreneurs to create healthier communities and promote innovative solutions to public and social problems." It does this through detailing case studies of civic leaders and entrepreneurs and the examining the role each plays in transforming a community’s social service delivery systems.

It features illustrative case studies of change-oriented philanthropists, public officials and civic leaders. The book features established organizations such as the New York City public schools, United Way of America, the United Negro College Fund, and Teach For America, and shows how each plays a role in transforming a community’s social service delivery systems.

Social Innovation and Public Service Delivery

For more on how Social Innovation is impacting the provision of Public Services, check Dominic Campbell's research on the Next Wave of Public Service Delivery.

The Now Wave to the Next Wave: public service delivery in a networked world

For more on the Power of Social Innovation follow @powerofsocinnov.

 

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Australia's Social Innovation Camp (geek + heart)

The first Australian Social Innovation Camp is scheduled for 5th -7th March 2010. Today is the last day to submit ideas to be developed during the weekend. To submit your idea goto http://asix.org.au/content/submitting-idea. 

Social innovation refers to new strategies, concepts, ideas and organizations that meet social needs of all kinds - from working conditions and education to community development and health - and that extend and strengthen civil society. The camp is an opportunity to concentrate on particular ideas and develop working prototypes.

Here's a brief description about how the camp works:

Collecting ideas

The Social Innovation Camp starts with a big, open call for ideas. Anyone can enter an idea for a web-based social innovation. You don't need to be technically skilled - you just need to know about a social need that you've either encountered in your personal or professional life where the web might be able to help.

From the ideas submitted, a panel of judges select between six and eight of the most promising to be developed at the Social Innovation Camp weekend. The public votes will also be taken into account when selecting the ideas coming to the camp.

Weekend event

Then the people behind the selected ideas, together with software developers and designers, those with business and marketing skills, as well as individuals with expert knowledge of social need are invited to the Social Innovation Camp weekend.

From a Friday evening to a Sunday afternoon, participants are asked to organise themselves into teams around the selected ideas and then set five challenges:

1) What’s the problem they're trying to solve?

2) Build the technology with which to do this

3) How will you sustain your idea?

4) How will you build a community of users?

5) What are you going to do after the Social Innovation Camp weekend

At the end of the two days, all participants come back together to pitch what they have built and the judges award a small prize to the projects which have shown greatest potential.

For more on the event, follow @AuSIX and check Asix.org.au.

 

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