How to Start a Community
What is it that brings people together and allows them to thrive? There are common factors that bring people together and allow them to thrive: trust, sharing the same values, establishing rules of conduct, and prioritizing their wellbeing. But how do you start a community? Continue reading to learn more. You’ll be surprised at the variety of ways communities can form. Here are some tips.
Building trust
Researchers engage in community conversations to understand the dynamics and build relationships. This approach is often considered outside of formal research, but it is essential to understand community networks and the legacies of distrust. The research team has conversations with members of the community to help them describe trust in their terms. Understanding the processes of trust building allows them to better understand these networks and develop innovative solutions to complex issues.
Research on co-design shows that trust is a socially constructed concept that can be influenced and influenced by socio-material elements. This type of interaction also impacts organisational actions, and relationships. Barbalet (2009) defines trust to be the confidence in an individual’s judgement. This research shows that interpersonal relationships are important in fostering trust, as they are dependent on previous relationships, experiences, and individual judgement.
Develop a code for conduct
A code of conduct is vital. Codes can help communities protect their members and the entire community. Some codes explicitly mention values like kindness and respect, while others include them implicitly such as the Declaration of Helsinki. Incorporated values in codes are an important part of a community’s identity, and they can help make a community thrive.
Prioritizing members’ wellbeing
The regulatory enablement of wellbeing is necessary to support regenerative behavior and discourage irresponsible behavior. Incorporating a company can, for example, enshrine a well-being mindset, vision, goals. Incorporations should promote wellbeing and not just be profitable for shareholders. This approach would also help offset pressures caused by economic constraints.
Finance capital is another important enabler for well-being. However, it can be problematic for wellbeing approaches if the demands of capital investments make it unsustainable. Banks and investment companies should keep a portion of their capital aside for “patient capital”. This “patient capital” encourages long term performance and not just a quick payback period. The AMA maintains a COVID-19 resource library.