COMMUNITY
1 COMMUNICITY
2 COMMUNITY OF THESEUS
3 UNPOPULAR OPINION
N.B. We will read out all three thought experiments, so there is no need to read in advance.
1 COMMUNICITY
Your favourite podcast is interrupted by an ad break.
A jaunty voice declares:
London has more run clubs than any other city in the world.
What does that tell you?!
The people want community!
And we want to provide it!
CommuniCity is a public health think tank with the aim of reducing loneliness and improving connection…we’ve asked the scientists what they think would help and they’ve got some good ideas.
But we also want to ask you.
We want pie-in-the-sky thinking, because you never know what might work! Penicillin was discovered by mistake after all!
Here are some of the pitches we’ve already received from our listeners:
PITCH 1: Conversation pits: four sofas or benches arranged in a square so that everyone can look at each other and talk to each other. They should be everywhere, in cafes, public buildings, parks, etc.
PITCH 2: Everyone should get a treat token, once a week, for a cake or a hot chocolate or something like that. But they can only spend their treat token with a stranger. So each week, you have to meet a stranger and have a treat together. That would build connections between people and connect up communities.
PITCH 3: You should get ‘community time’ off from work, subsidised by the government. At least half a day per week that you spend volunteering in a community setting with people from different walks of life.
PITCH 4: We need cafes like the one in friends…Central Perk. Places where people can feel at home, but be surrounded by other people. Affordable, welcoming, no time limit on your stay.
PITCH 5: More public squares, like in Italy and Greece. Places where kids can play, adults can chat, life can happen. And because we’re in the UK, maybe some covered squares so people can enjoy them in the winter.
Those are just three of the hundreds of pitches we’ve received.
Have an idea? Send us a voice note!
Catchy jingle.
Your podcast resumes.
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER:
What do you think of the pitches?
If you had to vote for one of them, which would it be? Why?
Did you notice any themes across the different pitches?
Would you submit a pitch?
What would you add to the city? How would that change it?
What would you take away from the city? How would that change it?
How important is urban design and public policy when it comes to nurturing community?
By Bonny Astor, TEiP Founder. You can read more of her writing here.
2 COMMUNITY OF THESEUS
The charity has been going for about 60 years.
Every year, for one month, volunteers sign up to help restore an area of natural beauty.
None of the founding members remain, but there are some veterans volunteers:
The record number of consecutive years is 45.
There are two volunteers who’ve been there for 30-something years.
Three volunteers who’ve been there for 20-something years.
Five in the teens,
And the majority under 10 years.
Each year, there are new recruits. Some stay, some don’t.
The volunteers are an odd bunch, of all ages and all backgrounds. Some of them are nature enthusiasts, but mostly they are eccentrics who like the annual rhythm of a month spent outside with other random people.
The veterans tend to be in positions of more responsibility and authority, tasked with the more dangerous duties like evacuating the area if there is a flood, reporting croc sightings, and freeing new volunteers from quicksand. But some of the veterans choose to be ‘general volunteers’, mucking in with the newer members.
All of the volunteers love the charity, but every year, there is ‘drama’. It is usually the same kind of drama. New volunteers have new ideas, older volunteers have established ways of doing things, friction emerges between the two.
Over the past two years, it has reached a higher pitch. Several of the veterans have resigned after concerted coup attempts by newer volunteers.
You have been asked to help the community reach greater harmony.
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER:
How would you go about improving volunteer relations?
Would these interventions apply to all communities? Or are they community specific?
Is ‘drama’ an essential part of long-running communities?
What is the value of the veterans?
What is the value of the new volunteers?
None of the founding members remain. Is the community still a continuation of what they started, or is it something entirely new?
By Bonny Astor, TEiP Founder. You can read more of her writing here.
3 UNPOPULAR OPINION
Scrolling on Instagram you pause on a video of a young man sitting on a public bench talking to the camera.
He says: “This isn’t going to be popular….but it needs to be said.”
The video cuts to a quick montage of run clubs, social events in pubs, crafting meetups, etc.
Then it cuts back to the man, who says:
“Just because you run events….doesn’t mean you have a community.”
The man pauses, then continues:
“Community is when people meet up outside of your events, without you. If people just come to your events, it’s not community.”
He continues in the same vein for 15 more seconds.
The closing shot shows the man standing on a stage, surrounded by smiling people. Text at the top of the screen reads:
Join a real community, join us.
You read some of the comments underneath:
FridaKrayzee: 100% agree...all these event organisers call their events ‘communities’, but they don’t even know what community is!
Bunjee28: What is community then?
PabloPS3: Community is organic, decentralised, not dependent on a leader.
Mixitaypee: But without leaders nothing gets done, people don’t actually get together.
PabloPS3: Leaders are necessary, but not enough.
FridaKrayzee: You can for sure have communities without leaders.
Bunjee28: I still don’t know what community really is. What is ‘enough’ for a community? Why does this guy’s ‘community’ count as a community?
Moveth0sehips: The real question is whether people even want community, or if they just want fun events.
PabloPS3: And why do event organisers feel the need to label their events ‘communities’?
Bunjee28: Why shouldn’t they?
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER:
Events or communities
What do you think of this reel?
Why do you think the creator made it?
PabloPS3 asks: why do event organisers want to label their events communities? What do you think?
Community
What counts as community? Can you think of some examples?
How do communities form?
What ingredients are necessary for something to be a ‘community’?
Are leaders necessary?
Your communities
How many true communities do you feel part of?
Would you like to be part of more or less communities?
What is your ideal role in a community?
By Bonny Astor, TEiP Founder. You can read more of her writing here.
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