How we do it.
We work in the ecosystem of community life using methods developed and tested by communities.
Community organising principles.
Community organising brings together people from a place-based or identity-based community to address common issues by utilising collective strength for positive change.
Community organising has many different traditions, but at Community Think we have tended to be inspired by Industrial Areas Foundation and the Saul Alinskey traditions.
Some of the key methods we use from community organising are listening campaigns and table talks which involve getting a group together, usually over kai, to talk through a set of questions together to really understand what the community sees as the shared problem and solution.
Theory ‘U’ and design principles.
Theory 'U' encourages us not to rush from the problem to the solution. Instead we take the time to observe and immerse ourselves in the current situation, which helps new ideas and perspectives to form.
We often base our projects on ‘theory U’ which was created by C. Otto Sharman. Theory U allows connections to be made so that you are creating something new and fresh. It’s then tested with those impacted before you produce or action anything.
Design-led thinking uses the stages of discovery, meaning making and testing, as a way of organising the process:
Readiness: making some assessments and generating what is needed for a group, an organisation, or an issue to be able to get traction.
Immersement/discovery: getting connected to the community or organisations by immersing yourself, connecting to key people to co-create and map an engagement plan, and then finding creative ways to engage with different parts of the community/ system.
Meaning making: this is where we reflect on everything that has been said so far and start to make sense of what is being said.
Testing: this involves testing or prototyping ideas that have surfaced and how they will work in practice.
Mist effect and targeted approach.
The "mist effect" involves planning engagements and activities that capture a wide reach of a community or organisation. We focus on fun and exciting events that invite a wide range of people to participate.
As part of our projects we often use different approaches to connecting with different parts of a community.
Targeted workshops are organised for particular communities who might have more systemic barriers to participate, or whose voices might be drowned out by those with more resources or a larger platform to participate.
In our projects, we use various approaches to engage with different parts of the community. We aim to plan exciting and inclusive engagements that reach a wide spectrum of the community. These engagements may take the form of surveys or immersive engagements in community halls.
Targeted workshops are organised for particular communities that face systemic barriers to participation or struggle to have their voices heard amongst those with greater resources or larger platforms.
