Bulletin #10, March 2020
At this time of great national emergency the focus is on immediate and urgent action to protect people and to save lives. And so it should be.
But, as many in our network are already saying, however difficult things are right now, we must do our best to capture learning from this time, so that we can help to influence and shape whatever might lie ahead.
Almost anything seems possible, and much will change. The rediscovery of mutual aid in thousands of neighbourhoods across the country, which some have described as a national re-neighbouring, has happened at a scale and pace beyond the imagination of the most optimistic community activist.
So, what can we learn from how people are creating connection and community, even at a time of ‘social distancing’, which can strengthen potential for a Better Way future to emerge?
We think that Better Way network members will have an important role in helping to discover the answers. You are invited to an on-line roundtable to gather initial views on Tuesday 7th April 2-4pm – please email Alison@carnegieuk.org if you would like to join. And if you would like to provide a blog on this topic, that would be very welcome.
Please forward this bulletin to others who may be interested, and if you are not yet part of a Better Way group but would like to be, just let us know.
Caroline Slocock and Steve Wyler
About a Better Way
We are a network of people across society, calling for a radical shift to liberate the power of connection and community. Together we have drawn up some principles and steps to put a Better Way into practice, as set out in our Call to Action, and our members are using them to challenge business as usual. The network is hosted by Civil Exchange, in partnership with Carnegie UK Trust and is also supported by Esmee Fairbairn Foundation. You can find out more here: http://www.betterway.network/.
Better way thinking
A relationship-centred agenda for public policy – an on-line roundtable table last week brought network members together to consider how we can embed relational behaviours (i.e. people connecting with each other on a human level) into public policy and action, now in this emergency, as well as into the future. It was an especially rich discussion and you can read the note from the meeting here.
Climate change. As we focus on coronavirus it would be tragic if we were to lose momentum in efforts to tackle that other great worldwide emergency, the urgent need to achieve zero carbon targets. Do the Better Way principles apply to this? A recent discussion suggested that they definitely do, and our members are taking action through community organising, through mobilising the power of social businesses, and in other ways. Lessons from this activity also apply to the current pandemic: local people can often act more swiftly than government and have far more power and capability than they think. Find out more here.
Better democracy. What does good democracy look like, and what are the principles that should inform attempts to revitalise democratic practice at national level, in our communities, and in our organisations? We explored this in some depth with members recently, and it became clear that there is much that can be done to refresh and renew our democratic practices, and that during and beyond the immediate crisis there will be much to be gained if we can do that. Find out more here.
What our members are saying
Community is alive and well - policy makers take note! Avril McIntyre has been at the forefront of efforts to develop community led responses to coronavirus in Barking & Dagenham, and she shares the lessons so far. More here.
Coronavirus and social disruption. As social behaviour is disrupted by the pandemic, David Robinson reflects that disruption is neither good nor bad. What matters is what we make of it. More here.
Inventing the future. In a second blog David asks what do we need to do now to be able to look back on 2020 as the year when we not only helped one another in a crisis but as the year when we changed for good? More here.
Takepowerment! We should stop talking about empowerment, says Richard Harries, and instead promote the idea of ‘takepowerment’. And we should build the measures and collect the evidence which can tell us what community mobilisation can achieve. More here.
Switching to a strengths-based approach. Helen Phoenix has been leading the efforts at South Yorkshire Housing Association to work with the strengths of people rather than focusing on the negative, and explains the profound change this requires. More here.
More forthcoming Better Way events
Like everyone else, we have switched to on-line events, and we are finding this is working well, not least in helping people from across the country connect more easily.
We have two events coming up, and although both are already fully booked, we have opened a waiting list and will set additional dates to re-run the events if there is demand, so please let Alison@carnegieuk.org know if you would like to join:
How can we break down the barrier between services and campaigning?
Across our network we are seeing a shift away from traditional service delivery, towards models which build community and connection. But what about wider social change? Is this only the preserve of ‘campaigners’, or are service providers also well placed to bring about deeper changes in society? Sue Tibballs from the Sheila McKechnie Foundation will help us explore this.
How can we create conditions to listen better, and to recognise voice as value?
Communication is at the heart of what makes us human, but not everyone has the opportunity to tell their own story, or to be heard on their own terms. Often organisations only want stories to be told that suit their own needs, and suppress or ignore those that don’t. So what can be done to better recognise voice as a form of social action and as a good in itself? Margo Horsley will start off the discussion by drawing on her experience of working with young people at Fixers.
Also, we will be arranging on-going Better Way groups on particular themes (eg on relationships in public policy, building on the recent roundtable mentioned above), to bring groups of our members with shared interests together and forge new relationships across our growing Better Way community. We will send details of these in the coming weeks.
Common cause - what others are doing
Community Organisers have launched have launched #OperationWiFi calling for a free-to-use open WiFi network for communities during the outbreak, so that everyone, not just those who can afford it, can get on line, connect with people, and find and offer help. You can sign the on-line petition here.
Positive News have produced a list of 10 ways to help others during the coronavirus outbreak.
Covid-19 Mutual Aid UK has set up a register, with a searchable map, for the thousands of mutual aid groups that have sprung up to help people help each other in tackling coronavirus.
UBI Lab Sheffield has set out a proposal for an emergency universal basic income (UBI) during Covid-19
And finally
The Frameworks Institute is producing a series of short newsletters to help advocates and experts be heard better during the coronavirus emergency, and help to reframe public discourse more positively.
For example, they suggest that instead of vulnerable groups framing, such as ‘people in poverty will be most and worst affected by this crisis’, we might try moral argument framing. An example of this would be: ‘people already pushed to the brink by low wages and high housing costs will be most affected by this virus and an economic slowdown - this is the time to live up to our ideal of justice for all.’
Why is this important? Well for a start it might help us remember that there is no them and us, only us, in this crisis. And that the people designated as vulnerable and in need of help can also make a positive contribution, if they are allowed the opportunity.