Communities: the spaces between us

noelito
4 min readJan 12, 2025

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https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/design-in-policy-meetup-what-kind-of-communities/128714944

The other day, I found myself walking along Worthing seafront, where the sea blurs into the horizon, and people gather without a script. Dog walkers, and paddleboarders — it’s all very ordinary, yet it’s not. It’s community in its rawest form: people showing up, sharing space, and connecting, often without realising they’re doing it.

It got me thinking about the communities we’re part of and the ones we’re building through our work. Whether you’re in strategy, innovation, delivery management, or community development, you probably spend a lot of time talking about serving communities. But how often do we stop to think about the role we play in them?

The idea that community is everywhere — both in the obvious places and in the quieter, hidden corners — isn’t new, but it’s easy to forget when we’re knee-deep in frameworks and deadlines. So let’s pause for a moment and dig into what this means for the work we do.

1. Start where people already are

Communities don’t always look like neat categories or well-organised networks. Sometimes, they’re the Saturday morning park runners; sometimes, they’re the people who nod at each other while waiting for a bus.

Communities don’t always look like what you expect. Sometimes they’re formal, like the Parenting Network in Rochdale, where parents connect to share advice and resources.

Take Adur & Worthing’s Community Leaders programme, for example. It wasn’t about parachuting in solutions; it was about sitting down with local changemakers, recognising their expertise, and creating spaces where they felt seen, heard, and valued.

Takeaway: Instead of starting something new, look at what’s already happening. Where are people naturally gathering? What conversations are they already having? Join in before you offer solutions.

2. Trust takes time (and listening)

Take South Tyneside’s Youth Council. When local leaders wanted to improve youth services, they didn’t just run a survey; they spent months holding drop-ins at youth clubs, listening to what young people wanted. The result? Not just better services but a generation of young people who felt invested in their community.

Takeaway: Trust isn’t built in presentations; it’s built in moments of listening and showing up. Make space for informal conversations — they’re often where the real work begins.

3. Who’s not in the room?

Every community has gaps — people who are harder to reach or who don’t see themselves in the spaces we create. I think about initiatives like Preston’s Community Wealth Building, which flipped the script on who gets a seat at the table. By working with local co-ops and small businesses, they gave ownership to the people who are usually excluded from economic conversations.

Takeaway: Ask yourself: who’s missing? Then, instead of expecting them to come to you, go to them. Find out what spaces they feel comfortable in and show up there.

4. Start small, stay grounded

Not every project needs to be a big, shiny innovation. Some of the most impactful work starts as small, scrappy experiments.

In Hackney, the council ran workshops where residents drew their ideal streetscapes. These sketches, simple as they were, shaped real planning decisions.

Takeaway: Big change doesn’t always start big. Start with what’s doable, test it, and let the community lead where it goes next.

5. Relationships over transactions

Here’s the thing: people don’t want to be treated as data points or stakeholders. They want to feel like they matter.

The Hackney Citizen-Led Planning Project is a great example. Instead of rolling out a new tech platform to consult on housing, the council trialled neighbourhood-level workshops, asking residents to draw what their ideal streets looked like. The blend of hands-on creativity and local knowledge led to changes that no planning app could have uncovered.

Takeaway: Relationships are messy, but they’re the foundation of everything. Build them for the long haul, not just for the project at hand.

A call to build together

So, what does this mean for those of us working in strategy, innovation, and change? It means shifting our mindset from delivering to communities to building with them. It means recognising that communities aren’t just recipients of what we create; they’re co-creators, partners, and often the real leaders of change.

Here’s what you can do today:

  1. Listen first. Go to a space where your community already gathers — be it a park, a Facebook group, or a town hall — and ask, What do you need? What’s missing?
  2. Start small. Pick one idea, one neighbourhood, one team, and test something.
  3. Share the process. Let people see the messiness of building together — it’s part of what makes it real.

Because communities aren’t just the people we work for; they’re the people we work with.

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noelito
noelito

Written by noelito

Head of Policy Design, Scrutiny & Partnerships @newhamlondon #localgov Co-founder of #systemschange & #servicedesign progs. inspired by @cescaalbanese

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