Just imagine, two strangers, passing on a street. It’s highly unlikely they’ll stop and begin a conversation. Of course, there are exceptions to this rule often related to time, day, location etc. For instance: town centre, Wednesday lunchtime – very small chance. Whereas canal towpath, Bank Holiday weekend – it is regulation. Nevertheless the ‘Sunday-afternoon in the countryside’ kind of conversations still only extend to a cheery hello and perhaps the obligatory British comment on the weather. Now, add a dog, preferably two, into the equation and suddenly boom! – It’s like long-lost friends. People stop for ten/fifteen minutes, even in the pouring rain. The conversation rapidly moves on from the obvious choice of dogs, to family, jobs, hobbies, holidays. Within minutes complete strangers are revealing where they live, names of children, places of work, even what they think about their job, their boss and so on. The conversation literally flows. Dogs break the taboo of speaking to strangers.
It’s not just dogs I suppose, years ago I knew a guy who had a pet Iguana, he’d carry it on his shoulder and that was definitely a talking point! He’d bring it into the pub where I waitressed which horrified my boss who was attempting to turn the drinker’s hole that was the village Inn into a gastro pub with ambition of Michelin stars. So I suppose an element of controversy or being different can also be a catalyst for conversation. It’s those catalysts, like the dogs, that bring people together. Initially over something of common interest (or perhaps opposing interests?) which then leads onto further conversation. It’s basically the ‘networking’ that is scheduled into every meeting, event, conference we attend, but without the cringeworthy, text-book-style ice-breakers, games or forced questions. It just happens. Don’t they say life is what happens when you’re busy making plans? – maybe it should be networking is what happens when you’re busy living life?
So if it all happens of its own accord then what are we working towards in the world of community development? Shouldn’t we just leave people to it? I’m sure some would argue that case, but the other line of reasoning goes that a) we need to ensure we live in a place where those natural catalysts can continue to happen, so it’s about maintaining and enabling the ‘natural networking’ specifically the places it occurs and b) we need to exploit those connections, so that initial conversation can develop into something more. I could analogise about growing plants and providing sunshine & water and such like but I expect you get the point, so instead I’ll explore some of the examples further. In broad terms we could break this down into: Place and People. And the benefits will be awareness, information sharing and action.
So in terms of place, the first thing is to ensure we have these places in our communities. Or ‘bumping spaces’ as Cormac Russell, founder of ABCD calls them. I just love that terminology. People collide and magical things happen! So back to the dogs: think gates/stiles, the places where people pause. I like the notion of pausing places too. The school gate, post office, recycling centre, local pub, library or the bus stop. Or on the bus, which generally I find a far more sociable form of public transport than the train. Saying that, if you introduce inanimate objects on the train they can also be catalysts i.e. replace the dog with a book. I’ve had the, normally forbidden, conversations on trains with strangers, triggered by a book. I distinctly remember a whole journey to London discussing Ted Hughes’ poetry with an enthusiast, it was almost like getting a free hours’ English Literature tuition, it was fascinating. But when you think about it there’s a thread here. The majority of these places are community assets that in recent years have been threatened with survival. In Wiltshire the community campus project obviously aims to be a ‘bumping space’ and address this issue of vulnerable public services through co-location. So there definitely is an element of needing to protect and preserve these places; not only could the service be lost but with it vast networks which make the community tick. And in many cases its people’s only form of social contact. An illustration of how change to the physical fabric of a community can alter the cohesion of a community is the change from terraced to detached living. I’d recommend 4ft fences to anyone! – I know half my street and its really sociable as well as beneficial and reassuring.
So as well as maintaining these places, it’s about utilising them. So advertising meetings, events and community info or surveys on gate posts and such. And then there’s the people. The dog walkers. Some years back I did get some work experience at a school and various other introductions through a fellow dog walker who was involved with local businesses. Then there’s taxi drivers, tradesmen, hairdressers, landlords, postal workers – the people who meet other people and may pass on information. And why not use this link, tell them something, if they pass it on, suddenly the word spreads. It’s intervention without it being artificial or forced.
The RSA who are working in Wiltshire as a critical friend to the campus project are using many angles to analyse and enable community engagement. You can follow them on Twitter @RSAWiltshire One project, which will run over the summer, called ‘In Common’ will see how civic decision-making and festivals could be joined up in practice to increase people’s sense of place and enable them to have a say and make a contribution to their local community.
So in conclusion: take your fences down, literally. Use public transport more, go to the pub and read interesting books. Oh and don’t forget to walk the dog.
Laura
WfCAP Blog 