Open Communities - coming together in learning
Co-designing a collaborative platform with the community sector
Do you love making the world a better place? Do you care about community building, local joy, and helping people thrive? Do you find yourself coming up against challenges in progressing the things you care about sometimes? … then we would love to design with you!
‘Open Communities’ is proudly supported by the Department of Social Services.
We’re on a mission to build a collective of do-ers and dreamers who are passionate about community building, and making the world a more connected, vibrant and inclusive place.
Are you a…
- volunteer at a community association
- staff member of a community organisation
- local community builder
- community activist
- place-maker
- community development
- officer
- or just someone who wants to learn the ins-and-outs of community building?
The invitation
We’re inviting you to join us in designing a collaborative space, that will help us all further our mission of connected, vibrant communities. We hope that this space, which could be digital, could be in person, or could be a magic combination of both, will enable everyone working in community to:
- Learn from others
- Share your own experiences
- Swap stories
- Access insights about the inclusive community building practices other organisations use
- Discover new ways of doing things
- Meet new community collaborators
- Overcome common community building challenges
- Get creative with everyone working in this space!
There are so many similarities in what we’re working towards. What could it look like if we were able to learn from each other?
Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much. - Helen Keller
This is your opportunity to help design this space for the community building sector, so your unique needs, learning style, and collaboration methods are represented in the prototype.
We’re hosting:
A gathering at The Platform (3/256 Adelaide Terrace, Perth WA 6000*) on Saturday March 11 2023, between 10am – 12pm (nibbles, tea and coffee provided!)
and
An online gathering on Tuesday March 28 2023, between 10am – 12pm
Together, we’ll go on an Insight Gallery Walk, where we’ll share some of the work we’ve been doing with Black and Indigenous People of Colour with disabilities, learning more about inclusion in community life.
Then, we’ll Build Upon the Insights, generating new ideas on how we, as community do-ers, dreamers, volunteers and workers, can come together in learning to enhance our impact.
*Public Transport: The closest train station is Perth Station, which is approximately a 15-minute walk away.
Car Parking: Wilson Parking operates several car parks within walking distance of The Platform, including the 141 Adelaide Terrace Car Park and the 256 Adelaide Terrace Car Park.
Sharing our learnings with you
We’ve been working with Black & Indigenous People of Colour (BIPOC) with disabilities, just like Jess here, to learn more about what they need to feel included in community spaces.
In zooming into the unique needs of this unique group of people, we’ve been gifted some rich insights that may be able to be applied to many of the different communities we all work with.
We’re excited to share these insights with you, so you can apply them in your own community building work, and so we can build upon them in our shared learning space.
Please join us for a fun and engaging learning experience that will help the communities we all serve be stronger, more inclusive and more welcoming.
