Connected Communities report

Report: Connected Communities: How social networks power and sustain the Big Society

By Jonathan Rowson, Steve Broome and Alasdair Jones

Traditional approaches to community regeneration which define communities in solely geographic terms have severe limitations. They often failed to deliver on key social capital improvements such as improving trust between residents or fostering a greater sense of belonging.

In this report we argue for a new approach to community regeneration, based on an understanding of the importance of social networks, such an approach has the potential to bring about significant improvements in efforts to combat isolation and to support the development of resilient and empowered communities.

Download Connected Communities: How social networks power and sustain the Big Society (PDF, 1.5MB)

Skip to the key points of the report

                                   

Key points

  • Traditional approaches to community regeneration which define communities in solely geographic terms have severe limitations.
  • These traditional approaches have failed to deliver on key social capital improvements such as improving trust between residents or fostering a greater sense of belonging.
  • We argue for a new approach to community regeneration, based on an understanding of the importance of social networks.
  • This approach utilises the powerful diagnostic power of social network analysis; an approach which helps respondents as well as public sector workers to understand communities as a complex series of relationships.
  • Such an approach has the potential to bring about significant improvements in efforts to combat isolation and to support the development of resilient and empowered communities.
  • Efforts to build the ‘Big Society’ , such as training for community organisers or initiatives aimed at increasing the membership of community groups, should draw heavily on social network analysis. If they fail to do so they risk replicating existing inequalities within communities.
  • While we believe social networks offer a powerful tool that may well enable communities to solve problems and shape circumstances more effectively, no social network can provide a substitute for capital investment, or form the rationale for significantly withdrawing support and funding from areas where entrenched disadvantage is acute.

The research

The Connected Communities project at the RSA has produced a report based on the first year of its work. This report is based on an analysis of academic literature on social networks, specifically the striking importance of social networks in determining our behaviour and wellbeing. It is also based on an extensive research project undertaken in New Cross Gate in southeast London, and in Knowle West, Bristol.

We undertook door-to-door surveys in New Cross Gate to understand local social networks, together with in-depth interviews of key hubs in the network. We constructed a network map of some 1,400 nodes (local people and institutions) as an indicative blueprint for how the community works. In Knowle West, we interviewed local key connectors and influencers and surveyed users of the Knowle West Media Centre.

Find out more information on the Connected Communities project.