Description
Join a practitioner to learn how one community is increasing sense of belonging. Through activities that encompass local government priority setting, organizational development, and resident engagement, sense of belonging and community connectedness develop. People-driven solutions are emerging through collaborative leadership and shared power to implement approaches that uniquely consider local strengths. By including multiple avenues for development, the approach to increase belonging enhances interdisciplinary collaboration across sectors. Learn how long-term sustainability is built into the model at the community level through skill development and education and awareness.
Conference Theme Explanation
Within a local context, this presentation explores how principles of community development support increased belonging (Brennan & Israel, 2008; Cramer & Pawsey, 2023; Ramos et al., 2024; Scorsolini-Comin & Dos Santos, 2010). The presenter will share how local people make a difference in their community to support increased belonging and how local organizations are supporting that work through policies, opportunities for connection, and relationship building. Developing social change and solutions at the local level is built on the specific community needs and residents’ assets (Shier & Handy, 2015). Interdisciplinary/sectoral collaboration is taking place between social services, government, health care, business, and social profits with residents from diverse backgrounds having a lead role in guiding change.
The project was established in part to address potentially limiting factors such as the need to manage budgets, staffing levels, and competing priorities, while delivering on community goals related to service excellence and stewardship. In practice this means ensuring that actions taken are thoughtful, well-planned, likely to reach their outcome, and produce long-lasting impacts. It means developing an understanding of community assets (Schellenberg et al., 2018) and allowing people’s voices to emerge. It means providing opportunities for solutions to grow through innovative pathways. Opportunities for connecting increase the connection points among residents, and with thoughtful planning around inclusivity and the principles of public participation, provide a space to strengthen ties (Granovetter, 1973) across the community.
Essentially, the community would not be the same without each member in it and the sense of belonging that people experience is a microcosm of this experience. The reflection of themselves and the community around them help people to place themselves within the community and actively participate.
Bibliography
Brennan, M. A., & Israel, G. D. (2008). The power of community. Community Development: Journal of the Community Development Society; Columbus, 39(1), 82–98.
Cramer, K. M., & Pawsey, H. (2023). Happiness and sense of community belonging in the world value survey. Current Research in Ecological and Social Psychology, 4, 100101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cresp.2023.100101
Granovetter, M. S. (1973). The strength of weak ties. American Journal of Sociology, 78(6), 1360–1380.
Ramos, D., Wright-Mair, R., Sifuentez, B., Bennett, C. B., Blicharz, M., & Elmes, A. (2024). Panacea or purposeful blanket statement for disrupting oppression? A critical review of sense of belonging literature 1950–2021. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000582
Schellenberg, G., Lu, C., Schimmele, C., & Hou, F. (2018). The Correlates of Self-Assessed Community Belonging in Canada: Social Capital, Neighbourhood Characteristics, and Rootedness. Social Indicators Research, 140(2), 597–618.
Scorsolini-Comin, F., & Dos Santos, M. A. (2010). The scientific study of happiness and health promotion: An integrative literature review. Revista Latino-Americana de Enfermagem, 18(3), 472–479. https://doi.org/10.1590/s0104-11692010000300025
Shier, M. L., & Handy, F. (2015). From advocacy to social innovation: A typology of social change efforts by nonprofits. VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 26(6), 2581–2603. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-014-9535-1
