We Need More Bridge Builders
reflections on social change and cohesion
Hey there,
After coming back from a month in Spain in mid february (see my last post for details) I’ve been getting back to the depths of my work with Civil Action Network. While landing back in the hustle and bustle of Vienna hasn’t been easy after the tranquility of the Andalucian countryside, it’s also been gratifying to bring my learnings from our temporary community back to my “normal” life.
There’s one aspect I want to speak to specifically. What’s becoming more and more clear to me the longer I’m engaged in social change work, is that we need way more bridge builders. There are two particular kinds of bridge builders that I’m starting to see as distinct. Keep reading if you’re curious about how I think about bridge builders for Social Change and for Social Cohesion or scroll to the bottom for offerings & media recommendations.
Social Change
Working on any one cause is great and we need people who are specialists in their domain. People who can dig deep and figure out how to make change happen on single issues. This is necessary because any one domain of concern in itself is already so complex, that it can take years to understand the context, establish relationships with relevant stakeholders and find the levers of power that can make a difference for the better. These experts need to be aware of the larger context they find themselves in too. In a complex system it’s so easy to produce unintended 2nd or 3rd order consequences. If our experts are not sufficiently embedded in the wider ecosystem of change they might not even realize, that they are making the lives of others working on a different issue from a similar set of values extremely difficult. At the very least it’s likely that in the absence of sufficient bridgebuilders, change efforts are less impactful and more inefficient than in a scenario where different causes are networked densely together.
So what do bridgebuilders do in this context? They…
… create spaces for exchange between initiatives working on different topics, to surface potential synergies.
… have their ear on the pulse of several different social movements and connect individuals and initiatives where they see a potential benefit.
… can see the value in diverse strategies but also understand when different approaches are competing for the same resources.
… are good at establishing and maintaining relationships with people who live by wildly different norms.
… are like the mycelium that connects different trees to redistribute nutrients and water.
… are skilled organizers.
Social Cohesion
Where as bridgebuilders for social change mainly interact with people and initiatives that already have some analysis of what’s wrong and an understanding that something needs to change, bridgebuilders for social cohesion might be doing their work without even realizing how valuable it is. They might be hosting spaces for meeting in superficially unpolitical contexts, like neighborhood cafés, community centers or in youth work contexts. They hold spaces where people from different social bubbles can meet and develop relationships. They might not have an agenda for this beyond creating a sense of belonging. What is clear though, is that we need spaces like these and people who have the skill to establish and hold them. Social change depends on social cohesion. If society is fragmented the odds of us transcending the domination paradigm are 0.
Bridgebuilders for social cohesion are…
… motivated by creating a sense of belonging.
… empathetic and open hearted.
… able to see people for who they truly are and not get stuck on the surface with stereotypes.
… skilled community builders.
While some of the specific skills and motivations vary depending on whether one is building bridges in social change contexts or for social cohesion at large - the quality that bridgebuilders demonstrate is the same:
they hold ambiguity without collapsing to simple answers
they see opportunity in diversity but know that this potential needs structure to realize itself
they are often not in the spotlight, doing the glamorous activisty things, but are quietly establishing and maintaining connections wherever they go.
If you find yourself resonating with any of the above, regardless of how much of it you are enacting currently, I would love to get to know you and see if there is a way we can help each other out! Please shoot me an email to hello@jonasgroener.com or book a coffee chat here
Offerings
Make it Rain
My good friend and collaborator Jocelyn and I are hosting another round of our support program for changemakers and community cultivators. Whether you want to bring a greater sense of belonging to your social change initiative OR you want to bring a greater sense of purpose to your community - we got your back. Over 8 weeks we’ll support you to become more clear on your next steps, drop in to a sense of ease around your work and make a tangible impact. The program consists of a mix of group coaching, 1:1 work and peer support and starts on April 2nd. Check out more details and sign up today at this link
Open Call for Bridgebuilders
With Civil Action Network we are currently looking for bridgebuilders (people like those I described above) who are willing to share their story in an interview. e believe that having relatable rolemodels is a huge determining factor when it comes to ones engagement in civil society. That’s why we’ll be featuring people who are doing inspiring work on social cohesion and social change in one of 3 short films. If this might be you or someone you know, you can learn more and apply here.
Media
Guided audio exploration: Shifting out of Urgency
This is what I do!