“How might we”, together?
It begins with a question; it ends with action.
We’ve all been there: the blank page. The white wall. The open-ended question. That feeling you get when you start to tackle big, complex issues.
The team members of Project Activate know that feeling all too well after their second workshop and first public events. But they can also tell you how to push through feelings of discomfort and mental calisthenics to generate deep community engagement and new ideas.
They can tell you, because they’ve done it.
Since the program launched in August 2019, two teams of extraordinary community members–one in Southeast Lancaster City, and one in Paradise, PA– have been hard at work listening deeply to their community, synthesizing intimate and important reflections from neighbors, and generating ideas to begin creating new ways for members of these communities to connect in the coming year and beyond. This past November, the two Activate Teams began the challenging work of organizing their learnings, brainstorming the right questions, and then asking those questions to their communities to generate ideas.
Lead with stories.
To begin this phase of the Project, teams shared and organized the hours of stories they had collected from members of the community over the past 6-8 weeks. Some stories were inspiring, others were challenging; some were provocative, while others were distressing. Every voice, however, was essential in crafting a picture of the task before them: building a neighborhood where everyone feels like they belong.
From there, the teams worked to sort and reach the deeper meaning of these conversations and stories, called insights: what were they really saying? What problems were they talking about, and what are the issues underlying those problems? When some of those deeper meanings were fleshed out, the teams focused on developing questions to ask the community that would help generate ideas that could address some of these underlying themes.
It’s a difficult process.
In the end, the teams developed 9-12 “How Might We” prompts to generate ideas from the community. Why “How Might We”? It’s an inviting and open-ended way to talk about big challenges that can create lots (and lots) of ideas. There is no wrong answer to a “How Might We” question, only ideas!
Southeast Activate Team
The Southeast Activate Team decided to focus their idea generation around three areas impacting their neighborhood: educational opportunities, positive media for the Southeast, and neighborhood collaboration. Click each tab to explore their “How Might We”s:
How might we
support educators to fully understand and support the lived experience of the diverse communities they teach?
How might we
make it easier and feel “okay” to ask for help?
How might we
help people in the Southeast to identify their dreams and build their confidence to pursue them?
How might we
increase opportunities for recognition of Southeast residents across Lancaster City?
How might we
create the balance of Southeast news between positive and negative opinions and facts?
How might we
encourage and support local voices to confidently speak their truth?
How might we
create shared gathering spaces that are welcoming to all?
How might we
transfer Southeast history to the next generation of Southeast leaders?
How might we
support Southeast residents (past and current) to collectively invest in the Southeast community?
Paradise Activate Team
The Paradise Activate Team decided to focus their idea generation around three areas impacting their neighborhood: affordable housing, building connection across generations, and creating information resources. Click each tab to explore their “How Might We”s:
How might we
create ways to make all residents of Paradise aware of the lack of affordable housing?
How might we
create stability and financial benefit for Paradise by generating truly affordable housing?
How might we
create and strengthen personal connections between long-time residents and new community members?
How might we
get information to seniors about community activities?
How might we
identify and break down barriers that keep seniors isolated from the rest of the community?
How might we
incentivize local business, civic organizations, and residents to solve transportation problems for seniors?
How might we
make communication about events, community information, and resources more accessible?
How might we
create a gathering place where any member of the community feels welcomed?
How might we
help all members of the community feel vital and important?
Voices from the community.
With the insights and “How Might We“s created, it was time to hear thoughts, reflections, and ideas from the neighborhoods the Activate Teams serve! In November of 2019, the two Activate Teams hosted Idea Gathering sessions where all of the insights and “How Might We”s were presented for community members to see and contribute their ideas. Attendees were also given colored dot stickers to place on ideas that had already been contributed that they wanted to see happen in their neighborhood. With the help of our partners Community Action Partnership and The Factory Ministries in the Southeast and Paradise respectively, the events were well attended and generated lots of exciting ideas from the community!
Moving from paper to prototype.
Harnessing the energy and input from the community Idea Gatherings, the Activate Teams are now organizing and combining ideas from their neighbors into concepts to try out in their communities; finding similarities, ways to combine features, and unite visions from multiple perspectives to create something that will reflect their neighborhood’s shared passion for belonging.
There was a lot to sort through:
 |
 |
But now the fun part begins! In order to turn these concepts into real-life opportunities for community members to participate in, the teams will begin to try out these ideas in their neighborhoods–and continue to refine and receive feedback from the public along the way–so they can hone them into scalable ideas.
Without you, there is no activate.
This is where you come in! We want you to join the upcoming Action Gatherings, this is a chance to hear about the refined ideas from the Activate Teams, give feedback, share insight, and sign up to make these ideas become a reality in your community. The Activate Teams have put in an extraordinary effort collecting stories, sorting through ideas, and thinking creatively about new ways to build belonging in communities across Lancaster County, and we hope you will join us to hear about how to get involved in the next chapter of that work.
Because we’ve all faced a blank page, wall, or hard-to-answer open-ended question before. But the good news is: you’re not alone. Together, we can activate, because together we are extraordinary.
