Community Tech Community of Practice – Reflections on our Autumn Gathering
Yesterday we brought together over 70 people to celebrate the spirit of collaboration and curiosity at our Community Tech Community of Practice Autumn Gathering.
We were generously hosted by Stretford Public Hall in Manchester, home to Friends of Stretford Public Hall – one of the organisations who’ve been funded to explore a community tech idea over two years as part of the Community Tech programme delivered in partnership between Promising Trouble and Power To Change.
The Community of Practice is part of our ongoing work to support and nurture a growing field of community tech enthusiasts, innovators and explorers. After spending the morning learning together with our Makers & Maintainers and Discovery Fund grantees, we welcomed our wider community to build new connections and participate in a series of open space discussions exploring the opportunities created by community tech.
Alongside hearing from Promising Trouble’s Executive Director Rachel Coldicutt OBE about the power and potential of community tech, some of the key themes we discussed include:
The vital role of community tech in bridging the gap between technology and society – it’s ‘tech for humans’ that creates opportunities for innovation, connection and hope.
Opportunities for community data (as an alternative to ‘big data’) to play a significant role in shaping our places – and putting power in the hands of communities as a force for change.
Ways in which community tech can contribute to abundance for global majority communities, by rebalancing power and proactively working to address systemic and structural inequalities.
The role of community tech in designing for sustainability, working in greener ways as an alternative to the resource-intensive, ‘throwaway’ culture that is inherent across the wider tech ecosystem.
The value of community tech as a means of creating community accountability, giving voice to a wide range of perspectives, and creating value that belongs to a place.
We look forward to continuing our work and conversations across each of these themes in the months ahead, and you can be part of it too.
If you are interested in exploring how technology can benefit your community, whether it be place-based or built around a shared experience, interest or need, find out more about our community of practice here. We have online meet-ups monthly, a shared platform for conversation, and our priorities are shaped by members. We are proactively taking action on inclusion: we want to ensure that anyone who wants to get involved in the community of practice can do so, so please get in touch if you’d like to know more.
If you’re interested in how you can become involved with community tech in other ways, perhaps as a funder, partner or collaborator, please get in touch with our team. You can also read our reports, case studies and blog posts and subscribe to our quarterly newsletter on our website.
Thank you to everyone who joined us yesterday for your fantastic contributions. We look forward to seeing you again, and welcoming fellow travellers, very soon.