We've been working with Good Things Foundation to create a how-to guide on place-based collaboration for digital inclusion.
Collaboration is an important part of how we aim to solve social issues. In our new strategy, we establish our values to be collaborative, dynamic, action-orientated, innovative and people-led.
This people-led focus is why place-based collaboration is so close to our hearts. It places emphasis on communities, working with local organisations, local government, public and business sectors, as well as involving the community itself in the design, development, and delivery of the support it is receiving. This is enshrined in our social innovation model, the foundation for all our work.
In fact, this is where we got our name - in our belief that people know how to identify their needs and the solutions that will help them fulfil their potential and solve social issues.
“Collaboration can transform an organisation’s capacity to drive social innovation and affect change at scale. In working together, learning from one another, and drawing on different strengths, collaborating groups can direct energies into deriving the best support for the community, rather than competing to provide similar services.”
As grantees in the first Power Up programme, we put place-based collaboration into action as part of the Edinburgh Collective, working towards digital inclusion with other Edinburgh organisations. This collaboration played a large part in where we are today, having supported over 4,000 people to improve digital inclusion and wellbeing through our Reconnect service. Using our social innovation platform Connect Four we have continued to build digital networks and establish local partnerships with organisations across the four sectors on a path towards influencing positive social change on a national scale.
At the end of 2021 Good Things Foundation approached us to co-write their guide on place-based collaboration, using our knowledge around collaborating across sectors towards digital inclusion, and our successes as part of Power Up. We were delighted to write and collaborate with them on this guide which has now been published on their website.
The how-to guide aims to inspire and provide practical pointers about how you can engage in collaboration both within and beyond your sector, achieving organisational aims and driving social innovation, with a view to creating a local ecosystem to support digital inclusion.