Table of Contents
What You Will Do
- Identify your local community and consider your niche within it.
- Explore how ecological ethics and principles can support you in building community relationships.
- Learn how the stakeholder/client questionnaire can be used to create healthy relationships with your clients and stakeholders.
Designing client relationships
this section by Charlie Gray
How does your design project come into relationship with your local community and potential clients?
In ecology and human communities alike, mutually beneficial relationships are the key to healthy systems
How do you define your local community, whether it’s for you, your group, project or business?
And within that community, how do you design your relationships to be beneficial?
We are all members of different communities and social groups which bring benefits to our lives whether they are online or offline. These groups could be old school friends, the community around our children’s school, a community-of-practice focused around a hobby or profession, the supporter of a sports team, or church and cultural groups. The ideas we will discuss are all equally relevant to each of those groups, but for this module use this as an opportunity to think of your local community, the people who live in the streets, suburbs, towns or districts closest to you.
Historically, people had to be part of a local community because there was no alternative. Transport was limited and until the last century communicating with people on the other side of the world was slow and expensive! While groups of people have always migrated within a country or internationally, over the last century this speed of movement has increased. Along with digital media, the fact that we often live far from where we grew up has led to increased isolation from our neighbours.
Connecting and being with your community-of-place is as much a part of developing an abundant, sustainable, and resilient lifestyle as it is a part of setting up a water harvesting system, seed saving or buying local food. This isn’t to say that we should only connect with the people in our local area, but more an invitation to highlight the opportunities and need for local collaboration.
This is my hope for this module: that you’ll embrace your role in your community, share your talents, skills, knowledge and experience and work out where best to place yourself. We’ll learn about the concept of reciprocity, creating beneficial relationships and think about which models may work to support you in your projects and ventures.
Finding your niche
Identify your local community and consider your niche within it
Use the 5 w’s (Where, Who, What, When, Why) to describe your local community:
- Who is part of your community, who isn’t?
- If they aren’t, do you want them to be?
- What brings your community together?
- Does your community have a bioregion, particular area or neighbourhood that contains it?
- How old is your community?
- What is the history of your community and the group?
- Why are you part of this community? Is it just because you live there or are you a community of interest?
Defining your role
Where do YOU sit in your community?
For example, I was a young mum with time on my hands and the inspiration to do things differently for myself and my son and the future. I had lots of theoretical background and experience interviewing people in community around their food systems, analysing data and getting both the macro-picture and micro-details. What I wanted was hands-on practical experience to apply what I’d learnt about food systems. Think about how you are connected to others in your community or project/organization.
When we choose to work in community it is really important to balance our interests with those of the group through open and honest communication. In order to work well it is a good idea to be clear about why we are approaching the group/community, and what we hope to achieve through our involvement. It is useful to acknowledge we are all working as part of the same system, and that we are connected.
When we consider our role and our relative placement (where we place ourselves) within our community (which is a system) we can be our most effective. The diversity that people bring to groups reflects a range of cosmovisions. A cosmovision can be described as different ways of learning, remembering, interacting, interpreting and communicating, influenced by constructions of time and space across cultures.
It’s tempting to think that sharing your skills with the group is a first step in finding how to be part of the community. But it’s not just fools who rush in; colonisers do too! Remember the design process: one of the first steps is simply to observe. Get to know the group, notice what skills they already have, listen to them describe the achievements they have already made. Gradually you may discover a gap, a niche you can help fill.
Desigining collaborator relationships
Case Study: Phase 2 of Horton Community Farm.
In groups and communities, the our ethics function like a compass, and the principles are like markers against which to check if the systems we choose are going to function in the right kinds of ways. If we choose to embrace diversity, use and value renewable resources and services, and focus on obtaining yields, we embrace the abundances available to us as part of the systems we are already part of.
Three principles we used on this project:
Obtain a yield.
We realized it was essential to look at the yields in a very broad way so we became aware of the wealth and diversity of yields from our project:
- A sense of fulfilment
- A sense of community
- Habitats created for people plants, insects and animals
- Seeds and food to share
- Eating together weekly.
Use and value renewable resources and services.
- Living resources included people, plants, trees, insects, birds.
- Material resources included compost, bricks and wood (abundant on our site).
- Regular events, such as fires, cooking and volunteer sessions.
- Natural resources, such as sunlight, wind, carbon, soil, oxygen, nitrogen, rain and life cycles in general.
- Skills, such as using tools.
Use and value diversity.
We focused on valuing diverse existence, including humans, wildlife, processes, seeds, food, weeds, and co-creating with nature and natural systems.
Reciprocity in relationships
I met and married a Mexican man when I met his family in Oaxaca, so much of my inspiration comes from seeing and being part of very different ways of organizing in community there. Let me share one of the origins of the term reciprocity and how it functions in indigenous communities in Mexico:
Reciprocity:
Tequio comes from the Nahuatl language and was used by the Spanish colonizers to demand tax from the people. However, this term refers to a pre-colonial system which means people become part of a collective by putting their effort into the collective, through their own labour or by providing materials. In the Sierra Norte de Oaxaca, Mexico, and across indigenous and traditional communities, the idea of tequio is that you help the community to do the things that it needs. The community then has the things it needs which helps you in return. This is reciprocity.
For example, when a new health centre building needs constructing in the village, everyone who is able is expected to join in the building, and in this way it gets done for the benefit of all the community.
This way, you belong to the collective.
An example of gift economy is the term Guelaguetza which comes from the Zapotec language and is usually interpreted as the “reciprocal exchanges of gifts and services” in keeping with the importance in indigenous cultures of sharing, reciprocity, and extended community. Most community events in pueblos (neighborhoods) in Oaxaca function in this way.
For example, each family group in the pueblo gives something to the family who is getting married so that the wedding can happen. They are often elaborate affairs despite the individual households often not having excessive material wealth. Each person remembers what they gave and when it is their neighbours turn to give back, they can expect exactly the same in return. It is very different to altruism and charity.
Reciprocity means that people are involved in a non-hierarchical way. By being part of this system, the members all benefit from the idea that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The term has come to be used for the commercially popular performance of Guelaguetza during the summer, when tourists visit to see the “colourful spectacle of indigenous cultures.”
Many people, however, resist this essentializing of indigenous cultures, reducing them to a spectacle. For people who are part of the communities, Guelaguetza is part of how everyday things keep their communities connected, such as the songs they sing, the clothes they wear and the food they eat. These are still closed loop systems that are self-reliant or built on trade with similar neighbouring communities.
This video gives a beautiful perspective of a gift economy:
Many of these ideas have in common a focus on “abundance thinking,” which helps us to see where we do have abundances in our lives. By shifting our focus we can begin to appreciate the richness of our circumstances and connections.
7 Ways to Think Differently by PWG faculty member, Looby MacNamara explores the ways in which starting to think differently can change how we perceive, feel about, think and act in the world. Here’s an article where Looby discusses her perspective.
There is a reason indigenous systems have lasted as long as they have: they have a different cosmovision, vastly different to the scarcity thinking of the modern capitalist world.
Abundance thinking helps us to focus on what we have to give, rather than on what we are lacking. By shifting our focus we can begin to appreciate the richness of our circumstances and connections, and to see opportunities to then fill any voids we may have as well.
What is a thriving community?
Think about what a thriving community means to you.
What steps can we take to create one?
Thriving communities design web case study: Horton Community Farm design, with volunteers.
During this case study it became clear that as well as funding, people care and fair shares were key to the Farm’s ability to sustain itself. As a result, we decided to show our appreciation of volunteers by offering work-trade opportunities such as Plant ID or forest gardening courses.
Similarly, we attracted a group of young people to come and gain their qualifications in horticulture through partnering with Bradford Environmental Education Service, a local organization that works with young people outdoors. We also put on social events to get to know and support each other at celebrations that mark the natural cycles of the year.
Pathways for people to get involved.By offering reciprocity for people’s involvement in projects, people are more likely to stay involved, support and encourage others to join. The more different ways in which people can become part of the project, the stronger the web of connections.
Adding value to your products and services.
Whatever it is you or your organization/group offers, you will be a values-driven individual, organization or group. For example, Plenty Preserves started out by visiting Bradford’s fresh fruit and veg wholesale market on a weekly basis, taking the surplus which traders could not sell to retailers. They had funding from a waste reduction charity to create value-added products, such as jams, chutneys, fruit leathers, pickles and preserves. They also offered workshops on different preserving techniques. Building on their success and with a following of people interested in their products and workshops, they now have a cafe run largely on surplus, locally grown and foraged foods, called Plenty at the Square.
At Plenty at the Square cafe we host a veg exchange, where people can bring in surplus produce in exchange for coffee and cake or a meal, and we are looking at creating food hubs.
Since completing our Phase 2 visioning process, we have attracted funding which helped us with our goal of perennializing more of the site and attracting a slightly more specialist crowd. Similarly, we have made some huge progress connecting to youth through our involvement in the newly fledged Youth in Permaculture Project.
We now have plans to begin a grow your own pizza project, and we are considering a grow your own curry/holubchi project to attract local people from different backgrounds. We will apply what we’re learning with the young people we’ve met and translate it to our local young people. We hope to create something that will attract young people away from vandalizing the site and towards joining us.
Cooperative thinking.
Certain models employ the ideas of reciprocal and beneficial relationships in terms of food systems, such as Community-Supported Agriculture schemes. They are collective, collaborative and cooperative models that reflect the ethics and principles of ecological design.
Crossing from informal to formal economy.
Maybe we have carried out work for friends and family and now we want to work with other clients, i.e., people we do not already know. How do we reach this market?
It’s really useful to present ourselves and to make our offers clear. Using websites and social media can be really useful for this.
What are you offering?
To answer these questions, it is useful to conduct a visioning process to ensure your vision is really clear. You can also work on the mission and aims and how to achieve them.
Choosing structures that reflect your ethics and principles.
If you are working on your own, you may be self-employed or a sole trader, depending on your area of work. If you work for a local association, you may be contracted to work for others. If you decide to work as part of a group, then you may decide on a simple business structure with the ethos written into your business. Many ethical businesses like to see themselves as social enterprises, and some even form a co-operative.
A social enterprise (in the UK) does not prescribe you take any particular form, although there are a few that are more popular than others. For example, a company limited by guarantee, a community interest company (CIC), a Charitable Incorporated Organization (CIOs), and a co-operative, are all possible legal forms. Whichever form you choose for the business, your ways of working will determine the structure, not the other way round. You can write the ethics into the memorandum and articles of the company.
Collective and cooperative models.
Plenty at the Square is run as a collective, with a flat structure and is a company limited by guarantee. Community ownership is another area of interest in collective and cooperative models. With the current trends in austerity governance across Europe and the US, many previously council-run organizations are now switching to community managed and owned. There are many interesting organizations supporting these processes.
Creating the right kinds of markets for your products and services within community.
Plenty Preserves started out selling at a stall once a month in a street market. Since customers returned for more, or to try something new, we developed a small range of popular products that sell well. We also make small batches of a broader range of unusual products.
Community Supported Agriculture.
As I said above, the concept of reciprocity comes from tried and tested systems which have lasted millenia and in many cases still thrive today in largely self-sufficient communities. It is also supported by the idea of mutual aid in anarchist communities. For example, if farmers are struggling to sell their produce at the right price, and local people are not able to access locally and organically grown food at the right price, there is the opportunity to try new models, such as Community Supported Agriculture (CSA).
CSA is basically crowdfunding, for farms. The idea is that the responsibility for the produce and the risk of growing successfully throughout the year, are shared by the consumers as well as the producer. In this scheme, the consumers may get a say in what crops are grown through the year. The grower knows they will be paid, as the payments are often upfront, or in installments throughout the season, so they can buy what is needed for the growing season.
This means the grower has stability of income and can plan and spread the costs of growing throughout the year. The consumer gets a share of the grown products from the grower. Even if the yield may differ throughout the year (especially in a northern temperate climate where there is a late start to the growing season) the value of the crops per month will balance out.
Ways of keeping people involved.
In order to keep people involved we can also ask them to invest in the business, either with their volunteer time or in terms of community shares, such as the CSA. Due to the current climate of austerity economics, many council buildings in the UK are being sold off. As a first option, communities are often being invited to raise share issues so the community can own and run them. The ownership of the building may then transfer to the community. This generates more equity and means the customers take on greater investment and ownership of these spaces.
Tips and tools for creating value in relationships with clients
When we want to formalize our work and take it to the marketplace, whether that’s the virtual marketplace or a face-to-face marketplace, we need to know and understand who our clients are and think about the kinds of relationships we want to develop with them. If the work is land-based, then we may be working as a designer, creating gardens for people, or consulting with them on their home system.
Interviewing clients.
As you know, client interviews are a tool that enable observation. Now, consider that the client interview questionnaire is not just about observation, it is a tool for designing your ongoing (and hopefully, lifelong) relationship with the client and their land.
Applying ethics and principles to working with clients.
Just as we looked at applying ethics and principles to working with community, we can do the same to working with clients.
Managing healthy relationships and resolving conflict where it arises.
Working with people is fascinating, and yes, sometimes highly annoying! It is inevitable that people are likely to feel tensions (which can be a highly productive phase in any project), and when they do, it can spill over into conflict. There are so many great tools out there and it is worth finding a few that work well for you and learning new tools as you go.
One of the key ecological design principles and tools is observation. Whether that is observing a physical element, such as a stream, within a system, or the dynamics within a group, good observation is key to understanding and intervening well in any system. Listening is one form of observation, not just with our ears, but with our whole beings.
You can dive deep into group process and conflict resolution in this module, but for now I suggest two invaluable resources: facilitation tools from Seeds for Change and the book Time to Think by Nancy Kline.
Homework
Questions for Review
- Describe your local community using the five W questions: Where, Who, What, When, Why.
- Identify types of relationships in your community (social, financial, practical, emotional, intellectual, cultural etc.). Identify as many as you can so you can start to see the diversity of roles which makes up a community.
- Find your niche: how do you currently relate to your local community?
- Consider your own design project, again, against ecological design principles. How will you integrate these principles into the way you conduct your relationships with clients and with your community?
- Start thinking about reciprocity in your relationships. Where can you employ these ideas of exchange in your local community? How can this support or be supported in your land-based design?
- What resources are in abundance in your local community? Where are they? Who controls them? How could you get those abundances to spread and to continue evolving to create spirals of abundance?
- Think of a local community business which is either running successfully, or one that you can imagine working well. What is it about the business that means people want to get involved? How is it keeping people involved over time?
Recommended Hands-On
- Revisit your stakeholder questionnaire(s). What can you add to the question list, to increase your understanding of how stakeholders relate to the design? If you’ve already interviewed people, re-read their answers. What can you determine about the niches each participant could fill in your project? This information will come in handy when you start delegating real tasks during implementation and maintenance!
- Draw your project/community/business as though it is a forest garden. Imagine each person taking on a particular position and imagine what type of layer of the forest garden they best represent.
Field Trip!
Which places, organisations or business in your local neighbourhood make you feel like a valued client and community member? This might be a farmer’s market, cafe, co-working space, hair salon, food sharing co-op, community centre or library. Plan a visit to one of these spaces or take advantage of your next visit to make observations and reflections. If the staff or volunteers have time they may be willing to answer any questions you have.
Use a mind map or another idea-capturing approach to record a description of the organisation, the niche they fill in your community, their clients, allies or partner organisations, the things that make you feel welcome, and any resources consumed or waste products. At the end of your visit take the time to give your thanks and appreciation for their service. How could aspects of your design collaborate with or learn from this organisation? Are there any opportunities for partnership, a shared client base, a need for your design project’s products or services, an opportunity to make use of an abundant waste resource? What could your design give back in return?