Community Architects

WHAT ARE COMMUNITY ARCHITECTS?

The role of the Community Architects is to begin and embed the process that helps everything connect. This is not another trainer, bolt-on project or expert brought in from outside. Community Architects are people who are already part of your organisation or your local community.

They work to bring together colleagues from Economic Development, Employability, Apprenticeships and Skills, Community Development, Local Businesses, Colleges, Voluntary Organisations, Community Groups and the wider public. They help people discover shared opportunities rather than working in separate silos or isolation.

HOW DO THEY DO THIS?

Using the Work it Out Collaborative Community methodology, Community Architects bring people together in a new way. They introduce individuals and organisations that could be helping one another but have never met. Individuals, whether they are ‘service providers’ or ‘users’, ‘employed’ or ‘unemployed’, all are now invited to work together as they shape a new collaborative community.

Simply put, Community Architects are the glue that allows these new relationships to grow where none previously existed. And then this glue spreads everywhere!

BECOMING A COMMUNITY ARCHITECT

As part of every Work It Out Pilot, we include places for two Community Architects (in each area) to undertake our unique 52-week Community Architect Development and Implementation Programme.

This is a year of learning, practising and helping to build something that has never really existed before. Community Architects don’t just learn about collaboration, they live it. Most importantly, they’ll help ensure that the people who are too often left behind become part of the conversation and part of the solution.

This is an extraordinary personal development journey. It’s also an opportunity to help shape a new way of working within your own community and to have a significant impact on the future of your local area.

We will work with you and your colleague every step of the way. And each person will be part of a growing UK-wide network of Community Architects from other pilot areas - meeting regularly, sharing experiences, learning from one another and gradually developing this new profession together.

If we want communities that genuinely look after everyone, perhaps one of the best investments we can make is in the people who bring others together, strengthen relationships and help communities discover how to work together.

WE CAN HELP YOU FIND COMMUNITY ARCHITECTS IN YOUR AREA

Every community has people who naturally bring others together. They are the ones who encourage rather than criticise. They see possibilities where others see barriers. They are positive and welcoming. They genuinely care about helping people uncover their strengths, develop their skills and build positive futures with others.
They may work for the local authority, a college, a voluntary organisation, a housing association or a local business. They may be self-employed or retired or looking for a meaningful way to share their skills and experience.

As part of every Work It Out pilot, we can help each area identify people who could become Community Architects and so create a strong, supportive community-wide Workplace.   We can provide a simple briefing sheet that can be shared across the area, inviting people inspired by this opportunity to express their interest.

From those expressions of interest, you can invite up to six people to come together for a conversation. This isn’t an interview or a competitive selection process! It is an opportunity for all of us to explore how each person might contribute and how Work It Out can support them.

In some areas, we may have two community architects. In others, two people may become the Community Architects, supported by four colleagues who continue contributing in different ways. In some areas, all six people may embark on the twelve-month Community Architect development journey together. All options help to create a powerful local team from the outset.

For each person who joins the Community Architect journey, this 12-month process offers an extraordinary opportunity for personal development, becoming a key influencer for Work it Out locally, working alongside Community Architects from across the country and leaving a lasting legacy within their own community.

​We know from experience that every community already has the people it needs. We can help you find the Community Architects for your area.