Reflections

Results and lessons learned from the lab.

The lab has shown us the power of collaboration and what can be achieved when different actors – associations, municipal officials and other stakeholders – gather around the same table. Just creating this forum has led to consensus and a common goal that everyone is striving towards.

An important success factor is the joint planning between associations, which has enabled coordinated activities and helped to avoid activity clashes. This has also created synergies, where associations, the municipality's meeting points and property owners now work together to organize larger events together. Examples of such initiatives are the Friday Café with different themes each week, local markets and the popular Christmas mingle. The church and municipal officials have also successfully organized dinners based on demand, such as lobster rolls, pizza nights and Christmas parties. These activities have become important meeting places for community and well-being.

Another exciting result is that we identified the need for a joint day for the elderly/seniors' day. Such a day would provide an opportunity for various activities where all actors can exhibit and tell about their organization, and where you can also register your interest in contributing.

A need for a common platform/calendar that gives an overall picture of all actors' activities, and where you can register yourself if you want to contribute, has been identified, we in the lab call it "One way in". A website where you as a citizen can match your interests with activity regardless of association or organization.

Thoughts and ideas going forward:

In order to increase the mix of people and make the efforts more sustainable, we have identified a need to offer the opportunity for shorter commitments. Instead of being expected to contribute over a longer period of time, for example 6-12 months, you can instead choose to get involved for shorter periods, from a couple of weeks to two months. This makes it easier for several to contribute without feeling that it is too big a time investment.

The lab has also discussed the importance of creating a reward system for those who choose to get involved/contribute. In addition to the joy of helping others, there can be concrete appreciation, for example a diploma or a symbolic gift paid for by the municipality.

Another idea is to involve the local business community in Kinda. One suggestion is that volunteers, for example those who help with escorting, receive a stamp for each contribution. Once a certain number of stamps have been collected, they can be redeemed for something nice, like a free pizza at the local restaurant.

What would business get out of this? In addition to the municipality marketing their commitment as part of the work to counteract involuntary loneliness, they strengthen their profile as socially responsible actors. In order to create a sustainable model, the municipality also needs to offer the business community something in return, which can become part of further dialogue and development.

This comprehensive approach - with flexible initiatives, reward systems and cooperation with business - can contribute to creating a long-term and sustainable solution that engages more citizens in Kinda.

In the picture above you see a web that one of the older seniors in the project has woven. A nice activity that can also symbolize the project, where many forces are woven together to form a nice whole.

A challenge for the lab work has been that they did not want to build on paid employees in order for development work to be less vulnerable and sustainable over time. This has meant that the process has probably taken longer than if it had been rigged from the municipality's side, but as one of the partners put it, it feels like for the first time that this work will live and is built on a stable foundation.

Another challenge in the lab work has been the balancing act between a theoretical framework with a fairly open approach in relation to project logic where the final product for the project has already been defined.

It has been difficult for the associations to look up and have a holistic perspective on involuntary loneliness in the municipality. For example, the church goes out to all 80-year-olds with a flower and welcomes them to their activities. After the lab work, several associations have realized that they are not only working for their members but for the entire elderly population in Kinda. The common goal of breaking involuntary loneliness in Kinda means that that particular association does not necessarily benefit, but that the population of Kinda benefits from the joint work and thus gets a community at large where everyone has a place.

In the same way that it has been challenging to get the associations to think about the whole of the municipality, it has been a success factor that there have been key people within each association who have seen this issue of involuntary loneliness as urgent and have been prepared to cooperate for the good cause .