The Participatory Collective aims to create a tight network between a range of communities and researchers in order to create a non-profit aid for vulnerable people, working side by side with the community to provide them with support which best accommodates their needs and goals. They aim to abolish the walls built between people of all backgrounds and situations and to encourage funding for their partnerships to ensure that they can carry on providing support for the less fortunate. They emphasise the importance of community by reminding people that they are stronger as a collective, by inviting partners and collaborators to share their knowledge and experiences to help strengthen the voices of vulnerable communities to encourage participation and healing.
They experience some challenges which slows down their progress. Academics are their best collaborators but they are selective with which projects they get behind since they prefer to get involved in areas that they are actively studying, and it doesn’t always align with what theme the funders set. The funders are also very strict with the deadlines, so the Academics have to think carefully about their capability of joining the campaign because they are often busy with teaching and participating in a campaign means a lot of planning and filling out paperwork, making them unable to meet certain required deadlines. Additionally, academics frequently invite collaborators and partnerships on a whim and often without pay due to the strict deadlines that funders set, this is mostly done as an afterthought since the theme for the funding has already been decided. This massively complicates the process because they have to go looking for collaborators that specialise in specific fields that align with the funding theme, instead of deciding on the funding theme together with the collaborators like they intended. Unfortunately, the inconvenient process order of the funding campaigns as well as the lack of payment result in the partnerships being weak, and the collaboration ending when the funding campaign ends.
These problems heavily impact the Participatory Collective’s effectiveness and goes against what they believe. They believe that their campaigns has to focus on the voices of the vulnerable above all else, and tackling their struggles should never be an “afterthought” but instead campaigns should be personalised to best cater to the needs of the people that require their assistance, otherwise the funding campaigns serve no value.
What do they need?
- A campaign which will accurately convey their goals to clients and sponsors in the most efficient and quickest way.
- A website to make necessary information about them public and easily accessible.
- Additional resources to help spread their message and create recognisability (advertisements, merchandise, etc).
- To encourage user engagement and make their funding much more focused on interactions between communities to exchange knowledge and experience.
- To establish permanent partnerships with more collaborators and increase their deadlines.
- To establish a stronger social media presence to widen their target audience.
- To create a welcoming atmosphere through language, colour and distinct visuals.
- To demonstrate their selflessness and dedication for helping vulnerable communities by focusing on relation-driven collaborations rather than transactional ones.
Examples
Community Research Collective is a successful example of what the Participatory Collective is aiming to achieve, they have tight partnerships with a multitude of valuable resources and connections with academics to exchange information with and improve the community.
OSHI is one of the Participatory Collective’s collaborators, their main focus is on recovery and healing for addicts whilst offering support for their families. They have a selective network best suited to provide necessary and additional support.
Butterflies was another collaborator of the Participatory Collective which focuses on helping patients with memory loss regain their independence. Their objective is easy to understand through their website, and they encourage users to interact with the website and the community by offering knowledge as well as personal recounts from patients.
Community Knowledge Matters is a local community focused on providing funding to research and better understand and provide mental health support. They use simple language and encourage participation through their website structure, whilst recruiting people of all skills and specialties.
Imagining Futures is focused on preserving history whilst creating an inclusive future where everyone can thrive. Their website is very bold, noticeable and confident, which is apparent from the deep bright colours and the web hierarchy they used which prioritises showcasing their impact.