How might we move ourselves and our community to take action together?
We cannot tackle any complex issue alone – we need to do things together. But engaging with multiple stakeholders operating from multiple perspectives also often gets us stuck.
How might we begin an engagement process that moves us to take action on what matters to us?
Co-authored by:
Kuik Shiao-Yin, Lead Designer and Executive Director
Debra Lam, Lead (Community Research & Development)
Ng Xin Yi, Associate Researcher
Nurulhuda A Rahim, Project Manager
Why are we researching this?
Historically, Singapore has operated more from a communitarian culture than an individualistic one. We have a strong cultural narrative about how we need to work together to move things forward. However, working together has always been easier said than done.
We each bring to the table our uniquely complex individual system of different beliefs – values, agendas and perspectives – that shape how we behave with each other. Sometimes it is our beliefs about ourselves that immobilises us. Sometimes it is our beliefs about each other or the world at large that gets in the way.
This diversity of stories that brings such richness and creativity to the table can also get us incredibly stuck in conflict and confusion. And as the problems we face grow more complex, the possibility of getting stuck as individuals and in our work with each other will only increase.
We wanted to research:
What are the beliefs (and accompanying behaviours) that encourage or discourage certain individuals, groups or institutions from taking action?
We wanted to use the research to develop:
An engagement strategy that any individual can use to:
become more aware of the diversity of stories surrounding an issue,
acknowledge the diversity of stories,
and support different stakeholders to take action on what matters.
To whom does this matter?
Organisations who want to explore different approaches for engaging communities but are uncertain about whether their engagements are needed, wanted or welcomed by the ground.
Individuals/ groups who want to work with communities on complex issues together but are uncertain about how to begin.
Design Consultants who are tasked by client organisations to design nudges to help people take action on problems but are curious about alternative approaches vs. Design Thinking processes.
Community-builders who are seeking for different ways to understand ground needs.
What issue did we choose to focus on?
To focus our research and development, we wanted to find an issue that:
Is of national concern because it impacted most people
Requires high individual and community participation to succeed
We chose the issue of health and well-being. This was because we met with a public sector organisation working on a “whole-of-society, community-based participatory approach” to health.
They hoped to encourage individual citizens to strengthen their adoption of personal health behaviours and in the process, hopefully advocate others to follow suit and even take action to change something on a community level.
Our Journey
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