Building Bridges for Human Rights with Amnesty International UK
Let’s be honest. The world feels…complicated right now. The news is relentless, anxieties are high, and it’s easy to feel isolated. But be assured, there are people, even now, who get up every day and try to make the world a little better. As ever, we’re pleased to work with such people to try and build deeper, more resilient communities — and to remember that we’re not alone.
Building Open Communities
We Are Open Co-op is working in collaboration with Amnesty International UK (AIUK) on a project focused on a new platform for activists. This is built on a shared fundamental belief that the most impactful change comes from strong, engaged communities.
Like many of the organisations we work with, AIUK has a vibrant and diverse network of activists. Communities and networks are complex and come with common challenges. There can be confusion, discomfort, and the feeling that things aren’t really resulting in meaningful action. There are so many people and activities it can be hard to create cohesion and connection. Understanding who people are, what drives them and listening to them is at the core of this project.
Our Community Platform project with AIUK is a place where we can put our deep understanding of how communities thrive to good use.
What are we doing?
- Starting with empathy: We know that understanding different perspectives and experiences is hugely important for building healthy communities. Our collaboration will be rooted in actively listening to and valuing the insights of people committed to AIUK’s mission.
- Spurring collaboration: We are new to the AIUK community, so we are looking forward to collaborating with people with diverse voices and new approaches. We are pleased that we’ll be collaborating with AIUK staff, educators, activists and Torchbox, an agency helping with Amnesty International UK’s digital transformation.
- Showing up: We love to step outside of our comfort zones, to experiment with new ways of working, and to be open to the possibility of failure — because learning from mistakes is kind of great.
No, what are you actually doing?
Oh, ok, we’ll if you want to be really specific:
- Carrying out user research to better understand the AIUK community and how a community platform can help AIUK better support them
- Collaborating with the DDaT team and AIUK’s new Community manager to create new processes and policies which will help eliminate frustrations and problem areas
- Creating missions to help playtest a number of candidate community platforms that have the potential to help AIUK’s activists connect, learn and thrive
The Power of the Network
We’re not just isolated individuals pursuing our own interests. We’re part of a larger, interconnected web. People tend to be members of multiple communities, so insights from those overlapping experiences are valuable. This crossover, this overlapping of passions and interests, is a vital strength, but it also needs intentional nurturing.
Moving Forward
We’re committed to building healthy communities, and that means planned, moderated, and actively cared for communities. We’re going to, as we do, work openly with Amnesty International UK, and are, as ever, always excited for your engagement and feedback.
We have some spare capacity on top of this work, so if you have a problem, if no one else can help, get in touch!