R & R Meetings - Health check

R and R meetings are a way to check on the current health of a community.  There are many Rs that could be applied here: Rest, Recreation, Reconnect, Research, Rediscover, Reinvent, Reimagine, Regenerate, Resilience - and many more.

"Though you have shelters and institutions,
Precarious lodgings while the rent is paid,
Subsiding basements where the rat breeds
Or sanitary dwellings with numbered doors
Or a house a little better than your neighbour's;
When the Stranger says: "What is the meaning of this city?
Do you huddle close together because you love each other?"
What will you answer? "We all dwell together
To make money from each other"? or "This is a community"?
And the Stranger will depart and return to the desert.
О my soul, be prepared for the coming of the Stranger,
Be prepared for him who knows how to ask questions."

T S Eliot

 

R and R meetings are, like all UnTied meetings, open to all but maybe not everyone will, or can, attend. The intention is to conduct a regular check on the community health.

To gain a more accurate picture of how a community is now, it helps to look at the history of the community. This may even become in itself a project, which could also help to bring people together.

Our past: What has our community been like? How did it grow (or shrink), what changes have we seen? What was positive and what was negative - and why?

Our present: Where are we as a community? How are we doing? What is positive and what is negative - and why?

Our future: What do the above say about where we are going? How safe is it? What looks positive and what looks negative - and why?

Our resilience: How can we, as a community, help ensure our future looks brighter? How can we better prepare for emergencies?

Below are some links which might be of interest.

Asset Based Community Development - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asset-based_community_development

Transition Towns - https://transitionnetwork.org/

The Commons - http://commonstransition.org/commons-transition-p2p-primer/

For Organisations

Like any community, organisations, especially businesses, face uncertainty and often don't have, or take, the time to assess where they stand today. How far have they come and what does the future hold?

Organisation R & R (or any other) meetings can be held just with members of the organisation or as part of a community group.

Reinventing Organizations - http://www.reinventingorganizationswiki.com/Main_Page is an extremely valuable source of examples of how to do things differently and better.