FAQ:

Why do we need community?

I throw the word “community” out there a lot but what does it mean to have community and why is it important? Community has strong ties to identity and a sense of belonging. A lot of us are members of multiple communities simultaneously whether they’re big or small. These communities fulfill a need that every person has within them to connect with others and with themselves. When we are part of a community we understand ourselves better. We are saying that “this is a part of me”. When we talk about wanting to bring about social change, we need to understand how these identities we claim play a part. As expressed by Toby Lowe, “Community is an important concept for social change because it helps us to see that social change requires a change in some of the most important stories we tell ourselves. Social change requires that we rewrite our communal narratives. Social change is change in community.”

Why? why? Why?

Exactly! One of the reasons why I fell in love with research is because it scratches the itch I have to know more. Why are things the way they are? Why do people do things that way? Why should anyone care? Being able to set off to solve these questions is how we uncover what makes people tick. It's how we create sustainable designs that can withstand the changing current of time. It’s how we bring about the change we want to see. Questions lead to answers and answers lead to results.