Working with abundance

“We need to stop putting sticking plasters over broken systems and instead reimagine something better, together, from ground up”

Georgia Gould, Chief Executive Camden Council

I wanted to share this quote because the recent Camden Imagines report demands attention and because it highlights the increasing recognition of the need for fundamental change – something that many communities, including those that Corra works alongside, have known, felt and been striving towards for a long time. So, what’s stopping this from happening?

Among, and perhaps because of, the many challenges caused or exacerbated by the pandemic there emerged a sense of possibility. Communities were trusted and resourced to make decisions and deliver locally tailored solutions – and the possibility of this becoming an embedded way of working felt in reach.

This possibility – of a new relationship between citizen and state, built upon resilient, responsive, creative community action, and an equitable sharing of power – has now been replaced, for many, by scarcity.

In a global context, inequality, conflict and climate change continue to accelerate. In Scotland, public bodies with shrinking budgets worry about meeting statutory responsibilities, and many people and communities grapple with the rising cost of living.

All of which contribute to a climate of fear, anxiety, uncertainty and short-term thinking.

In the face of such significant and immediate challenges, I do sometimes wonder if ‘simply’ being alongside communities, supporting local leadership and action is enough. Thankfully, I’m regularly reminded (by my family, communities, colleagues) that we all can and must do more.

Through Corra’s long-term work alongside communities and partners across Scotland I see reasons to be hopeful. People creating powerful change in communities, working magic with modest resources; the impact of the System Changers in North Ayrshire; and the potential of participation to transform whole places.

All of these approaches are trying to support change at a local level and, through sharing success and challenges, within wider systems.

Corra is far from alone in this work, as evidenced by Next Frontiers and the Transition Pathway announced by our long-term partner Lankelly Chase which have opened new possibilities for how wealth, capital and resources can be distributed to better serve communities, people and planet.

Since Next Frontiers, I’ve been sitting with the concept of abundance as a counter force to the prevailing scarcity mentality. I’m curious about what working with abundance could mean for Corra as we simultaneously operate within existing systems whilst trying to collectively imagine and build better ones. How far can our influence extend into wider systems and how much are we influenced by them?

Corra’s financial resources could be viewed as relatively modest, compared with public authorities and some other funders, and are subject to the fluctuations in global markets. Collaborations and co-investment – which are critical to resourcing and sustaining change – are also subject to these pressures and to patterns of behaviour (influenced by strategic and funding cycles) where the value of long-term work is recognised but more difficult to fund than new ideas. Anecdotally, giving from Trusts and Foundations also reduced last year. In such circumstances it could seem logical to mirror those wider behaviours and the prevailing sense of scarcity.

What if we instead viewed this as a moment of opportunity and abundance?

A moment of opportunity to create space for people – as a counterpoint to scarcity of resources and time – to truly imagine and create better systems from the ground up.

Through Corra’s place-based work, we know that communities we are working alongside have come to expect scarcity and budget cuts. They are used to often being labelled deprived or left behind. And yet, they are also full of skills, capacities, creativity and ingenuity. What if immediate pressures can be relieved, and these abundant resources harnessed in developing the new ideas and structures need to replace broken systems?

Achieving this will require shared endeavour and genuine collaboration, it will require imagination, new ideas and the reallocation of resources.

Corra’s resources have a role in releasing that abundance. Imagine what could be achieved if others (including funders, businesses, and public bodies) choose to join us on that journey.

I’m hopeful that they will, and this blog (perhaps exercise in hope is a better term) is an attempt to find out.

So, if this sparks something for you, or you’re interested in being part of that shared journey, I’d love to hear from you.

Just drop me a line at allan@corra.scot or give me a call on 07934296458.