This contribution is part of our series of blog posts by students at MCI | The Entrepreneurial School^®. The views expressed are those of the students themselves and are intended to inform and stimulate discourse.

Introduction & Problem Statement

In cooperation with Caritas, the municipality of Rinn is developing a neighborhood network with the potential to become a "caring community". However, it is unclear whether there is a need for this network and what it should look like. Therefore, an initial needs analysis was carried out in the municipality.

The concept of caring communities is a culture of solidarity and support that creates a sense of belonging among all residents through a close-knit network of relationships, services and care. A caring community is made up of different population groups that complement and support each other. It is crucial that all population groups, with their different challenges and abilities, are recognized.

A key issue that the project in Rinn and similar "caring community projects" are addressing is demographic ageing. Informal care and support from family and friends is an important issue, as it enables the elderly population to lead a self-determined life in their familiar surroundings for as long as possible. On the contrary, urbanization and individualization trends are leading to greater distances between family members and an increase in single-person households. In addition, the increasing incompatibility of informal care tasks and work can become a considerable burden for family caregivers. These challenges create an urgent need for action and raise the question of innovative and low-threshold support models and a general rethink. The question now is not only how to deal with people in need of help, but also what active health promotion can look like at a local level. A healthy neighborhood is a good approach, as it contains health-promoting potential due to social networking and mutual support.

Consequently, the aim of our project was to identify the needs, desires, resources, and potentials present in the community. Building on this, sustainable and long-term concepts and structures can be developed that lead to a solidarity-based caring and supportive community. This leads to the research question: “Which aspects and dimensions must be considered when promoting care communities through municipalities and other social agencies to meet people's needs and foster active participation and sustainability?"

Methods

The methods chosen were qualitative and quantitative methods through interviews and questionnaire. For the purpose of needs assessment, a semi-standardized questionnaire was developed and a street survey was conducted. In preparation for this, thirteen questions were formulated to comprehensively cover the areas of interest as infrastructure in Rinn or the interests of the population. In addition to the surveys, expert interviews were conducted. The questions for these interviews were derived from the literature review and the results of the questionnaire survey. Furthermore, they were tailored to the individuals being interviewed. All topics discussed in the interviews were closely aligned with the interests of the project partner. It is important to mention that the definition of "experts" does not necessarily require an academic or scientific qualification. The experts chosen are individuals who possess extensive or specialized knowledge in a certain area or on a specific topic. The experts for the interviews were carefully selected to gain various perspectives and insights into village life as well as into different institutions.

Results

While the interests of the general population in Rinn emerge from the questionnaire, the interviews already show some fields of action and concrete ideas as to how the network can be implemented in Rinn. As can be seen from the questionnaire, the level of awareness of the project among the younger population is significantly lower than among the older population. The interviews show that the dissemination of information needs to be optimized to reach all population groups. In order to identify possible needs and be able to implement suitable offers of help, these must be specified and coordinated in a targeted manner. 

According to some interviewees, the motivation to participate in the network must come directly from the population, but the framework conditions and offers must be provided by the municipality. These should be as wide-ranging and low-threshold as possible. The questionnaire revealed that the young population in particular is willing to participate in one of the proposed offers, which represents a high potential in the municipality.

What also emerged in the interviews is the fact that suggestions for offers must come from individual citizens as well as from the municipality or other organizations. This allows the need for citizen satisfaction to be determined, but also creates space to develop a broader offer through external suggestions. For example, a meeting place is missing, a place where community can be lived. More than half of the population would like to see more street festivals.

According to the interviewees, the will for more community and the potential for the network exists in many aspects, but the population must be actively involved in the planning and preparation in order to make the offers sustainable. Furthermore, attention must be paid to the different generations and the approach to reach everyone and respond to their needs. 

Conclusion

After extensive research, data analysis, and discussion of the results, the research question can be answered as follows: What is now required from municipality and Caritas to enable the creation of a support network is to provide a framework. Caring Community is the opposite of one-sided supply-demand relationships between the community and the population. However, for the emergence of bottom-up initiatives, a certain level of offerings is necessary to inspire and motivate people to become active themselves. The following outlines some areas of action based on the surveys in Rinn and gathers various ideas that could be relevant for the further process of the "FÜREINANDERDASEIN" network, as the caring community project is called in Rinn.

As a basis for the "FÜREINANDERDASEIN" network, it could be important to define own goals and steps and to talk about own values. The idea of building a caring community not as one project (among many), but to define it as an ongoing process that frames everything else, could help in achieving a deeper understanding. Furthermore, it is also very important to involve younger generations as well. The project's offerings must be made attractive and accessible to all generations. Another key point is to improve exchange and networking within the community, taking into account various communication channels. Additionally, it might be helpful to assemble a dedicated team that serves as the central hub of the network. Once responsibilities within the team are clarified, effectively communicating these roles externally is crucial.

To create a framework that allows for locally growing community and care cultures and promotes participation, there is also a need to get the network space to develop. Importantly, building a caring community involves not only the meso level of municipal and institutional engagement and the micro level of citizen involvement but also the macro level of state and federal policy, particularly in securing funding and distributing welfare mandates. Building a caring community network is a process that takes time, where each small step that strengthens the community is a success.

Further links on the topic:

• Füreinanderdasein Netzwerk Rinn: here & here
• Zamm.Wachsen Stubaital: here & here

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