About the Relationships Project
How are we to heal divided communities, to respect difference, trade fairly, care for the displaced, respond to crises, or share the natural world? How are we to live together?
More than ever, the big questions that we face are all about relationships. Their substance and quality will determine the direction and quality of our lives.
Wider society, meanwhile, has been moving in the wrong direction: we network and transact as never before but being well connected is not the same as connecting well. Meaningful time together has been displaced by fast and shallow connection.
We value competition, individualism, speed and scale rather than effective relationships, collaboration and the common good. Our organisations have become more remote and less human as these attitudes are wired into every aspect of our lives.
We can do better. Covid and lockdown has shown us all that our health and happiness, as individuals and as communities, is built from the aggregation of our personal relationships. We could build a better society, an equitable economy, effective government, flourishing businesses, successful services, happy, healthy, thriving communities if we put relationships first.
Strong relationships are not a frilly accessory in a happy neighborhood, a thriving school, an effective health service, a flourishing business, or a strong and cohesive society. They are the making of it all.
Working towards a world of good relationships, wherever we are and whatever we do, is simple common sense. We want to make it common practice.
What we’re doing
We believe in the power of relationships, so relationships are at the heart of how we work. We listen, learn and collaborate with others who share our belief in the importance of relationships. We then translate this learning into a shared vision and practical resources, helping everyone, everywhere to nurture good relationships.
CONNECT
Creating spaces for connection and shared learning about relationships
UNDERSTAND
Bottling all that we learn about building a world of good relationships
EMBED
Translating the learning into practical tools for putting relationships first
Strengthening the field of relationship-centred practice
Lots of people in lots of different spaces are doing amazing work around building better relationships, but the connections between these nodes are often weak or non-existent. We’re teaming up with others who are passionate about the importance of good relationships to join up the jots and create more than the sum of our parts.
Drawing on our insights from over 100 conversations in 2021 and with the support of the National Lottery Community fund (you can read our application here) we’re focusing our efforts on helping to develop the infrastructure to support a thriving field of relationship-centred practice (find out about our 2 year plan here).
This infrastructure will:
- Connect people who work in ways that prioritise and promote good relationships by creating opportunities to share, learn and collaborate
- Grow momentum, energy and funding for relationship-centred practice across the field and beyond, including amongst those who are sceptical of relationship-centred practice
What do we mean by relationship-centred practice?
Relationship-Centred Practice (RCP) puts relationships first. It unlocks potential and meets need by positioning meaningful and effective relationships as the first order goal, both an end in itself and the means by which other goals will be achieved (like better health, stronger communities, greater job satisfaction)
RCP is determined as much by the policy environment and organisational protocols as by the characteristics and values of the practitioner. For RCP to become widespread and embedded there needs to be focus, intention, investment and support at multiple layers of an organisation, a community or a system.
Our dreams and vision
At the turning of the year
In brief In this reflective piece, David Robinson looks back at the lessons we have learned in 2020 and what they might mean for the year ahead. Running off-road Politicians and policy people have always loved roadmaps, and so do many managers. It makes the journey...
Changing for good
In brief In this blog, originally written for and published by Nesta, David asks the question:What can we do to keep the community spirit that was amplified by lockdown alive and make 2020 the year we changed for good? Some of us have suffered loss in recent months....
Building Back Better
In brief In this short blog, David takes stock of what we've learnt from The Relationships Observatory and offers a positive reflection on what we take forward as we rebuild. This blog has also been published as part of Compass's #BuildBackBetter series. 750,000...
The team
We’re a small core team supported by a wonderful network of associates and collaborators.
David Robinson
I not only believe it’s possible to build a better world by building better relationships, I see no other way. My background is in community development, helping to turn ideas into action and action into learning. I now work mostly with the Relationships Project.
Talk to me if:
You’re interested in practice learning and evidence and on sharing the lessons and the stories with policy makers as well as practitioners. Practitioner communities? An interdisciplinary learning network? Stats and stories that build the case? New ideas or good old community work with love and a tea pot? I’d love to hear from you.
Immy Robinson
Immy (no relation to David!) works full time at The Relationships Project. Her background is in research and service design in the voluntary sector. Outside of work she’s a keen amateur jockey and can often be found hurtling around muddy fields on horseback.
Talk to me if:
Interested in co-hosting an event? Creating a toolkit? Supporting a community of practice? I’d love to help! Wondering how to navigate our work? Wanting to share something with our network? Or just interested in learning more about what we do? I’m always up for a chat!
Read Immy’s posts on the blog.
Rosa Friend
Rosa works at The Relationships Project two days a week. She’s spent the last ten years designing and growing programmes that enable good relationships and strengthen community ties. Much of that work was with The Cares Family: piloting programmes that supported community leaders and councils to put relationships first, and connecting older and younger neighbours in Liverpool, Manchester and London. On days she’s not with the Relationships Project, Rosa writes fiction.
Talk to me if:
Do you want to connect with others who are putting relationships first? Do you have a challenge you’re working through, or hard-won best practice to share? Do you want to know more about the Relationship Project’s tools and resources and their practical application? I’d love to chat with you.
Neil Denton
Neil believes there is an energy within disagreement and conflict that can be a powerful force for positive change. He helps communities in conflict to find ways to solve real life problems and strengthen human relationships. He is a leader in community mediation and conflict transformation, an Independent Community Mediator, and a Professor in Practice with the After Disasters Network at Durham University. He is co-author of The Sense of Connection and the Bridge Builder’s Handbook.
Talk to me if:
Are you interested in building bridges across divides, in conflict transformation, or in reframing resilience as relational? Looking for someone to talk about the big, complex challenges of our time and how relationships offer a way forward? Or in exploring what academia can offer to the field of relationship-centred practice? I’d love to chat!
Read Neil’s posts on the blog.
The Relationships Collective
The Relationships Collective is a group of 9 servant leaders who together represent just some of the brilliant, enthusiastic, creative and diverse people who are putting relationships first and pioneering a relationship-centred future. From January 2023 – July 2024, The Relationships Collective met regularly to turbocharge our work building and strengthening the field of relationship-centred practice. While our formal work together has come to an end, Collective members continue to inspire and support us.
Collaborators
We’re hugely grateful to our network of collaborators who have fed in to our thinking at various points in time, and who continue to do so.
Observatory Contributors
We’re grateful to all those who have shared their insights about the effect of the pandemic on our relationships through The Relationships Observatory and The Lookout
Side by Side members
We’re grateful to all of the wonderful people who took part in Side by Side, sharing their experiences of building strong communities and helping to create The Community Weaver’s Companion
Relational Councils Network
We’re thankful for all of the people who work in and with local authorities who have helped us develop our understanding of what it means to be a relational council
Contributors to the blog
We’re grateful to everyone who has shared their thoughts, insights and experiences about relationships and relationship-centred practice by contributing to the blog
Get involved
Looking for support to make your place more relationship-centred? Or interested in collaborating with us in some way? We’d love to hear from you! Drop us a line at hello@relationshipsproject.com
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We’re grateful to our funders and partners for their continued support. If you’re interested in supporting the Relationships Project, we’d love to hear from you.
