We support active people who want to make positive changes in their local communities. We encourage people who are engaging others in community activities, building bridges and growing trust, focusing on what local communities can do for themselves, and strengthening residents’ bond to the local landscape.
WHAT WE SUPPORT
In the Our Community program, we support projects that:
- focus on a place-based community – a neighborhood, district, village or town
- engage local residents in developing and carrying out community activities (e.g., through community work parties, public involvement in planning, etc.)
- have a long-term impact
- build bridges between residents (including newcomers and long-term residents)
- are in harmony with the environment
- are non-commercial
- introduce something new to the local community (e.g., not traditional one-day festivals or events that are already taking place repeatedly in the community)
TYPES OF SUPPORTED PROJECTS
COMMUNITY GATHERING PLACES
We support people working collaboratively to create community gathering places, community centers and gardens, or to improve existing community open spaces - all with the aim of supporting more shared events and interaction between local residents.
LANDSCAPE RESTORATION
We support local landscape stewards - groups who are e.g. planting trees, restoring small woods, creating ponds, cleaning natural springs, maintaining heritage trees, mowing meadows, engaging in community bee keeping or enhancing the landscape in other ways.
BUILDING BRIDGES BETWEEN NEIGHBORS
We support people organizing neighborhood meetings and community festivals, holding non-commercial cultural events involving local people and guided walks.
BENEFIT EVENTS
We support people raising funds for a local organization or individual in need, where the fundraiser event has a community focus - i.e. it is place-based and and engages the local public.
STEWARDSHIP OF LOCAL HISTORY
We support citizen-led restoration of small monuments, mapping of history and revival of forgotten local traditions, revitalization of interpretative trails and information boards, etc.
community planning
We support e.g. community planning of public space improvements, surveys, discussions and consultations with experts, commissioning of studies or expert documents to support community activities.
DEFENDING LOCAL PUBLIC INTERESTS
We support people addressing pressing local issues, providing support for e.g. planning and organizing information campaigns, petitions or referenda, commissioning expert opinions, legal services, litigation costs, consultations with experts, etc.
YOUNG PHILANTHROPISTS
We support groups of young changemakers who are making a difference by e.g. organizing fundraisers for local organizations or individuals in need, restoring open space, planting trees or supporting their communities in other creative ways.