Here is the practical side of our work — the exercises, methods, and frameworks that help us listen better, design thoughtfully, and work more effectively. From listening practices to co-design techniques, these posts highlight the tools that support meaningful collaboration and reflection in community settings.
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Learnings around Governance
by Matilde Zadig Subgroups - local and small operational decisions Subgroups should be empowered and trusted to make the decisions they see fit, as long as this serves the purpose and fits within the...
By Belong in Plymouth

Learnings Around Decision Making
by Matilde Zadig Emergence Changes are integral to emergence. The balance between policies/systems and everyday decisions can easily become a challenge. In BIP, the people involved, the group or organ...
By Belong in Plymouth
How Do We Make Decisions Differently (Better) – and Keep Practising?
by Matilde Zadig I want to start with an expression of gratitude and acknowledgement for some of the people who have profoundly contributed to my understanding of Flow and internal systems within a gr...
By Belong in Plymouth

How to Practice Money Piles
Conditions that support money piles: – Enough of a level of psychological and material safety for the people participating to share their stories and needs with vulnerability and honesty – A contain...
By Belong in Plymouth

Money Piles: Finances are Relational
by Matilde Zadig Money Piles have come to me through Dominic Barter (sometimes also called Financial Co-responsibility) and Miki Kashtan*. I’ve practiced them regularly in one of my intentional house...
By Belong in Plymouth

Listening at scale: How we used AI in a project about human interaction
Belong in Plymouth has always been about people — their voices, their ideas, and their connections to this city. Over three years, two powerful streams of work emerged. And when it came time to reflec...
By James Huggins

Three-Way Sharing
This is a structured technique for deep listening and collaborative insight gathering. It involves three roles
By Matt Bell

Ball of Wool Exercise
An interactive activity used within a circle to visually demonstrate and solidify collective connections and contributions. As people offer ideas or contributions to a shared goal (e.g., planning a ce...
By Matt Bell

Storytelling
A foundational approach used across various aspects of the work to create connection, provide context and meaning, and articulate vision. It was central to the Community Researchers' method of gatheri...
By Matt Bell

Multi-agency workshops
Events designed to bring together diverse participants from various sectors and roles (e.g., psychologists, GPs, city council, healthcare professionals, artists, service users, local residents, young ...
By Matt Bell

Cover Story Mock-up
An engaging activity designed to transform ideas into concrete, inspiring proposals by having groups imagine their successful solution as a front-page newspaper story. Participants articulate their pr...
By Matt Bell

Open Collective, Airtable and Xero
A combination of digital tools used to manage the financial aspects of the programme with a commitment to radical transparency and accountability. Airtable was used for displaying overall numbers and ...
By Matt Bell