Sep 27, 2022
The desire to belong is a fundamental human need - to be accepted as a member of a group. Whether it's family, friends, co-workers, devotees, or something else entirely, human beings have an 'inherent' desire to belong and be a part of something greater than themselves.
But belonging is not a simple binary yes or no. To belong, or not belong, is a subjective experience that can be influenced by internal and external factors.
The pandemic both isolated and connected people across geographical and socioeconomic divides. Yet at the same time religious affiliation is declining, we’re facing an epidemic of loneliness, people are being displaced due to conflict, gentrification and climate change, and the promise of social media is now reinforcing rather than breaking down barriers between communities and groups.
Grace Lee Boggs
Every single one of us can probably think of a moment, a memory when we knew we didn’t belong. Whether you had to hide your sexual orientation from your colleagues, or had to downplay your accent or religious beliefs to fit in. Whether you were excluded or othered because of your race, gender, experience, age or disability.
The sense of belonging, whether at work, in our communities or even in our own families, has the ability to empower, to supercharge and to change the world. Belonging binds people together as a collective force. And when we exclude others the impact can have repercussions and ripples that change the course of that individual or group's entire future.
Belonging is also the gateway to innovation. It has the power to liberate ideas. It can unleash creativity by creating a space where it’s safe to take risks and be a more authentic version of yourself.
How charities design and innovate for belonging and inclusion - how we ensure beneficiaries and service users are in the writer’s room - really can change lives.
Welcome to the future of belonging and inclusion.
Anita Sands
In this article we’re focusing on the 11 biggest drivers of change when considering the future of belonging and inclusion. These are macro influences and changes that are impacting how individuals and organisations design, articulate and innovate around belonging and inclusion.
If you want to use these drivers to kick start innovation now, we recommend combining them with the dimensions of identity. Pick one identity and then work through each driver individually to see how that identity is being directly impacted by the driver of change.
Populations are on the move. People are increasingly moving between cities, countries and continents, in search of potential careers, economic opportunity, or stability that they can’t find elsewhere. Globalisation and the blurring of borders has created new avenues of migration.
Whilst the United Kingdom has always been multicultural (having historically seen large numbers of immigrants from its former colonies), net migration has been increasing since 2019 and now represents the main driver of population growth.
Communities are now having to learn how to cope with changing populations and new cultures. On the one hand, cultural exchange and new perspectives can lead to new ideas, innovation and tolerance. On the other hand, nationalism and culture clashes (real or otherwise) risk deepening social divides.
Covid-19 shone a light on the best, and worst, of UK society. Communities came together to support the most vulnerable and protect those most at risk. We connected over online pub quizzes, virtual team activities and endless Zoom and Teams meetings. We made time for loved ones, whilst we confronted our own mortality.
But pandemic lockdowns also exposed inequalities in education, living standards, labour and health. School closures disrupted the learning of children, leading to lower attainment amongst the poorest. Mental health worsened for those groups (women and younger adults) who had poorer mental health pre-pandemic. Lockdowns and social distancing particularly reduced the ability of younger, lower-earning, and less educated people to work.
As we enter the post-covid era, missed schooling and lower work experience could push up inequalities. The combined long-term implications of long-covid, high cortisol rates, lack of investment and paused screening programmes could see the NHS brought to its knees in months, not years. Whilst the positive community building seen during 2020/21 already feels like a distant memory for some groups.
In the wake of Trump’s legacy of misinformation, distrust and fake news, widespread disbelief in conventional politics and scientific evidence is now the norm. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to declare what is “true”, and what isn’t. Fake news has affected elections, referendums, and our response to the pandemic. It continues to polarise people around the world. Unsupported beliefs have taken precedence over readily identifiable truths in discussions of health, science, and politics.
The rise of “influencers” combined with algorithmic funnelling has meant that opinions shared online can potentially carry potent and real influence - no matter how ill-informed, bizarre or incorrect.
As trust and truth become increasingly fragile and decentralised - with Gen Z turning to peer-to-peer platforms like TikTok and Reddit for their news, information and facts, instead of old-school media - traditional social media is also becoming more fragmented. The TikTokification of online content is shifting content discovery away from a user’s friendship networks towards something that’s more algorithm-driven, resulting in consumers flocking to smaller, less-ad dominated platforms like Discord and Reddit.
Combined, these new technologies and new trust models have fuelled a rise in micro and niche communities and subcultures, both online and IRL. From LARPing and tabletop gaming, to sub-groups about synesthesia and UFOs (Unfinished Knitting prOjects).
The current political climate is marked by extremes. In the aftermath of Brexit and Donald Trump’s presidency we’ve seen the rise of populist, nationalist and far-right politics in most European countries. Sweden’s far-right party won a landmark victory last week and a populist far-right party just won Italy’s general election. Whilst closer to home Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng’s budget appears to continue the conservative myth of trickle down economics, rather than actively protecting the working class from the ongoing cost of living crisis. With these ongoing crises, social divides are becoming deeper than ever. With no plan in place to tackle these issues, what is stopping us from reaching new extremes?
Martin Lewis
In the past year equality and freedom have taken a body blow. Around the world, the rights of women, LGBTQ+ people, and racial and ethnic groups are being challenged. Books are being banned from schools, whilst hate rhetoric and hate crimes are on the rise.
Despite movements like BLM and #MeToo, we’ve seen the reversal of Roe v. Wade, a “Don’t Say Gay” bill that is reminiscent of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, and a crime bill in the UK that borders on authoritarian. With Liz Truss’ plan to repeal the Equality Act, it’s clear this pattern stands to continue. Identity, self-expression and the freedoms many have been enjoyed for the last 2+ decades are under attack from an increasingly vocal and influential conservative minority.
Protest movements are going global. We’re in an era of new activism, with countless landmark protests happening over the past years. With constant access to all the information in the world at their fingertips, people (particularly younger generations), are becoming more informed and involved in social movements. From Black Lives Matter and Extinction Rebellion, to anti-mask and -vax marches and the Capitol Insurrection after Biden’s election, groups across the political spectrum are standing up for their rights, and their opinions.
The term ‘woke’ is at the centre of many of the fiercest political and cultural debates at the moment. Some people say being woke is a sign of awareness to social issues, others whip out the term as an insult. Where once ‘woke’ was used to describe being alert to racial or social discrimination and injustice, now the term has been weaponised as part of the culture wars.
For the first time in decades there is war in Europe. The European identity as a peaceful one that has developed past the need for war, has been challenged. The image we have of refugees as ‘other’ is being challenged. Institutions like the European Union and NATO are being challenged, with people questioning the power of the bodies meant to protect them. Over the coming years, during and after this conflict, Europeans will need to redefine how they see themselves fitting into the global community.
For most Millennials, Gen X and Gen Alpha, they’ve lived through an unprecedented period of economic certainty and stability, with historically long periods of low inflation and low interest rates. Households who were previously getting by comfortably; switching providers, managing their budgets, are suddenly in a position where they simply can’t afford to heat their homes and feed their families.
Escalating inflation, rising interest rates, fuel bills doubled from their 2020 figures (and that’s with new government caps). Brits are seeking leadership and change, at a time when the Conversative party was more focused on their own popularity contest. New radical movements like Enough is Enough and Don’t Pay UK are stepping into the void, offering extreme alternatives to traditional politics.
The passing of Queen Elizabeth II brings to a close the second Elizabethan era. A period of great change and upheaval, but also surprising stability in the face of challenge. As King Charles III takes to the throne, the monarchy has to contend with not one, but potentially two independence referendums (Scotland and Wales) and a declining political situation in Northern Ireland. Plus an increasing number of countries planning referendums on whether to become republics, and challenges to the future role of the Commonwealth and its connection to the British monarchy. How the modern monarchy chooses to navigate these pivots could well decide its fate as an institution.