Online International Community Building

Creating Connection, Offering Guidance, Driving Change Together

In today’s fast-changing world, it is important that organisations and individuals have the right tools with which to respond effectively. One-off projects and events are important for bringing people together and generating ideas that move organisations forward. However, the real challenge begins afterwards, when connections and ideas are not always followed through. This is precisely where building (online) communities comes in.

These forums bridge the gap between ideas and implementation as well as empower people through a sense of belonging, access to knowledge and shared goals. In addition, they provide emotional and practical support. Sustainable communities are built on shared values, trust, continuity, and shared experiences over an extended period of time. At the same time, participation should not demand too much time, energy or technical resources. For this reason, it is important to assign clear roles, develop culturally sensitive and inclusive formats, and provide technical support to sustain them.

What RADI Offers

RADI supports networks of individuals and organisations to identify their shared purpose and develop a workable approach. For this, RADI supports hybrid opportunities for communication that combine in-person and online interaction. Rather than focus being solely on the ideal online platform, RADI’s wider vision is to create opportunities for people to meet, share ideas and work together effectively, while ensuring that the networks’ impact is truly sustainable.

Our approach is shaped by decades of practical experience in facilitation and process support, systemic thinking, gender-sensitive practice, and informed by leading methodologies from these fields, including the Art of Hosting, Theory U, and Capacity WORKS. Community doesn’t just happen on its own; it requires safe spaces, regular input, dedicated facilitators and forms of participation that can adapt to needs of specific groups, whether across languages, time zones, technical capabilities and levels of engagement.

Working With Us

We support clients through the process of building or further developing their community – from needs analysis, defining goals and roles, and selecting formats to onboarding and ongoing facilitation. We use the group’s shared time for what is particularly valuable in a synchronous setting: building relationships, establishing trust and implementing solutions. We delegate tasks that can be effectively prepared or documented asynchronously.  

We work with trusted formats in the field of facilitation such as Open Space, World Café, Pro Action Café, storytelling salons and peer-to-peer consultation and learning. We design digital spaces around the needs of the target group. Depending on the resources available to clients and participants, these spaces can be built around familiar, easy-to-use tools, drawing on existing cloud services, messaging apps or social media channels. They can also be developed as more structured environments using learning platforms, forums or open-source tools.

References

Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB)

Facilitating and establishing a global exchange network among metrology institutions on gender issues

Don Bosco Mondo

Implementing participatory global exchange initiatives conducted as part of an international evaluation.