A sense of place: how to create community in a fractured world

Recorded at the Battle of Ideas festival 2024 on Sunday 20 October at Church House, Westminster.

ORIGINAL INTRODUCTION

Research by The Belonging Forum has identified a widespread crisis of loneliness and social isolation in the UK. One in 10 people in the UK say they have no close friends. And friendship appears to matter: just 34 per cent of those who are not satisfied with the quality of their friendships are satisfied with their life, half the level for those satisfied with their friendships.

Newspapers frequently run headlines about the problem and dangers of loneliness,.  However, this new research reveals that the problem goes beyond loneliness, with people losing their connection to places, struggling to find a purpose, and losing trust in systems of power. The challenge, in short, is a deficit of belonging.

The groups most affected were perhaps surprising, with young women, renters, people with disabilities standing out alongside older people. For example, nearly half (48 per cent) of young people aged 18 to 34 reported feeling anxious the day before, with this figure halving for those over 55 (25 per cent).

Geographically, the research found people in neighbourhoods in UK cities reported experiencing loneliness, in spite of appearing to be surrounded by all that a city offers. Social isolation and generational tensions, as well as debates over inadequate housing and decaying high streets, are a persistent feature of our national conversation. High levels of immigration and the nature of transient urban communities, with people moving long distances for work, require us to redouble our commitments to building and maintaining community bonds and social fabric. But is this happening?

While sharing the same local geographic space, many age, identity and demographic cohorts seem to live parallel lives that can undermine shared outlooks and values. Increasingly, local and international tensions – defined more by differences than by a sense of belonging – have been an increasing feature of some communities’ experience.

How can we transcend such fragmentation and regain a sense of belonging and cohesion? Big events like Glastonbury, the King’s Coronation and the Euros tapped into a sense that people still want to be a part of something bigger than themselves, and to share collective moments – however fleeting.

Have we stopped identifying with the places in which we live, whether that be our local town or village, or with the country itself and its values? Does social media and online algorithms result in communities based on interests and ideologies? Do we lack the institutions – such as churches, trades unions, pubs and social clubs – that, in the past, played a big role in socialising the young and bringing people together? How can we avoid community being replaced by communities, to view ourselves and others as equal citizens rather than as members of cultural tribes or isolated individuals? Or should we be more optimistic about the forging of new solidarities as communities change and join together in new ways?

SPEAKERS
Dave Clements
writer and policy advisor; contributing co-editor The Future of Community

William Clouston
party leader, Social Democratic Party

Abbot Christopher Jamison
Abbot President, English Benedictine Congregation; author, Finding the Language of Grace: rediscovering transcendence

Michael Merrick
director of schools, Diocese of Lancaster; former teacher; education and social commentator

Kim Samuel
founder, the Belonging Forum; author, On Belonging: Finding Connection in an Age of Isolation; educator; activist

CHAIR
Dr Tiffany Jenkins
writer and broadcaster; author, Strangers and Intimates (forthcoming) and Keeping Their Marbles