Our thinking

Collective intelligence in a time of crisis

12 June, 2020

We all know there are help, advice and how-to guides in abundance out there, but often it can be hard to know where to start. What if you could find a recipe – a step by step guide to creating something better, which includes all the ingredients for success?  

Well, our friends at Catalyst have done just that and are helping charities to work together and share their knowledge around common services and practices by creating online virtual ‘recipes’. So far, they have created 22, and each ‘recipe’ acts as a practical guide to help charities learn from one another during the COVID-19 crisis. The topics range from providing group support sessions online by We Are With You, to facilitating remote outdoor activities for young people to reduce social isolation and loneliness by Barnardo’s.  

This project is targeted at charities that are looking for inspiration, or straight-forward advice on challenges that many charities are currently facing. During times of crisis and emergency, it is easy for collaboration and sharing of best practice to fall by the wayside – ironically, when it is most needed, so this is a great and easy solution for bringing together collective intelligence in a way that we are all familiar with. We suggest charity organisations reading this Friday 5 get involved and share their own ‘recipes’ for success.  

In a global crisis, sharing collective intelligence could not be more important and will be a significant factor in our ability to find new solutions to tackle common challenges as we navigate through this time together. We hope this mindset and ambition to make the sharing of open-source knowledge easier will continue in a post-COVID world. 

By Gemma Coate