Social Capital
What is social capital?
Social capital is the social glue that helps people, organisations and communities to work together. It comes from everyday contact between people, as a result of their forming social connections and networks based on trust, shared values and reciprocity ( or give and take ).
'Social capital refers to the institutions, relationships, and norms
that shape the quality and quantity of a society's social interactions... Social capital is not just the sum of the institutions which underpin a society - it is the glue that holds them together' (The World Bank 1999).
As the philosopher David Hume put it:
'Your corn is ripe to-day; mine will be so to-morrow. 'Tis profitable for us both, that I shou'd labour with you to-day, and that you shou'd aid me to-morrow'
Or as the American baseball player, Yoggi Berra proclaimed:
'If you don't come to somebody's funeral, they wont come to yours'
Read more about social capital in the street level guide produced by North East Social Forum ‘Connected and Collected: An easy guide to social capital downloadable here or in hard copy (multi copies available) from the Community Foundation
Does social capital matter?
Thee is lots of evidence to show that communities rich in social capital are successful in all sorts of ways. For example:
- Crime is lower in places where people know their neighbours
- When parents take an active interest in their child's school, the teachers try harder and the children do better
- People who are active in their communities are often more tolerant, less cynical and have fewer prejudices than those who are not.
- Connected communities usually find it easier to resolve collective problems
As the World Bank put it:
‘Increasing evidence shows that social capital is critical for societies to prosper economically and for development to be sustainable'
In other words, there is a link between building stronger communities and economic prosperity.
What is social capital like in the North East?
At the inaugural regional conference on social capital held in Newcastle in 2006, it was suggested that the North East lags behind building social capital. This has been refuted by Katie Schmuecker in a report published by ippr north ‘Social capital in the North East: How Do We Measure Up'.
The primary conclusion is that the North East has similar levels of social capital to the rest of the country. In terms of people's views of their local area and their level of trust in neighbours, Parliament, local authorities and people in general, the North East is similar to the British average and most other regions
The North East also emerges from this analysis as exceptional in some respects:
- Sixty two per cent of North Easterners report meeting with relatives at least once a week, significantly more than the national average (49 per cent) and each of the Southern English regions.
- North Easterners are also significantly more likely to speak to their neighbours at least once a week (80 per cent) compared to a national average of 74 per cent, and a London region average of 63 per cent.These family and neighbourly contacts provide evidence of ‘strong communities' and strong social support networks.
The findings could also signify exclusive and inward looking communities, and a low level of geographic mobility. The challenge for policy makers is to preserve the positive aspects of strong communities while increasing the opportunities open to people.
The full report is downloadable here
North East Gets Healthy, Wealthy and Wise 
The highlight of our work on social capital so far is 'Healthy Wealthy and Wise' conference held in June 2008 at the Discovery Museum when Robert Putman, author of best selling 'Bowling Alone' gave a scintillating address and dicussion about his work (It scored a straight 'excellent' in the post conference evaluation!).
It was described by one of the delegates as "the most thought provoking conference I've ever been to". If you weren't able to get there, download the report here.
Empowering Communities And Building Social Capital The Austrian Way
The State Government of Vorarlberg (with a similar population to Newcastle) has been promoting community empowerment on planning, environmental and wellbeing issues since 1999 when it established Büro für Zukunftsfragen - which literally translated means The Office for Future Questions.
The Büro is especially keen to empower local people in the devolved arrangements for local government which is the Austrian way of involving local people and building social capital. The Büro reports directly to the State Governor and undertakes a series of projects and campaigns on his behalf.
Read more about the Büro's work from a presentation given by Dr Manfred Hellrigl in Newcastle and Darlington in March 2009 by clicking here.
Social Capital at the Community Foundation
We've become increasingly interested in how our grants build social capital at local level. The vast majority of our grants support small community groups that in different ways create social capital and build stronger communities.
Some communities just buzz. For example, presentations to North East Social Capital Forum from area as different as Allendale and Cowpen, Blyth show that social regeneration can happen in all sorts of communities. How can we distill and reproduce these examples of good practice?
For the past three years the Community foundation has held a series of seminars and presentations about social capital to debate how Robert Putnam's ideas can be put into practice. To join the mailing list or to find out about future events click here.
