Connecting Through Sharing?

In the face of economic stagnation and poor local conditions, a group in Norwich has decided to take action in pursuit of a future based on hope, solutions, and global connections. At the beginning of 2018, city residents and local organizations came together and began campaigning for Norwich to be recognized as the UK's leading city for sharing. [...]

“For me, the sharing city concept is an opportunity to look closely at how communities, towns, and cities work and how they might operate in the future. The next generations are starting to shape their culture and environment in ways that reflect how they feel about their society,” says Stefan Gurney, executive director of Norwich's Business Improvement District, an organization working as part of the collective. “We see the sharing city as a real opportunity for people, communities, and businesses to work together in new and innovative ways.”

It all started on a rainy day in Brighton, UK, back in May 2012. I heard that the social enterprise A Good Company was running an initiative called A Good Week, a seven day showcase of good people doing good things to make the world a better place. Inspired by their efforts, I decided it would be fun to run a day focusing on sharing—and National Sharing Day was born.

Using feedback we received [after the event], from the 165 original Global Sharing Day partners, we decided to schedule all future Global Sharing Days on the first Sunday in June of each year, involve big partners such as the UK's Big Lunch, and engage a network of over 70 million people in 192 countries.

But behind the big numbers and the success lies another story: The truth is that we haven't had it easy as a volunteer‑run organization with no funders. It requires a lot of hard work with little thanks. We don't spend time filling in endless grant forms; instead we take action and find ways to get things done without cash. It means that a small group of dedicated volunteers spend countless days and nights working to make Global Sharing Day happen. I spent three years without a salary and my hunch is that people think we have a pot of cash supporting us because we've achieved so much in such a short period of time and we're popular with the media. On one hand I wish that were true, but on the other I'm glad that through everything we've accomplished we've lived the values of the sharing economy we seek to make mainstream.