Social Capital and Community Readiness

Why is this important?

The indicator report is a tool to help the community answer the question “What are the challenges Park Rapids faces and how do we utilize our assets to overcome them?” The first four sections of this report (People and Talent, Economics and Prosperity, Community Wellness and Safety, and Livability) are focused on answering the what portion of this question. Social Capital and Community Readiness addresses how. Through methodology identified by the University of Minnesota’s Extension study titled “Readiness for Engagement: A Qualitative Investigation of Community Social Capacity” leaders and community members of Park Rapids were surveyed to identify the strengths and weaknesses in the community’s social capital by answering questions relating to four key areas identified in the Extension study:

• Bonding Networks: creating links between people with similar
  backgrounds.
• Bridging Networks: creating links between people with dissimilar
  backgrounds.
• Linking: The communities connections between citizens and organizations
  or systems that help them bring about change. These networks
  occur when citizens trust their leadership and are able to engage
  those leaders.
• Leadership Energy: Leadership that looks beyond the past to envision
  the future of the community.

Download a copy of “Readiness for Engagement: A Qualitative Investigation of Community Social Capital”     Click here to visit the University of Minnesota Extension’s website. View a copy of the Park Rapids Community Readiness Survey.

How is Park Rapids doing?

This community is set up for success. Park Rapids has a relatively high level of social capacity and community readiness that will allow the community to thrive in the future. Despite weaknesses in certain communication networks, the balance represented in Park Rapids will allow initiatives that are directed at long-term change to succeed.

	Click on any colored cube to see a larger version of all four.
We need stronger connections between individuals and institutions that are different from each other. Although we have strong connections between people and institutions of similar backgrounds, our connections between people with different backgrounds and groups with different missions are not as strong. While this issue challenges nearly all communities, the payoff in community progress, if done right, is huge.
	Connections between leaders and their constituencies are good but could be improved. A high level of trust between leaders and citizens allows tough issues to be addressed effectively. While the Park Rapids community has a reasonably high level of trust, improvement can be made.
Our community leaders have the energy to lead! Park Rapids leaders are looking forward and are open minded about the future of this community.

What can we do about this?

• Address major future issues by creating new bridges between people of different backgrounds and institutions with different missions. New issues and opportunities can be a good excuse to enhance the community’s bridging capacity.

• Explore new ways to link leaders/decision-makers with constituencies. This is a perennial question for all leaders. How do you create the relationship needed with a constituency to effectively lead? Telecommunication technology allows those connections to be made in ways not even imagined a few years ago. We ought to explore how to make it work for us.

How to get involved…

Progress Park Rapids is committed to being the organization that will make raising social capital and over all community readiness a priority. By increasing the connections between organizations in our community with different goals and people in our community with each other, their leaders, and resources, Park Rapids will be able to ensure success in coming decades.

To contact Progress Park Rapids:

Click here to visit the Progress Park Rapids home page.

Introduction | People and Talent | Economics and Prosperity | Community Wellness and Safety | Livability
Social Capital and Community Readiness | How to Get Involved | Sources and Links