MICA

Mu.SA International Community Activators

Cultural Digital
Community
Handbook
Do's and don'ts to create and activate a digital cultural community
Contents

01 Part One 22 Part Seven

What is a Cultural
community? professionals’
community
04 Part Two Manifesto
A community idea:
from Mu.SA to MICA

06 Part Three
Let's talk about
online communities

10 Part Four
“The Healthy
Community”

16 Part Five
Communities
benefits and how to
exploit them

20 Part Six
How to build a
community: MICA
case study
 So, what Part One

exactly is a
community?

In its simplest form, it’s a group of people with something in

common. That shared factor could be family, geography, faith, race,
or life stage. It could also be an overlapping interest, passion, or
profession. Being part of an engaging community gives us a sense
of belonging. It enables us to share personal relatedness and
support perpetual growth of each other, ourselves, and our
environment. A community can be anything from a physical place
where geographically people connect, or via a virtual space such as
social media groups or private community platforms. Communities
bring like-minded people together with similar characteristics and
common interests.

Communities are inherently about relationships with others and a

feeling of connectedness, which have a major impact on mental
health.
Without community, people may feel more isolated and lonely.
One of the ways we can strengthen our mental health is by building
community and creating social connections and support to have
more vulnerable conversations.

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"A community is a type of organization that brings
people together and makes them
feel part of something.
It gives them an identity that they share with pride.
It also provides a structure to trust each other, to
collaborate better and to build
more meaningful relationships."

Fabian Pfortmüller, creator of COMMUNITY CANVAS and founder of

Toghether Institute

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By creating spaces where open dialogue is safe and encouraged,
people can deepen their understanding of each other, face
challenges together, and find the support they need to get through
difficult times.

The main drivers for MICA participants are: feeling part of a group,
giving and receiving support, sharing, growing, and facing
challenges together.

Answers from participants to Work Café #3 – facilitated by Lana Jelenjev_ community alchemist
and facilitator

The feelings that drive people to be part of a community express a

sense of
multiplying power that returns the beauty of the human being and
makes truly
believe in change through coming together.

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A community Part Two

idea: from Mu.Sa

to MICA

The idea of the community in the MICA project comes as a response

to an urgent need shared by a group of people aspiring for change,
growth, and challenge in the cultural sector.
In the summer of 2020, some participants in the European project
Mu.Sa - Museums Sector Alliance, dedicated to training on digital
skills for museum professionals came into contact and shared the
desire to combine their resources, skills, and planning as a strategic
lever to change.

Job individualism can generate a sense of frustration, and

participants expressed the desire to combine the individual
professional growth through trainings and workshops to a
community dimension.

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n response to the sometimes short-sighted look at the public policy
on cultural issues, professionals aim at the form of a community to
influence those same policies by which they feel unheard.
We can consider this case like a bottom-up process and the need
for professionals is expressed through the writing of the European
project MICA-Mu.SA International Community Activators.

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Let's talk about Part Three

online
communities

Before starting the step – by step guide, it’s important to ask

ourselves two questions when creating a digital community:
• Why should I engage the community online?
• What's the best platform to do it with?
Digital offers a strategic solution for people living in different cities
and countries.
The digital acceleration that occurred during the pandemic period
helped people to embrace the online dimension as a possible
solution.
At the time of the MICA project, people were used to using the
videocall.

At the same time, the

issue of digital
accessibility should
never be
underestimated: digital
literacy, access to an
efficient Internet
network, and the
availability of a good
device are conditions
that should never be
underestimated when
experiencing the online dimension in a group

"Digital isn’t a surrogate but a strategic tool for certain contexts!"

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How to build an online community

✓ Choose a platform for your community

✓ Set up your community
✓ Begin a soft launch
✓ Promote your community
✓ Create different channels – groups
✓ Assign to specific people the role of the communication
manager
✓ Activate the community with regular posts and announcements
✓ Feedback on other’s posts is essential
Making a decision on what platform to use for your community is
the first step.
There are "free" platforms like Facebook and Twitter, which offer
community-like features. In the case of the MICA community, after
some explorations in Welo platform (which is a nice graphical
digital environment to meet with other, but lacks in
communication features), we decided to set up the community
online in the Slack platform.

In the case of MICA, during Work Cafés, participants met with

online community experts to explore and learn about platforms
and apps available in the market and figure out which "place"
might be best for them.

During the Workcafes, the invited keynote speakers Myriam

Hadnes, Sherif Abaza and Stella Tsala introduced platforms as
Welo and Slack to the participants.

Welo is a virtual office, a permanent online space where people

can always access via a unique link. The virtual office consists of
multiple rooms that can be used for specific functions thanks to
labels (e.g. office, classroom, relax, no disturb)
Resources and materials can be shared and it embedded with
other tools (eg. Google Calendar, Slack, Google Docs, Miro, Zoom)

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SLACK is a messaging app suitable for smart and quick
communication. People can
create different channels personalized for topics, goals and scope
and it’s okay for a
more professional chat. You can upload docs and files.
These 2 apps have different scopes.
The community experienced both platforms. At the moment we
decided to set up
the community online in the Slack platform, It’s more suitable for
instant messages
The urgent need of the group.

Keynote speakers Myriam Hadnes - Community builder and “Never Done Before” facilitator,
introducing Welo digital space during Workcafé#1.

There is no such thing as the perfect tool or space.

The choice is the result of discussion among internal community
members.
In the search, it is important to take into account three main
dimensions: participants' needs, community's goals and overall
feasibility.

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Online community guidelines

As soon as you have a good understanding of the software you will

be using, you can move on to making some setup decisions:

Keeping your community pre-launch private. You do not

want outsiders having access to your community until you are
ready, so make sure to enable your privacy settings.
Displaying a list of recent discussions for the forum on the
"homepage view." New members or first-time visitors may be
more apt to join in the discussion, if they see what is trending in
your community.
Creating your groups or channels. You should avoid creating
too many groups or channels at the beginning since people
will be confused about where to participate in.
Making easy access to platform for members. The easier the
process is, the more likely people will want to sign up for your
community. You should consider a setting up a single sign-on
(SSO).
Defining the roles of your
members. Decide what roles
will be included within your
community, such as the
Community Manager, the
Creator or the Consumer.
Deciding which features will
be enabled. In case of plug-
ins, add-ons and other
features that could be
integrated into your platform.
Testing. You need to test
everything before opening
the platform to eveybody.

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“The Healthy Part Four

Community”

“Α healthy online community is one where the members share a

common interest.
They feel safe, they interact with each other and share ideas every
day in a polite, positive and helpful way. People find value in being
a member. You need moderators to keep it this way, but the goal is
to have a community that barely needs them and can sustain
itself”
Stella Tsala, Manager of Greece Cookpad online community

3 Key elements of a healthy community

According to Stella Tsala, head of Cookpad Greece and keynote

speaker of the Workcafé #3, a community should have three main
figures in order to be balanced and sustainable over time:
consumers, creator and community managers.

community
consumers creators managers

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Consumers Part Four
They are the ones that just browse and get inspiration, but silently.
Usually, they are the majority of the members. Even if they don’t
participate, they are there, getting something out of the
community, they just don’t want or feel comfortable to do more.

Creators
They can be just people that participate more, comment, react,
like, etc. or they can be those that create new content. These are
the people that make the community feel alive, relevant, inspiring
and interesting. They are the ones that answer questions,
participate in events, help out and even promote the community
to others. They are the heart and soul of the community.

Community Managers
They are key to the success of a community. They review the
content: posts, comments, tips etc., whatever the members share.
If there is bad content (spam, irrelevant, inappropriate, with
mistakes) they act. This could mean from just contacting the users
to resolve things, all the way to banning them. If there are
disputes, arguments etc., they are there to make peace.
Community Managers also try to inspire and engage the users. For
example, they select relevant events or topics to feature each day,
create inspiring articles around interesting topics, and also create
fun challenges to inspire our authors and make sure that new
posts for cultural heritage and museums are added.

The magical recipe!

“Communities don’t happen on their own, and no matter how
open the community is to new people, it needs someone to keep
it going. The management team that cares about the community
and share their passion is something that people appreciate in a
community.”

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What we grasped from the MICA experience it is the importance
Part Four of
identifying people who take on the role of manager of community
life.
Roles can change over time between participants so that more of
them feel engaged.
Another important element for the community life is to identify a
common challenge for the participants that can stimulate them in
a participatory way.
The second phase of the project – the creation of a Cultural
Crowdfunding campaign by the Italian and Greek communities -
was calibrated on this insight.
The creation of an open, free, and informal CF workshop with the
aim of inviting participants to co-create a cultural CF campaign
together was the prefect ground for nurturing and expanding the
community.
Theater practitioners, museum employees, students, researchers,
and project managers co-designed each other for the first time.
The challenging goal and the collaborative and participatory
dimension of the CF workshop spontaneously facilitated new
connections, links, and a sense of belonging typical of a real
community.

Some insights from the CF Italy campaign

The identification of the idea to be developed for the
Crowdfunding campaign took place through 3 online
brainstorming sessions in which participants worked, first in
groups and then in plenary, on the thematic connections that
united them through a divergent phase and a convergent phase.
The final idea is about the restoration of the Freccia Azzurra, the
last “burcio”, a historic Venetian boat to be transformed into a
cultural space open to the local community.
The idea is supported by the Venice-based cultural association
Batipai and it brought together all the participants, who worked
jointly to transform the idea into a CF plan thanks to Elisa Patriarca,
an expert from the Eurocrowd network.

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The CF campaign in Italy was an opportunity to launchPart an Four
additional challenge:
Batipai association invites participants to present their own
cultural project to be carried out on the Freccia Azzurra once it is
restored!
An example of mutual exchange, support, and recognition, as per
the community!

The venetian Batipai team on board of the Freccia Azzurra burcio.

The Greek case

MICA Greek community crowdfunding workshop consisted in a
series of online sessions held from October to December 2022 by
Eurocrowd experts, with the moderation of Hellenic Open
University.
The Greek Crowdfunding Campaign was dedicated to the river
Kifissos of the Greek island Skyros.
Out of three project ideas the Greek community finally chose "The
River of Skyros: an action of the Perform Activity Festival". The idea
was presented by Hariklia Hari and Manos Oikonomakis and aims
to enhance the preservation and the promotion of the Kifissos
River in Skyros through a summer festival.
The goal is to inform and raise awareness about the importance of
Kifissos river and the threats that it faces. Furthermore, to gather
ideas for the required next steps regarding the environmental and

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cultural landscape, and the safeguarding and development of its
Part Four
functions (recreation, tourism, biodiversity, culture, architecture,
flood protection) in a sustainable manner.
The physical environment around the river Kifissos is in danger
since a possible construction and development can have a variety
of adverse effects on the river and its ecosystem.
The Greek Community identified the target groups to reach
through the crowdfunding campaign, that will be launched in the
first months of 2023 with the support of the MICA Greek community
and the Folklore Museum of Skyros “The Faltaits Museum”, one of
the first local historical and folklore museums in Greece.

Landscape from Kifissos River in Skyros

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Special tips - What not to forget
Part Four
✓ Getting the public involved
✓ Refining your community
✓ Receiving feedback
✓ Ensuring that your moderators and team are comfortable with
the platform.

What would you give and gain in a community?

Here are some of the feedbacks received in the Question to MICA

members:

GIVE GAIN

Make the community safe place Collect information about

for everyone where to share different practices
without judgment

Up-skill in digital knowledge and
Share knowledge gain soft skills interacting

with different audiences
Bring experience from others

networks Meet with new peers and

colleagues
Bring ideas

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Communities Part Five

benefits and how

to exploit them

8 benefits of being part of a community

1. Support network
As a member of a community, you have access to a support network
of peers. Whether you turn to your community to commiserate, to
seek advice, or simply to share your story, having a supportive group
in your life can have a powerful effect on your overall well-being.

2. Professional development
Members of a profession-based community can help drive growth
and performance. They can develop internal leaders, educate
employees, and have a positive impact on retention for members of
underrepresented groups.

3. Sense of purpose
With a secure sense of belonging comes a sense of purpose,
something people are increasingly searching for due to the
pandemic. Belonging and purpose can help increase feelings of
solidarity and fulfillment, which can be important both personally
and professionally. A strong sense of purpose can even help you live
longer!

4. Relief from stress

Communities can be a source of joy! Coming together physically or
virtually, finding points of connection with others, and enjoying

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moments of celebration and camaraderie can leave us feeling
engaged and refreshed. Those positive feelings may help lower
stress and anxiety.

5. New inspiration and ideas

Immersing yourself in a group of individuals exposes you to a
diversity of ideas, viewpoints, and personalities. There’s bound to be
something new to learn or an unexpected thought to appreciate
from your fellow members.

6. Empowered decision-making
An empowering environment comes out of mutual trust and respect,
which speaks to the importance of community development. In a
strong community, where people have opportunities to build each
other up and develop trust, people feel greater confidence and
engagement within the organization and on an individual level.

7. Better communication skills

Effective communication requires connecting to others, a key pillar of
a community.
Developing relationships with fellow community members is an
exercise in listening and building meaningful rapport.

8. Greater resilience
Resiliency is a quality impacting the way people respond to and
manage change. Belonging to a community offers a form of support
that provides a buffer against the stresses on resilience.

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What is the purpose of Community
Engagement?

Community building is the process of people getting involved in your

community. It starts with members of your community and consists
of convincing them to participate to discussions, contribute, and
help each other. There are many reasons why community
engagement is important to a strong community.
A strong community is built on valuable relationships and shared
experiences. The more followers from different backgrounds come
together and share their knowledge, the better it’s for everyone in the
community.

Being a good community member

Listen
Making connections with others is about listening to different
viewpoints and having good conversations. Listening is a really
important skill in itself, although most people think they’re doing it.
It’s amazing how many people you come across that don’t actually
have proper conversations with people – they just speak at someone
and pretend to listen until they can speak again. They end up not
learning anything at all!
Actively listen and engage with what others are saying – you’ll build
relationships and feel good, cos I don’t know about you, but nothing
beats a great chat with someone new.

Contribute
Communities survive and thrive when everyone contributes.
Don’t just join a community to take something from it and see how it
can serve you. Be selfless and don’t expect the world – think about
how you can help others or add something positive and in turn,
something good could come your way. Speak up when it’s relevant

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and be open, quiet and listen when necessary too.

Accept
We have to accept that not everyone holds the same views as us
about a topic. Shoving your opinions in someone’s face but refusing
to acknowledge that their opinions at least deserve to be listened to
doesn’t seem good-natured. You can choose what you do with what
someone’s said, you don’t have to agree or act on it, but you can
listen and accept that is what they think and allow them space to
say it. You learn more about yourself and your ideas by listening to
others.

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Building a Part Six

professional
community: tips
from MICA case
study

The MICA project was a learning experience for all involved people.
Below are some useful tips we learned about what could be
building a professional community of peers.

Making human connections is key

Especially in a digital environment, people need to feel comfortable
and welcomed. As soon as someone enters the platform, a kind and
welcoming message would be a little effort which help the new
member to feel included.

Being personal
A picture or avatar as an image of their profile, along with the
person's full name and a brief description would support
interactions, encourage engagement and help community
members recognize and get to know their peers better.

Organising online meetings and events

Participation in an asynchronous way on the platform is usually not
enough for engaging participants. Balancing it with a live or online
event where people can meet and see others' facial expressions is
powerful. It will help members to feel connected and strengthen the
community.

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Sharing news, sharing knowledge
The platform should provide a digital space to post news, events,
seminars and discussions and to share this contents with peers. The
aim of the community is the sharing knowledge, not to measure it.
A functional community - especially the one consisted by
professionals - should not act as a space of personal promotion.
It’s about discussion on common problems and exchange of ideas
and best practices and new work and educational opportunities.

Once activate, keep moving!

The community is a living thing: new people can always join the
community and old members can lose interest.
Community managers should always keep the flame alive by
posting in a regular basis news and insights and fostering
interaction among members. An inactive community will be less
and less interesting for members and will finally collapse.

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Cultural Part Seven

professionals’
community
Manifesto

Who?

The community is addressed

to culture professionals from
different fields: museums,
archaeological sites, the
creative industry, gaming,
anthropology, etc Culture
thus constitutes a large
umbrella under which
various professionals gather.

What?

The community was born

from the need to bring
together culture
professionals, their
aspirations, desires, and skills
to promote and recognize the
culture and their profession
through the power of sharing
and networking

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When?

The community looks

forward to monthly online
meetings to share updates,
news, and project proposals

Where?

Online. The online dimension

is the possible meeting place
for people from different cities
and different countries. The
international dimension is
thus preserved but in person
meetings are not excluded!

Why?

The desire for community

arises from below, from an
urgent need: to give space
and recognition to the
culture and professionals
who turn to us through the
power of sharing to influence
public policy.

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Vision e Mission

The online community of cultural professionals wants to create

moments of networking for nurturing and expanding new professional
knowledge acquiring new skills through peer learning. The community
will enhance participant upskilling with participation into events,
conferences and collaboration on new projects.
The people of the community aim at enhancing their professional
growth opportunities, asking for and give support, and achieving well-
being through sharing and exchanging.
The key words are co-design, active participation, and peer learning.

Values

The community of cultural professionals promotes key values as:

respect for differences, mutual support, curiosity, empathy, change,
trust, creativity and mutual listening.

Participation requirements

Commitment and even a little bit of madness

Propensity to cooperate
Desire to meet new colleagues
Valorising every contribution
Exchange orientation
No judgmental answer
Valuing feedback as a gift
Open and curious mindset
Encouraging positivity in others and ourselves

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Challenges and opportunities participating in a community, from the
first international meeting of the MICA project:

References:

https://www.betterup.com/blog/importance-of-community
(Published November 3, 2021)
https://www.wellbeingpeople.com/2020/07/23/the-importance-
of-anengaging-community/ (Published 23 July, 2020)
https://brilliantio.com/why-is-community-so-important/
(Published: December 15, 2021 - Last updated: March 25, 2022)
MICA Work Cafe #2 “Best practice from cultural communities”
MICA Work Cafe #3 “Best practice from non -cultural
communities”
https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/online-community-launch
(Published: April 18, 2019, Updated: March 10, 2022)

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 MICA

Mu.SA International Community Activators