Patrik von Berlepsch
Founder, Local Minds
We need to change an entire industry
Recent surveys show that 2/3 of all people living in Sweden's tenant-owner associations do not participate in local life at all. The local involvement has never been worse, which many tenant-owner associations experience great challenges with. The explanation is largely based on changing behavioral patterns with the advancing digitalisation. People communicate and interact in completely new ways with others around them. The new generations "Millennials" and "Gen Z" today also constitute a rapidly growing group within tenant-owner associations. This creates a need for renewal and adaptation in order to continue to be an attractive and sustainable form of housing for future generations.
The main reasons why young people buy a condominium today are the convenience and the financial benefits that come with it. Less focus is on being part of a community and forming valuable social contacts. When the existing structures within tenant-owner associations at the same time do not succeed in adapting to new social behavioral patterns and communication paths, living environments are formed where people neither feel nor interact with each other. This results in a worrying development, both in terms of the general mental health in society and for the survival of tenant-owner associations.
The importance of local involvement
A cohabitation needs high participation to be strong. The democratic principles, which are the very foundation of the tenant-owner association and society, become effective only through participation through cooperation and dialogue. When this is not satisfied, there are no prerequisites for making well-thought-out decisions. Both current economic aspects, social interactions and concrete ecological sustainability initiatives.
Establishing a digital information channel (for example a Facebook group) is a common effort to enable increased dialogue. Unfortunately, the increased transparency that the information channels add often generates an opposite effect on the members' commitment when negative tone signals take over the room. These channels simplify the flow of information between members and should of course be used. However, it is not enough to create stronger commitment in people across different generations. Engaging people who are already busy with work, family and activities in both physical and digital environments is a difficult task. But changing the tenant-owner associations' established approaches and structures requires courage to dare to think differently, in order to find the way of the future to live.
Well-needed change
Only 17% of all tenant-owner associations work actively with social and ecological sustainability. This must change if we are to achieve the UN's sustainability goals, and maintain tenant-owner associations as a well-functioning body for people in tenant-ownership._cc781905-5cde-3194-bb3b-136bad5cf5d
Digital tools such as Local Minds have the ability to create better conditions by encouraging, simplifying and enabling more local interactions. In order for younger generations to see the value in maintaining their commitment, methods are required that make the local environment more entertaining and accessible. A board can achieve this by using motivating approaches, where the individual gets something out of being involved in their tenant-owner association and thereby increase the incentives to participate in their living environment. Local Minds is based on these principles but also uses the power of automatic flows that simplify participation. In this way, the work of the board is also facilitated, through committed members and better conditions for jointly making smarter decisions.
An engagement tool is the simplest way for a tenant-owner association to invest in local involvement and thus create conditions for a more socially, economically and ecologically sustainable tenant-owner association.
Do you want to know more about how the association can increase local involvement through an engagement tool? _Cc781905-5cde-3194-bb3b-136bad5cf58d_ Contact us!
