.webp){kind=logo}
Regen Melbourne is publishing a series of reports on our New Urban Governance work. In the first of this series, RM's Collaboration and Investment Lead, Joshua Devine, reports back on experiments with the participatory grant-making app Hum.
Strengthening the relationship between communities and democratic systems requires shifts across core themes: Governance and Capital Mechanisms; New Narratives of Community; and Emerging Community Leadership.
We know our current systems and governance models are not fit-for-purpose. Communities want to have their voices heard and to feel empowered to enact change. Yet our existing governance and funding systems are under-serving this aspiration.
The Hum Experiment
The Hum Community tool, developed by The Wellbeing Protocol, is a participatory grant-making app designed to empower communities to collectively allocate resources.
Through the Menzies Foundation, we trialled Hum with three community groups across Greater Melbourne. Only one pilot, with Village Zero, progressed to completion with positive feedback from all stakeholders involved.
Key Lessons
Responsiveness to context: New mechanisms must meet community groups where it is most useful.
Distribution of decisions: Funders and communities want support shifting to democratic decision making.
Relational groundwork: Trust and relationships are catalytic to introducing innovation.
Pathways to unlocking funding: Communities must be better equipped to capitalise on funders' readiness.
Understanding barriers to change at scale.
Importance of intermediaries: Catalytic funding to intermediaries supports community organisations.
Looking Ahead
We're extending experimentation with Hum into a second series of pilots, focusing on building community confidence, expanding the evidence base, convening a funding ecosystem, and defining pathways for scaling.
How to get involved
Free online webinar Thu 29th May 2025. Register here.
Funding organisations: josh@regen.melbourne
Expression of interest: form here.
