This issue of Connective Tissue resonated so deeply with me - it reflects a practice that I've seen on the ground in Ukraine and Poland since the full-scale Russian invasion in 2022. Humanitarian aid organizations give out "life boxes" to new-comers to their communities, often internally displaced refugees fleeing the war in the east. The life boxes reflect the scarcity of war, offering items like noodles, baby formula, or razors, but the core act - to share what you have with your new community member, is a powerful one.
Something we tried a while back in southwest Ireland is a form so this is super to see.
One contribution... there is a real logic for local employers to fund this sort of welcome pack initiative so as to increase retention of new staff relocating to the region, particularly for the partner who may struggle even more to integrate at the beginning while the other goes to work everyday. It is a small fraction of the recruitment and onboarding costs.
Great description of how this first touchpoint with a new place can set citizen expectations. The new resident wonders, do people here love their place? Why exactly?
That powerful idea is taken up in several books on urbanism, among them this one:
This issue of Connective Tissue resonated so deeply with me - it reflects a practice that I've seen on the ground in Ukraine and Poland since the full-scale Russian invasion in 2022. Humanitarian aid organizations give out "life boxes" to new-comers to their communities, often internally displaced refugees fleeing the war in the east. The life boxes reflect the scarcity of war, offering items like noodles, baby formula, or razors, but the core act - to share what you have with your new community member, is a powerful one.
Something we tried a while back in southwest Ireland is a form so this is super to see.
One contribution... there is a real logic for local employers to fund this sort of welcome pack initiative so as to increase retention of new staff relocating to the region, particularly for the partner who may struggle even more to integrate at the beginning while the other goes to work everyday. It is a small fraction of the recruitment and onboarding costs.
Great description of how this first touchpoint with a new place can set citizen expectations. The new resident wonders, do people here love their place? Why exactly?
That powerful idea is taken up in several books on urbanism, among them this one:
https://www.amazon.com/Love-Cities-affair-between-people/dp/0615430430