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Community Canvas Framework

The Community Canvas framework

The Community Canvas framework is a popular model that was created to help people think about community building. It divides the experience of community life into 17 themes, and emphasises two main purposes of communities.

When people research about community building, they may encounter the Community Canvas framework. Just like NVPC’s Community Matters series, the Community Canvas framework was created to help people think about community building, instead of providing one-size-fits-all answers.

Here’s what it looks like:

Community Canvas framework chart 1024x882 1

You’ll see that the Community Canvas has three main sections, which are colour-coded. These are Identity (blue), Experience (pink), and Structure (green). In turn, these sections are divided into a total of 17 themes.

We won’t delve deep into the framework here (you can check out their website if you like!). But it’s important to point out that a community has internal and external purposes:

Internal purpose

A community that exists to take care of itself, whether that’s supporting one another, learning from each other, or growing the community to a certain number.

External purpose

A community that exists to pursue an external goal, like fundraising for children with disabilities.

Previous Chapter: Defining Community
Next Chapter: The 8 Key Components of Community