Co.Here: What We've Learned, Where We've Been, What's Next
- Co.Here
- 10 hours ago
- 3 min read
It’s been a busy few months for the Co.Here team. Here’s what we’ve been learning, where we’ve been, and where we’re heading next...
IN THIS UPDATE | |
01 What the research is telling us | 02 Out and About across Europe |
03 Picnic in The Park, Maynooth | 04 What's next: Common Ground |
CO.HERE UPDATE · JUNE 2026
Co.Here has been moving fast and we're overdue a proper update. For anyone new here: Co.Here combines a digital platform with locally embedded Community Liaisons to create social and economic connections between newcomers and their communities, building belonging and real participation across Ireland.
We're running the current pilot in North Kildare with Ukrainian participants, in partnership with UCD and Pairity, co-funded by the EU's ESF+ Social Innovation+ Initiative.
And here's what the pilot is teaching us: the hunger for connection isn't one-sided. It isn't even specific to displacement. It's everywhere - and that's shaping where Co.Here is going next.
01 What the research is telling us
Our UCD research team has been tracking the pilot closely. A few things stood out - none of them unique to newcomers.
Social capital is the secret ingredientConnecting people to genuine community networks - not just services - unlocks informal, reciprocal support: the everyday infrastructure that makes employment and training actually possible. |
It's often about who you knowTrue inclusion happens when someone is in a room where the right person can point them towards a job, a club, or a sense of belonging. That human link is irreplaceable - and missing for more people than we think. |
People and technology, togetherTech helps us manage complexity and scale. But human relationships are where the real work happens. Co.Here is built with both at its heart. |
The thread running through all of it: Disconnection is a community-wide challenge, not a newcomer problem. |
Our lead researcher Finian Murphy writes about many of these themes on his Substack - well worth a read here.
02 Out and About across Europe
Alongside community listening sessions, and participant interviews in Kildare, we've been presenting the work at home and across Europe...
IRELAND - Talks and discussions at UCD events, The Wheel Summit & Access EU Showcase, and Kildare Volunteer Centre's Strategic Plan launch.
EUROFOUND - Roz and Finian attended the Open Day at Ireland's only EU agency, speaking with MEP Cynthia Ní Mhurchú about Co.Here as a social cohesion tool across Europe.
VILNIUS - Graham and Roz joined the ESF+ Mutual Learning Event, connecting with the funding team and projects from Poland, Germany, Italy, Belgium and Sweden - the challenges we share are everyone's: sustainable funding, embedding innovation into policy, and the limits of an 18-month timeline.
03 Picnic in The Park, Maynooth
In June we brought Co.Here to Picnic in the Park, in partnership with Maynooth Community Council and Life Credit Union. Our biggest public outing yet and such a great buzz :)
100+people engaged | 4hours of chat | 3sign-ups on the day | 1live match made |
04 What's next: Common Ground
The star of the day was our Common Ground conversation cards. Pick a card, have a conversation, win a lollipop. It sounds simple because it is - and it works. The yellow tables didn't discriminate: teenagers, retirees, newcomers, neighbours. So many people sat down. Everyone talked.
Chatting at Picnic in the Park, Maynooth, June 2026
Finding Common Ground at Picnic in the Park, Maynooth, June 2026
The appetite for real conversation is huge, and you don't need a programme or a referral pathway to spark it - just the right prompt, the right space, and someone willing to sit down. We're now taking Common Ground to events across the region, going where people already gather and following where the model leads us.
On the technology side, we're delighted to have been accepted onto the UCD Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) Programme, securing a team of postgraduate researchers to scope and design the next phase of Co.Here's technology. It's a significant step in translating what we've learned into robust, human-centred civic infrastructure. |
INVITE US ALONG Planning a community event? We'll bring the yellow tables...Lollipops, conversation cards and trained facilitators, we'd love to come to where people already gather. Get in touch with Jenn and we'll sort it. |
FOR FUNDERSWe're actively seeking funding to bring Co.Here 2 to life, and scale beyond the pilot. If you're a funder - or know one - we'd love to hear from you.
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With thanks to ESF+ for co-funding this project, to everyone who has invited us to engage and speak, to our incredible community partners in Kildare, and most of all to the volunteers and project participants who make Co.Here what it is. Míle Buíochas 🟢🔵🟡
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