Nextdoor, global platform against neighbourhood isolation and unwanted loneliness

admin on 23 February 2021

Neighbours accompanying each other through Nextdoor

Virtual platform connecting neighbours and fighting against unwanted loneliness. Today it is used by neighbours of 265, 000 neighbourhoods in 11 countries, and during the Covid-19 pandemic it has been of great service to millions of people. It also has versions in Catalan and Spanish.

Nextdoor starts from the observation that today most citizens of large urban areas do not know their neighbours beyond casual encounters on the staircase or the street. Nextdoor is an online platform that wants to change this by creating more united and communitarian neighbourhoods using technology to eliminate possible barriers. It consists of a virtual forum where neighbours can post consultations, recommendations for local services, requests for help or interest information about the neighbourhood. All users must verify their belonging to a particular neighbourhood, so that communications are within the framework of this neighbourhood and are secure.

Nextdoor has been of great service during the Covid-19 pandemic thanks to initiatives such as #CuentaConmigo, which fights unwanted loneliness through video calls between neighbours, so that they can meet each other and share a time of their day-to-day lives. In addition, during the pandemic, they also launched a solidarity map so that neighbours could share their needs and help each other. It is a way to connect with other people and create a more united community; a unity that can then move to life outside the screen.

Characteristics of innovation

Bank of innovations, Cross-cutting intervention, Information and planning, Lab, Link with the community, New service, Personalization of the service, Right of choice of the user, User empowerment

Location

11 countries, 265.000 neighbourhoods

Partners/Funders

Benchmark, Shasta Ventures, Greylock Partners, Kleiner Perkins, Riverwood Capital, Bond, Axel Springer, Comcast Ventures and others.

Genesis

The Nextdoor platform was launched in 2011 in San Francisco (USA) to give answer to the need to connect neighbours and recover communities that over the years had been lost. The goal was that the created interactions would not be left in the online world, but would then be transferred to the real world.

Level of implementation

Nextdoor is present in 11 countries: United States, United Kingdom, Netherlands, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria, Denmark, Sweden and Canada. It has a presence in more than 265, 000 neighbourhoods around the world and more than 50 million recommendations made by neighbours.

Further information

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Vincles BCN, service to strengthen social ties of the lonesome elderly

admin on 21 December 2018

Foto: Ajuntament de Barcelona

In Barcelona, more than 300.000 people aged 65 or older live alone, of which 100.000 are over 80. Vincles BCN is a social innovation project that wants to strengthen the social relationships of older people who feel lonely and improve their well-being through new technologies.

The project has the following main objectives:

Reduce the feeling of loneliness of the elderly,
Maintain and strengthen existing social relationships,
Expand the social relationships of people and create new spaces for the relationship,
Use of IT (Information Technologies) as a communication tool to relate to their environment their environment.

The service uses an app installed on a tablet as a communication tool, which will serve to put people in contact and strengthen their relationships, while creating new ones. Online communication is promoted through the app, while face-to-face meetings are organized. The app allows the user to communicate with his/her family and friends, and with the people who form app-specific user groups.