One of the sessions we had at the Setubal dialogue was on the question “Does Community need a place?”
Which actually leads onto the question what is a place. My answer at the moment is yes: and place is broadly defined.
I noticed this quote today:
Learning in Clubs that Meet in Physical Places
Educational psychologist Frank Smith made the observation that much-if not most-real learning happens in a “club.” He pointed out that when people get interested in something for their own reasons they gravitate towards and meet regularly with groups of fellow enthusiasts. What better place to learn than in a environment where the focus is on what you are interested in, the people share your enthusiasm, and the community is diverse in age, ability, experience, and in most cases culture. Clubs are unintimidating forums where people of all ages and abilities can develop social networks and learn in communal environments.
This is from an article about The Milken Educator Virtual Workspace quoting Frank Smith. (Another elusive name on the net, widely quoted, yet I can find no original material.)
Clubs? I had never thought of this context.
I remember Mark visiting a rock hunters club for the first time. He was welcomed, helped through the initial entry barriers so smoothly they almost were not there. The word community has slipped in here.