The library
The books behind the path
The path brings together researchers who study belonging and practitioners who build community. We read them so the path rests on the best of both.
Ubuntu: the foundation
Living better together, the African way: fourteen everyday lessons in being human through others.
The science of belonging
How small, well-timed acts help people answer the big questions: Do I belong? Can I do it?
The research behind brief interventions that change how people see themselves and their place.
How shaping situations, often in small ways, creates connection and bridges divides.
The mentor mindset: high standards and real support, for young people and everyone else.
The shape of our networks: conveners, brokers and expansionists.
The science of strong connections, from the first spark to communities that last.
The craft of community
Seven principles for building a community that lasts.
Building community one room, one small group and one question at a time.
How to design a gathering, from its purpose to its last moment.
Rituals: the oldest way people hold a group together through change.
Conversation and dialogue
Skip the small talk: questions and habits that turn everyday conversations into real connection.
The everyday science of conversation.
From small talk to being truly known.
Listening, questions and dialogue that open minds, including across divides.
Giving, asking and growing
Why givers thrive, and how to build a culture of generosity.
Asking for help as a skill, and the routines that make it normal.
Scaffolding, mentors and the systems that help people grow.
Agency and making a difference
Find the people and places that bring out your best, and help shape them for others.
The belief that what we do matters: efficacy, optimism and imagination, alone and together.
Mindset, leadership and action: making change from where you stand, without needing authority.
Inclusive belonging, community as social action, and wise action: the greatest long-term good for us and for others.
Transitions and the age of AI
How people move through life's turning points, and the tools that help.
Navigating life's biggest transitions, from endings to new beginnings.
Why the human and the real matter more in an age of artificial everything.
Alongside the books sits our own research with university students in South Africa: what helps first-year students settle in, and how belonging, support and wellbeing go together.