Who
The Minor Works Program is a neighbourhood initiative supported by social enterprise Neighbourhood Node Pty Ltd.
It is developed with and alongside neighbours who are interested in advancing their own ideas and supporting the ideas of others. Participation in shaping the program itself is open — people can contribute insights, experience, feedback, or energy in ways that suit them.
Different parts of the program are supported by small, autonomous teams, such as the Project Guides team and the Soup Night team, who take responsibility for establishing and strengthening those elements. From time to time, an open Minor Works Program meeting brings people together to share learning, reflect on what’s working, and improve the program as a whole.
Custodians of the framework and bringing everything together is done by the Neighbourhood Node team: Annemijn van Marlen (Community Engagement Manager and Minor Works design lead) and Joost den Hartog (Neighbourhood Node Managing Director).
The development of the Minor Works Program has been supported by a Fay Fuller Foundation Discovery Grant, allowing time for learning, prototyping, and adaptation.
What
The Minor Works Program provides a flexible, practical framework that helps local ideas become shared, actionable projects.
This includes activities such as Soup Nights and Spark Sessions, along with guidance, tools, resources, relationships, and supporting infrastructure. Together, these elements form a local participatory ecosystem underpinned by a practical project support system.
The focus is on tangible support for people who want to do something — to try an idea, work alongside others, and learn through action. The program creates opportunities for collaboration, learning, and connection, while ensuring that people who want to participate have a real chance to contribute and be heard.
Tools and resources developed through Minor Works are intended to be shared openly, so they can be used for the public good in other places and contexts.
Why
Minor Works emerged from a simple but important insight: neighbourhoods are full of ideas, care, and potential, but many people don’t act on them.
Often this isn’t because people lack motivation. It’s because opportunities feel limited, processes feel complicated, and access to support, know-how, or networks is uneven.
The Minor Works Program exists to change those conditions.
By making participation easier, more accessible, and more supported, the program aims to empower individuals, strengthen community connections, and improve social wellbeing. Working together on small, meaningful projects helps build confidence, trust, and a sense of shared responsibility — all of which contribute to more caring, just, and resilient neighbourhoods.
How
Minor Works works by creating the conditions where participation can grow.
Ideas start small and are shaped collectively through simple, repeatable processes. Activities like Soup Nights and Spark Sessions provide entry points where people can share ideas, connect with others, and explore what’s possible together.
Project Guides play a key role in supporting this process. They offer practical project support and inclusive facilitation, helping ideas move into action while making sure participation feels safe, welcoming, and shared. Their role is to support people to lead together, rather than leading projects themselves.
The program is designed to be accessible and flexible at every stage. Barriers to participation are actively reduced, and there is ongoing attention to who is participating, who isn’t yet, and how the program can continue to improve.
Through repeated experiences of working together, Minor Works builds long-term community capability — which we describe as Socialannuation — the compounding value stored in relationships, trust, confidence, and the ability to act together again.