Journey of community building: Creating globally adaptable blueprint model for fibre pad manufacturing

A core step in creating a globally adaptable blueprint model for fibre-pad manufacturing was establishing a continuous and evolving ecosystem-mapping process. Instead of conducting a single landscape analysis, mapping became a long-term practice embedded into regular project work.

A particularly powerful tool in this process has been LinkedIn. The menstrual health and natural-fibre universe is relatively small, and actors are highly interconnected: they comment on each other’s posts, share updates publicly, and often tag collaborators. By carefully observing these interactions, it becomes possible to trace entire networks, identify new initiatives, and understand who works with whom. A single post often reveals not only one actor but an entire cluster of practitioners hidden in the comments or “likes.” This created endless opportunities to deepen the map far beyond what traditional research methods would uncover.

Alongside LinkedIn scanning, the team regularly monitored fibre-innovation networks, WhatsApp groups, academic circles, and circular-economy communities. Over time, a clearer picture emerged of who is genuinely working on plant-fibre absorbent core technologies, as opposed to broader biodegradable product spaces. Maintaining this distinction became essential to keeping the future community focused, technically coherent, and aligned with the project’s objectives.

A further insight was the value of exploratory conversations, even when they seem unproductive at first glance. Many discussions that initially appeared unrelated ended up leading to new contacts, shared networks, or unexpected collaboration possibilities. A strong personal connection with one individual often opened the door to entirely new practitioner clusters. Although this approach is time-consuming, it proved critical for expanding the community and building a more complete ecosystem map.

After mapping the ecosystem, the next essential step was to build trust-based relationships with practitioners across different regions. The project discovered that community building depends far more on human connection than on formal structures. Collaboration takes shape when people feel safe to be honest, ask questions, and share the real state of their work — including setbacks.

Relationships often began with small interactions: a comment on LinkedIn, a shared post, a message reply, or an exchange in a digital group. These simple touchpoints frequently opened the door to informal introductory calls where practitioners discussed fibre sourcing, machine experiments, local realities, or community engagement.

A core principle of this process was radical honesty. If the project expected others to be transparent about their progress, challenges, or failures, it had to demonstrate that openness first. Many actors initially hesitate to reveal mistakes or internal struggles. By clearly sharing their own difficulties — delayed testing, bureaucratic bottlenecks, material challenges, or design missteps — the team created a climate of reciprocal trust. When one side speaks openly, the other side follows.

To maintain emerging connections, the team relied on light, continuous touchpoints: periodic messages, reactions to updates, small check-ins, and short calls. These small acts built familiarity and demonstrated genuine interest, allowing relationships to grow naturally rather than through pressure or formal expectations.

Over time, as trust deepened, these relationships evolved into technical exchanges, peer support conversations, and discussions about future replication. In cases where both sides recognised long-term potential, they sometimes chose to develop non-binding Memoranda of Understanding. These documents were lightweight but invaluable: they clarified expectations, needs, and areas of interest on both sides.

Importantly, such MoUs often became a strategic foundation for future cooperation, including joint funding applications, cross-country knowledge exchange, and more structured collaboration. They did not impose obligations, but they provided clarity and a shared direction — making them strong anchors for future development.

Once trust-based relationships were established, the next step was to create shared spaces where practitioners could learn together, compare experiences, and collectively shape the emerging models. These co-creation spaces took different forms: online discussions and workshops, in-person stakeholder meetings, technical calls, small discussion groups, and spontaneous troubleshooting exchanges.

In-person meetings played an especially significant role. Bringing practitioners into the same room — or rather fibre extraction workshop! - created moments of accelerated learning. Discussions that might take months online could unfold in one afternoon. These encounters helped generate shared terminology, clarify production challenges, reflect on fibre preparation methods, and surface common bottlenecks from different regional realities. More importantly, they allowed participants to experience the human side of collaboration: tone, gestures, humour, and the sense of working toward a collective vision.

These spaces were not designed as formal training sessions but as horizontal learning environments. Each participant brought something different: practical experience, technical insights, field observations, research knowledge, or local market perspectives. Rather than one actor “teaching” others, the process relied on combining all these perspectives to refine approaches, align directions, and expand understanding.

Between in-person sessions, a rhythm of ongoing learning loops developed through online channels. Practitioners would share photos of machine tests, short videos of fibre processing steps, or quick notes about mistakes and workarounds. These micro-exchanges ensured that learning did not stop between workshops and allowed actors in different countries to learn from each other in real time. The team integrated these insights back into the Blueprint model, updating documents and technical guidance to reflect real-world lessons.

Co-creation spaces also played a role in shaping the collective Theory of Change, identifying shared challenges, and aligning long-term priorities. They allowed everyone, from technical teams to researchers, to understand their role in the broader system and contribute their perspective.

As the community expanded, it became essential to create the structures (digital and relational) that would enable it to function sustainably, remain accessible, and support new practitioners over the long term. Rather than building a rigid institutional framework, the project adopted a flexible, distributed model of stewardship centered on shared responsibilities, mutual support, informal connections, and network exchange.

A key strategic choice was to use the PANORAMA platform as the home base for structured knowledge. It provides a neutral, globally accessible environment where solutions, building blocks, and technical descriptions can be published in an organised format. This ensures that information does not disappear into private folders or personal inboxes but remains available to practitioners worldwide whenever needed.

At the same time, the project team recognised that no single platform could meet all community needs. PANORAMA is ideal for showcasing structured knowledge but not for fast, informal dialogue or document exchange. Therefore, a complementary ecosystem developed organically around it: WhatsApp groups for immediate troubleshooting, shared folders for evolving documentation, email threads for detailed exchanges, and LinkedIn for relational visibility, community presence, new leads and opportunities. Each space fulfils a different function, and together they create an accessible, flexible, informal, and low-barrier communication environment.

Sustainable community building also requires thinking about governance without centralisation. Instead of one organisation “owning” the community, stewardship is shared across a variety of practitioners who contribute insights, test methodologies, and provide feedback from the field. The coordinating organization (NIDISI) acts as a facilitator and organiser (not as a gatekeeper), ensuring that the community’s direction remains aligned with its values of openness, technical relevance, and mutual support. The coordinating organization takes on various responsibilities and often donor commitments, making itself dependent on other partners (not ideal). Yet, it also benefits from the success of each of its partners, forcing it to work for the common goal and success of each partner and practitioner within the community ecosystem. 

This decentralised approach allows new practitioners to join with ease, while still ensuring coherence in the information shared. As the community grows, experienced members naturally take on informal leadership roles by sharing lessons, answering questions, or guiding newer participants. Sharing networks, knowledge, and simply building trust between partners can lead to joint initiatives, such as donor-funded R&D periods, which are more likely to attract investment if proven by a verifiable history of collaboration. 

Long-term sustainability is further supported through living documentation, updated as new insights emerge. Rather than treating guidance materials as static documents, the team reviews and adjusts content regularly, incorporating lessons from ongoing machine trials, fibre experiments, and community feedback. Knowledge sharing is never one way, it is a circular learning loop that strengthen each participating party throughout the process. 

Importantly, the community’s distributed structure provides a strong foundation for future joint initiatives, including training opportunities, cross-country knowledge exchange, and collaborative funding proposals. The community’s knowledge becomes more robust and adaptable the more people contribute to it, turning it into a collective resource that supports the broader goal of expanding fibre-based menstrual pad solutions globally.