October 12-14th, 2023
Building Connected Communities
An action forum for leaders working to address social isolation, loneliness, and connection, co-hosted by the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard University, the Foundation for Social Connection, and Healthy Places by Design, with generous support from the Einhorn Collaborative.
When: October 12-14, 2023.
Registration: In-person registration is now full, but you can register for the virtual event here.About Our Event
Building Connected Communities
We are currently facing a crisis of connection in the United States. Recent studies show that millions of Americans are socially isolated, lonely, or both, which negatively impacts their quality of life and health outcomes. These high rates of disconnection cost employers $406 billion and Medicare nearly $7 billion each year.
Our goal is to address this complex challenge, community insights and solutions for greater social connection from pioneering researchers, social innovators, and corporate, nonprofit, and civic leaders will be highlighted. We hope the event will spark action and transformation at the local, state, and national levels.
Join Us!
Attendees are invited to participate in plenary sessions, small group workshops, and a half-day field trip to neighborhoods in Boston for learning exchanges with community organizations about their challenges and solutions to foster social connectedness. Attendance at concurrent panels, meals and receptions, and site visits will be limited to registered attendees, but the following plenary panels and addresses will be free and open to the entire Harvard and wider community.
Thursday (10/12), Harvard's Memorial Church:
1:00PM: Opening Session
- Social Connection and Flourishing Throughout Life, with Robert Waldinger
- Drivers of Disconnection, with Robert Putnam, Theresa Kuchler, and Tyler VanderWeele.
4:50PM: Building Connected Communities
- A conversation with Julianne Holt-Lunstad, Mayor Hilary Schieve, Mayor Sangeetha Rayapati, and Mayor Farrah N. Khan.
- Keynote Address: U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy.
Thursday (10/12): Martin Luther King, Jr. School (102 Putnam Ave., Cambridge, MA 02138)
Join us for a screening of "Join or Die," a "feature documentary which follows the half-century story of America's civic unraveling through the journey of legendary social scientist Robert Putnam." Doors open at 7pm; attendees who have not registered for the full conference program should pre-register here to attend: https://forms.gle/gX11wSnaCSxVfBT37.
Friday (10/13), Harvard's Memorial Church:
11:00AM: iGen: Social Connection and Loneliness Among the Smartphone Generation, with Jean Twenge.
For further information about the event, including a detailed agenda, or to register for the full program, please visit the Building Connected Communities Homepage.
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The planning for the Building Connected Communities conference began in July of 2022, jointly hosted by the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard University and the Foundation for Social Connection. The Foundation for Social Connection has been a leading non-profit organization in the translation of research into action to address loneliness and social isolation, with collaboration with the Surgeon General’s Office, and a scientific advisory board consisting of leading researchers in the field. In August of 2023, the Human Flourishing Program learned the full extent of the close links between the Foundation for Social Connection and the for-profit health care policy consulting firm Healthsperien. Considerable efforts have been made since then to mitigate any potential conflict of interest related to the Foundation for Social Connection’s involvement in the conference so as to maintain the scientific integrity of the conference event itself.