Listening is where every one of our journeys at Ranyaka begins. Sometimes it’s a cup of coffee with a community leader. Sometimes it’s a room filled with people, colourful Koki pens, maps and ideas.
Both moments matter. Because trust is built in conversation. And trust opens doors to real, lasting change.
Intentional listening
For more than a decade, we’ve treated listening as a discipline, not a tick-box exercise.
Over time, we’ve developed a set of simple, practical tools to uncover not only the challenges in a neighbourhood, but also the strengths already at work.
Before any plan takes shape, we spend time understanding who’s in the room. Local leaders. Small business owners. Youth groups. Faith communities. Everyone who has a stake in the future.
Together, we map the network of people and organisations already making a difference.
This deep, deliberate approach lies at the heart of Ranyaka’s collaborative community development framework called Thrive. Since 2017, this framework has also been the driving force behind Ranyaka’s work as an official implementation agent of the Nedbank-funded Proud of My Town programme. To date, we have worked with inspiring changemakers in 8 provinces across South Africa and every day, we get to listen and learn more.
DNA mapping: A snapshot of community health
Our DNA Mapping session is where a community’s story comes alive in full colour.
Residents gather around large printed maps with Koki pens and sticky notes — simple tools that get everyone involved. Together, they score 40 main indicators and 93 sub-indicators across four big-picture areas:
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Safe, Clean & Attractive Spaces
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Healthy, Educated & Active Communities
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Productive & Employed Economies
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Social Cohesion & Connection
Participants also mark aerial photos to flag hotspots, hidden gems and places with potential.
The result is a living snapshot; data that tells a story. Urban planners analyse the findings and return to the community for a feedback session, ensuring transparency and shared ownership.
From insight to action: project design workshops
Listening only matters if it leads to action.
Our Project Design Workshop helps residents choose the areas they care most about, from reviving a park to launching a youth programme or setting up a care project for victims of gender-based violence.
Using a hands-on process, participants work with a simple “tree poster” to separate symptoms from root causes. What seems like a visible problem (the fruit) often has deeper origins (the roots).
This shift helps communities focus on the real issues, not just the visible effects.
The workshop also covers:
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Stakeholder engagement – identifying who to inform, involve and collaborate with
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Project Design Workbook – a step-by-step guide to building teams, allocating resources and approaching funders
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Personal journals – encouraging participants to capture their own journeys, because transformation is as much personal as it is collective
By the end, residents leave equipped to take the next step, turning ideas into action without waiting for someone else to lead.
Re-imagine: bringing ideas to life
Another favourite process is our Re-imagine events, which can be adapted for almost anything: Re-imagine Your Town, Re-imagine Your Park, even Re-imagine Your Business.
These sessions are especially effective for placemaking, creating spaces that reflect the people who live there.
To spark creativity and honest feedback, we use playful, tactile tools:
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Ping-pong voting – PVC pipes and ping-pong balls that make decision-making fun and accessible
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Mood boards – colourful stickers on “before” and “after” boards to visualise how a space should feel
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Peg cards – “I would enjoy this space more if…” cards clipped to a washing line for all to see
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3D street models – miniature versions of local streets where residents can place tiny trees, benches and streetlights
These simple, visual tools make planning tangible. They remind everyone that community spaces belong to the people who use them.
Re-imagining the personal journey
Change doesn’t only happen in places. It happens in people.
We regularly host vision board workshops with groups such as women’s clubs, school learners and early childhood development practitioners. Armed with cardboard, magazines and pens, participants cut, paste and sketch their hopes for the future. It’s a creative, practical way to picture possibilities and plan small, achievable steps towards them. For many, it’s less about the final board and more about pausing to reflect, name their goals and recognise their own growth.
The psychology of co-creation
Creative, hands-on methods like maps, pens and models do more than make workshops engaging.
They lower barriers. They spark dialogue. They give everyone a voice, from confident leaders to quiet neighbours with powerful ideas.
That’s what co-creation means to us: designing solutions with communities, not for them.
Every voice counts
Every conversation, map and model reminds us that lasting change begins with listening. Creativity and trust meet in that listening space as we work towards turning insights into action, one neighbourhood and one connection at a time.
