Building Social Connection and Belonging Around the World

The Samuel Centre for Social Connectedness works with global partners to build social connectedness within and between communities to overcome social isolation. We strive to understand and build belonging through research, programming, partnerships and advocacy, bringing together diverse scholars, students, advocates, and people with lived experiences.

We invite you to join us in this movement of building a society where everyone is valued, seen, and heard, and where everyone is supported in realizing their inherent right to belong.

Learn more about us

The Walrus Talks Reimagining Volunteerism

Join us on April 15 at 7 PM ET, online or in person, for The Walrus Talks Reimagining Volunteerism, where speakers explore how service fosters purpose & social cohesion.

Introducing the Belonging Forum

We’re joining with others to deepen our understanding of belonging around the world. Check out the results of the Belonging Forum’s first major survey on the state of belonging in the UK.

Visit the Belonging Forum

Meet our 2024 Social Connectedness Fellows

Working with partners around the globe, our 2024 cohort of summer research Fellows is doing groundbreaking work on social isolation and belonging.

Learn more

Hopes, Homes, and Havens: Stories of seeking asylum and refuge

Hopes, Homes, and Havens – an interactive map of newcomers’ journeys – centres the voices and experiences of refugee claimants and people seeking asylum.

View Hopes, Homes, and Havens

Activist and educator Kim Samuel calls for an end to social isolation and the Right to Belong in her book

In her book, On Belonging: Finding Connection in an Age of Isolation, Kim Samuel, our Founder and Chief Belonging Officer takes aim at the growing crisis of isolation, exclusion and disconnection.