Connected Communities

How can we build connected communities with all the fragmentation of society today? I am hoping through this team project entitled connected communities to find some sort of solution or at least to better understand why society today is so disconnected.
At my first Transition Town Tayport meeting last night,(no I have not moved to Tayport. I ventured across the water to a meeting as I am entering into a collaboration with the guys over there, to help design some reusable recyclable bags and t-shirts, to promote their cause), and I learned what they are trying to do is to reconnect their community. Their motivations are at a slight juxta position to this brief but the methods are the same. They intend on creating close knit communities which will in turn help them to live more sustainably. Not only do they intend on sharing land to grow food and are hoping to arrange annual litter picking days they have been interviewing older members of the community who have seen it fall apart in the hopes that they can understand what went wrong and gain an insight on how to 'rebuild'.
I think a lot of value can be gained by using participatory exercises such as the litter picking to facilitate community wide conversation, that in turn would hopefully lead to bonding, and a build up of trust. This would mean not only would you feel safer in your environment, have someone to chat to on the bus but your day could also be brightened by a smile or a hello, making you feel less alone in the digital world we inhabit today, where everyone communicates buy text and email and constantly have earphones in there ears listening to their newest download and ignoring the world round them as it crumbles.
I'm not sure what the Creative Communities project will unearth but I am looking forward to whatever comes next.