NORTHBRIDGE — Business leaders complain about the difficulty of communicating effectively across department “silos.” In the political arena, issues such as addressing global climate change and health care reform often become polarized.

In an era when many people don’t even know their neighbors, it can be hard to build a sense of community and common purpose.

One local organization is working to change that.

“Community spirit in our neighborhood is going down,” said Dennis Rice, executive director of Alternatives Unlimited Inc., a nonprofit agency that serves adults with developmental and psychiatric disabilities. “Alternatives has taken it on to enhance community spirit, however we define it.”

Alternatives recently hosted the third annual arts conference, “Conversation, Creativity, and Community: A World Café to redefine our community,” known as the C3 Project, at the renovated Whitin Mill complex. The Massachusetts Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association sponsored the conference.

Some 30 people from across the state, including artists, educators and others in the psychiatric rehabilitation field, participated in a series of linked, small-group discussions addressing the topic of creativity and community, following a process called World Café.

According to facilitator Samantha Tan, World Café was developed 15 years ago as a simple method for groups, ranging from 12 to thousands, to exchange ideas, learn, build community and inspire collective action.

The process involves three rounds of discussion at tables set up in groups of four. Participants switch to different groups between rounds, and look for connections, themes and collective insight.

“I work with groups like this to support their goals, to bring community to life, foster authentic relationships, enrich their lives and bring forth the creativity of the group” Ms. Tan said.

During the first 20-minute round at the C3 conference, participants addressed the question of what role art and creative experience play in their lives.

Nathaniel Needle, co-owner of Saori Worcester Hand-Weaving Studio and Gallery for Everyone, took his five-minute turn to describe his own creative process to table partners E. Joseph Podolsky of Charlestown, Deborah Bennett of Brookline and Mariko Gakita of Cambridge.

“The creative experience has a lot to do with paying attention; I include in that being present to what’s going on in my head,” Mr. Needle said.

He added, “For me, the first ingredient in being creative is being able to mess up and make so-called mistakes, even if you don’t know what you’re doing yet.”

Ms. Gakita, who was educated in Japan and has lived around the world, said she finds creativity, and in particular cooking, a way to appreciate and connect with different cultures.

The next round brought a change of table partners and a different question: What communities are you part of?

Participants described the importance of other artists, of neighbors who brought food when they were ill, and the ministrations of clergy, relatives, and teachers who took them under their wing when it was needed.

After the third round, which examined common threads across the discussions, the whole group talked about ideas, including ways to encompass diverse perspectives and how to implement creative initiatives locally, such as fostering intergenerational community hubs in places like nursing homes or supermarkets.

Ms. Tan said that World Café participants “always report that even though they’ve spoken to nine other people, they feel connected to the whole group. That’s the soil for collaborating and working together.”

Later in the conference program, participants explored, with instructor Rick Roberts of Whitinsville, a relaxing art form called Zentangle, which uses repetitive shapes to create beautiful images.

“Anything we can do to bring people together to talk about community is important,” Mr. Rice said.