Erik Jansen, PhD associate professor Planned Social Change Research Centre HAN SOCIAAL We are bamboo Local communities as organic networks

Network problem = “a large number of parties is involved, with diversity in values, perspectives and interests, for which power and responsibilities are fragmented, without a single actor being able to enforce an all-encompassing solving intervention. In these problems both the solving strategy and analysis of the problem are contested: different actors often answer the question ‘what exactly is the problem’, differently, often contradictorily.” Van der Steen, Peeters & Van Twist, 2010, p. 3 Social transformation as collection of network problems

Old strategies: Simplifying the problem New strategies: Accept complexity and learn to deal with it and Employ collective intelligence Tradional organising strategies inadequate for network problems

Bamboo

Horizontally branched root structure not reducible to a single branch or surface plant Keeps forming new connections Extracting a single plant does not kill the organism No beginning and no ending Can at most be controlled, continues to spread Rizome as metaphor (Deleuze en Guattari, 1976)

Instead of viewing the town district/ neighborhood as structured organisation see it as a fine-grained web of relations between individuals. If clusters of individuals display much mutual contact, they yield communities. District

Community is generally regarded (or treated) as referring to groups Network theory brings about a definition in terms of bottom-up clustering A different concept of community Community as GROUP Based on common characteristics Closed concept Tends to be static Capitalizes on mechanisms of exclusion vs inclusion Entity Community as CLUSTER Based on proximity and interrelations Open concept Evolves dynamically Capitalizes on binding forces Organisational pattern

Facilitate formation of connections instead of centralized steering Self-determination of individuals: seek mutual perspective or interests Process is essential: trust! Local culture and shared values where ideas flow freely and transparantly… …and lead to collective action How to govern in a living network?  Take care of the soil where roots can grow

What flows through connections? Pentland (2014): collective intelligence grows by way of reverberation of ideas in networks 1.Idea flow (directionality): exploration in the network for new ideas 2.Engagement (binding force): direct, positive contacts between individual people leads to cooperative behavior  (Spread of) learning in networks: social learning (De Laat, 2014; Engestrøm, 2007)

Towards a learning Civil Society… Social innovation in neighborhoods and districts: -Professionals and citizens jointly forming the organism of the living network (Rhizome) … -Organized as emergent (bottom-up) Communities of Practice (learning networks)… -In which they collaboratively develop critical, reflective practices and are being addressed in their personal learning capacity … -Based on substantial dialogue (public deliberation)… -Matched with collective action… -Supported by social workers / community developers / social support teams.

This holds for organisations as well -A living entity  What is the binding force? -Not your position but your contribution is what counts -Everyone has her function within the whole -Knowledge circulation: ideas as “juices of life” -Inniovation and change based on: 1.Expertise 2.Enthousiasm en passion 3.Inspiration 4.Idealism

The practitioner in the bambooforest New role for practitioners: 1.Reasoning from the common GOAL of the organisation 2.Be proactive 3.Experiment 4.Be critical 5.Knowledge multiplies if you share it Above all: Value others for what they contribute, not for their position

Middle managers in the bambooforest Facilitate LEARNING PROCESSES (Stam et al., 2015): 1.Learning from experience 2.Learning from uncertainty 3.Learning bottom-up by explicitizing practices 4.Learning from tension and conflict 5.Learning by exploring boundaries 6.Learning from dialogue 7.Learning in community

Executives in the bambooforest New roles for leadership: 1.Cultivate curiosity: create opportunities to form cross-organisational connections based on common interests 2.Create space for learning and initiative: enable the formation and maintenance of new connections Above all: Let the forest grow and cherish collateral benefits!

Take the bambooforest as your reference and not its separate plants Grow by learning Thank you for your attention!