LET’S KEEP CONTACT WITH OTHER COMMUNITIES!

Description:

The aim of the webinar was to create a space for sharing experiences and discussing the determinants of creating local change and scaling innovation. Invited experts will share their experience of implementing projects that were aimed at creating new quality in local communities. It was both a space to indicate key aspects of designing local change, but to identify barriers, difficulties and reasons for failures. The process of diffusion of innovations and their dissemination in the regional or national system, treated also as a set of challenges, but also potential limitations, was also the subject of lectures and discussions. The webinar should sensitise participants to key aspects of the process of creating, implementing and scaling social innovations (including environmental initiatives).  

Date: 15.XI.2023

Goals:

•  Identify the conditions for scaling innovation in green social policy.
•  Identify the conditions for going beyond the local community in green social policy action.
•  Diffuse good practices and examples related to green local policies.
•  Prepare partners to go beyond their local communities in green social policy action.

Agenda of the webinar:

•  Introduction. Izabela Grabowska (CAL), Andrea Volterrani (Unitov), Arkadiusz Karwacki (NCU)
•  Lectures:
  “The locomotive of change” – experiences of designing a model to counteract the inheritance of poverty,  Arkadiusz Karwacki (NCU)
  Designing for environmental change – the PZR experience , Joanna Suchomska, SustainableDevelopment Lab
  From local to global. Scaling up innovation experience from sustainable local development projects. Urszula Budzich-Tabor, FAMENET the Fisheries and Aquaculture Monitoring, Evaluation and Local Support Network
•  Scaling up innovation: group works (4 rooms).
•  Wrapping up – conclusions.

Participants:

Total: 142, Female: 100, Male: 40, Non-binary: 2, Poland: 30, Italy: 38, Croatia: 39, Greece: 35, Total countries: 4

Content of the webinar

The seminar was divided into two parts, in the first of which participants listened to presentations by invited experts dealing with the creation of partnership networks, bringing together different actors, operating simultaneously at local, national and EU level. This part of the meeting focused on three, main elements: 

•  The presentation of methodologies for local action that would consider the impact of external policies, challenges, and actors. In this part, Professor Arkadiusz Karwacki presented a model of action based on building shared visions and narratives based on a local diagnosis of global problems including those related to the environment. 
•  In the second presentation, Joanna Suchomska of the Sustainable Development Lab presented examples of local pro-environmental activities conducted at the interface of citizen activity and the local government sector. She pointed to such mechanisms as the creation of partnerships and participation in diagnostics, emphasising the importance of adapting local development processes to the specifics of the target group. The expert also pointed to innovative examples of green governance activities, demonstrating an original method of working with environmental pollution, in which citizens, supported by developers and local government, build a local network and map of sensors to study the state of the air. A key element of these processes, for the expert, is the ability to build a social and institutional platform to link the knowledge and experience of external experts with the actions of local communities. In this way, a network of interconnected activities is gradually built.
•  The third part of the meeting was devoted to building transnational networks and increasing the supra-local impact of Co-Green projects. Urszula Budzich-Tabor, representing FAMENT and RURAL PARLIAMENT, indicated the most important tools for improving the European visibility of the project. She emphasized the need for participants to be involved in international networks, accentuated the importance of good examples and practices, and emphasised the role of well-managed and communicated project materials.

After each presentation, the webinar participants had the opportunity to engage in discussion.

In the second part of the meeting, the participants were divided into four break-out sessions in which they were asked to work together to answer the following questions:

•  What can others learn about green transformation from your community (content)? 
•  How can you transfer knowledge and experiences from green transformation to other communities or organizations (tools)? What works, and what not? 
•  Who and how should be involved in the process of local transfer of green transformation knowledge and experiences (actors)?
•  Are there already initiatives, networks, platforms that can build coalitions of local

To answer those questions four national rooms were created. This allowed a focus on the specific, national conditions of innovation scaling processes. In addition, it enabled regional, national and European opportunities for support and cooperation for green governance to be discussed. Following the group work, selected individuals presented the results of their work in the individual workshop groups.

Group 1 results:

The community development process should start before implementing the green policy. New groups of diverse actors should be facilitated. Platforms for local and inter-local dialogue should be built during the process. New connections with relevant bodies and actors should be established. Proactively engage potential knowledge brokers (selected with criteria of further knowledge transfer in mind, rather than ‘numbers’ or simple ‘representativeness/engagement’). Making those who work and operate in the territory aware of the dynamics occurring at the ecosystem level. The aim is a cascade of activities and communication methods communicating ideas and actions to those involved.

Group 2 results:

In the course of the discussion, the group developed five recommendations which, by their universal nature, can be useful in planning and running projects in a variety of locations and at different scales. First, it is important to work with the local government or local authority. It is worth mapping the initiatives and programmes already in place. In this way, we can avoid duplication of ideas and potential conflict with authorities, whose support may be important at different stages of the project. Second, with resources usually limited, it is useful to define the project’s target group. Limiting the ambitions and activities to a predefined, relatively narrow number of actors increases the probability of final success without excluding the possibility of later scaling up the project. Third, it is important to listen to the voice of the project participants throughout the duration of the project. One should be ready to change the objectives or tools expected by its beneficiaries. It is useful to incorporate bottom-up initiatives that emerge during the project. Although they are not part of a pre-defined plan, they are sometimes firmly rooted in the local context and respond well to the needs and expectations of the community. They also allow participants’ involvement to be strengthened. Finally, workshop participants highlight the need for promotion. Importantly, advertising the project, its objectives and individual activities helps to promote the ideas behind the project. Workshop participants pointed to various examples of ad hoc coalitions or agreements between various actors (local government, third sector, volunteers) for specific activities. It should be noted that the cooperation networks created in this way, although devoid of an institutionalised character, have the potential to strengthen and function also in projects other than those for which they were established.

Group 3 results:

The engagement of various actors in local green transition processes emerged as a crucial aspect. Residents were identified as pivotal participants, their active involvement deemed decisive for the acceptance of green measures and the realisation of sustainable changes. Local authorities were acknowledged for their oversight and implementation role in supporting the green transition, while universities and research institutes were recognisedas valuable sources of experiences, research, and innovative ideas. To involve these actors, conferences, public events, and educational programs were suggested as an effective means of implementation. The spectrum of involved entities encompassed central administration, educational bodies, associations, volunteers, businesses, and cooperatives. Cooperation culture in specific green projects was emphasised, along with mutual respect and recognition of each participant’s role. Initiatives involved synthesisingthoughts on projects, conducting needs analyses, determining project participants, and creating coordinating groups’ horizontal and vertical knowledge transfer mechanisms were proposed. A dedicated website for local green transformation activities, managed by a central coordinator or institution, was suggested as a comprehensive archive. It was emphasised that transferring experience and knowledge is a reflexive process starting at the level of citizen action and ending with global goals for sustainable development.

Group 4 results:

The discussion focused on knowledge sharing processes between communities. As an example of sharing knowledge with other communities, the group pointed to a project on the climate crisis and its impact on local action, led by the Green Network of the Primorsko-Goransky region. The main lesson from this experience is that the local community needs to be informed about the perceptions of decision-makers on climate change, which affects all aspects of daily life. It is also important to communicate how climate change will be addressed. The group emphasised that involving communities and communicating with them on the one hand provokes decision-makers to re-evaluate local policies, but also involves actors outside the community itself.

Summary of the webinar:

To summarise the workshop, participants identified 4 main lessons for scaling innovation and green social policy:

•  Beyond micro-innovations: each community involved has interesting examples of green micro change. The problem is often the scale and the focus on limited actions by a narrow group of actors.
•  Joining alliances: an important part of scaling up is to well recognise and join in the activity of existing support networks operating at a supra-local level. There are coalitions of organisations, expert and public actors supporting green transformation. They can strengthen community action, allow new resources and experiences to be acquired, allow knowledge about models and ways of working to be exchanged. 
•  Promoting: when designing a local green transformation, it is important to remember to communicate our actions, projects, obstacles with others. It is important to provide the tools to establish relationships. New media and technologies are important, but also direct contacts and previous experiences of cooperation.
•  Building two-way relations: communication between active communities and policymakers and public actors is key. In doing so, it is important to ensure the subjectivity of the communities themselves. They must not be passive recipients of development policies, they must be able to shape them according to their own needs.

In summary, a key element of the workshop was to shift the centre of gravity of community green transformation efforts. The participants involved were confronted with the need to build networks for action. The local nature of individual activities does not mean that they can be disconnected from the broader objectives of development policies. Effective, successful transformation requires narratives, visions for action, methodologies and ideas that can go beyond the community itself. This makes it crucial for the success of small, rooted transformation efforts to connect with problems, but also resources and actors operating at multiple levels. This will enable a seamless transfer of knowledge between local and supra-local stakeholders of green change.