Learning for Change: Organisational Forms in transition. Co-creative explorations based on learnings
After two concise inputs by Iris Kunze on research outcomes of TRANSIT and by Robert Hall on learnings from the Global Ecovillage Network, participants were invited to share their experiences in break out groups. In the next step we asked for key insights in the plenary and then harvested key learnings and needs from initiatives for innovative organisational forms in a Fish Bowl setting which are the following:
Initiatives apply a diversity of organisational forms to choose from for depending and ensuring on purpose and member state (e.g. cooperative, association, foundation).
Innovative, empowering organizational forms for engaging and empowering active members in the initiatives need to be supported by respective legal forms.
These forms should ensure equal access to power by inclusive decision-making (e.g. elaborated, adapted forms of sociocracy) based on co-ownership of company, real estate etc. by the members and a value-based common ground (e.g. social just and ecological).
Institutional obstacles are faced: NGO and cooperative legal forms are not harmonised while easy business registration seems to be promoted widely by national governments.
Personal growth, social skills and connecting on a heart level (individual empowerment, authentic, deep communication, being able to take sophisticated individual responsibility and commitment for the community) is a necessary base for making innovative organizational forms really work.
Concerning the learning of how we applied facilitation methods in the session (as ‘walk our talk’ exercise of innovative organizational forms) we observed that the process managed to facilitate the needs of getting information (by the concise inputs), expressing one’s own experiences in relation to the inputs (by giving space to talk for everyone in break out groups) which then prepared an insightful base for the sharing in a Fishbowl format. We consider it as a successful dialogue session because each of the 25 participants have been in the Fishbowl and was giving a focused and valuable statement. We draw from the facilitation method ‘Collaboratory’ we are developing in the Leadership for Transition (LiFT) project.
