STRONGER TIES
In the North of Amsterdam two unique groups collaborate; The activist group RAN & the city government team TAN. They manage collaborate on ways to give more ownership and say to neighborhood communities. This is where and how systems are changed! When I was asked to facilitate a workshop to strengthen their ties, I grabbed the opportunity to learn from these change makers in action!
The assignment
The activist group RAN (Save Amsterdam North) was fed up about building plans that didn't take current inhabitants into account. They saw a growing divide and a growing neglect in some neighborhoods. So they wrote an angry letter to the mayor, with effect.
Their activist efforts led to a new form of collaboration with a specially formed team of city clerks and officials, TAN.
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After two years of (sometimes difficult) collaboration they needed a moment to to share frustrations, to reflect on their achievements, and to realign on their goals. Together with them I planned a reflective workshop - with room for their struggles and to strengthen their collaborative ties. ​
Reflection is key
RAN & TAN have a shared goal to give the community more ownership and say. This is new territory. There is no map that tells them where to go or how to get there. So how can they measure progress?
The key is reflection. By going back to the core goals, again and again. By checking if the initial goals still shared by everyone, or if some have changed. And by allowing new team members to add their views and ideas about it. Because the key is to make sure their are shared goals!
I asked both team to revisit their own goals and achievements, before sharing them with the group. It created the deep and safe reflection they needed.
Feeling the system
Trying to change a system can feel impossible. Their parts are connected and each connection has its own dynamic. That's why when you push on one side, other parts may not notice any effect, and it becomes impossible to move the whole. The members of RAN & TAN feel the effects of system change every day - either consciously, or unconsciously- while maneuvering between existing laws and regulations, bureaucratic processes, and citizens who don't trust government.
​I wanted the workshop participants to reflect on how this aspect of system change feels, so that they could be more aware and accepting of their situation. I wanted an embodied experience!
After a physical warm-up I let them form various connected sub-systems with their bodies as system parts and their arms as connectors. I asked them to form clusters of two, three, or four connected people. And once they had become one complex connected system - I challenged them to move in their desired direction, with their eyes closed, and without communication. It turned out quit hard, but nevertheless, after some practice, they achieved! This was embodied systems change!
Celebrating success
The success of systems change is hard to see while it happens. The dominant approach is to look for fast results. But systems only change over longer time. The long term effects that we aim for haven't happened yet, so they cannot be measured.
I believe the work itself is change in-the-making, and success is when it happens. ​Each small act and each step we take towards systemic change is one that changes the future. Whenever we do this work, we should recognize and celebrate it. That's why I took the opportunity to celebrate RAN & TAN with a festive cake eating moment.