OECD/CSTP Workshop on Transforming Innovation to

Address Social Challenges/Paris 9-10 November 2009.

Session 3: Building New Partnerships between

Stakeholders

Good Future Dialogues

in

Building Partnerships

Robert Arnkil, Work Research Centre,

Tampere University, Finland

and

Arnkil Dialogues

robert.arnkil@armas.fi

“The complex matter of addressing social challenges

by innovation asks for new forms of cooperation

between different worlds”

“More focus needed concerning how policymakers

can foster productive interactions between

"science/technology and society", how to initiate,

design, promote and evaluate such interactions - or

collective experiments”

“How to develop our competence and skills to do not

only "governance by design" but also "governance

through dynamics"

Dear baby has many names…: Triple Helix,

Quadruple Helix, Living Labs, Produsage,

Democratic Dialogue, Family Group

Conference…

Triple Helix (government, academia, business) is “reaching

out” to customers, citizens, mediators and multipliers…

There might be a Quadruple Helix evolving (user-driven

innovation or user-centric innovation…)

Same process is going on in the all society: business,

evaluation, health, social work, family work, therapy…

And Web 2.0 as “produsage” (production+usage, like Wiki)

Living Labs ( “user-centric research methodology for sensing,

prototyping, validating and refining complex solutions in

multiple and evolving real life contexts”)

Same process in for family therapy (Family Group

Conferencing, Strengthening Families…)

Learning gap

There seems to be a chronic underinvestment in the ”learning

infrastructure” and methods – in the quality of learning

In policies

Programmes

Projects…

Also there is a widening gap between the possibilities of Web 2.0

and social media and multi-media to enhance learning and

communication

The results and sustainability of ”good practice” dissemination

are quite often weak

A considerable investment in the ”learning spaces” is needed…

Time gap

The emergence of innovations, good practices and service

products takes time

The real impact and evidence of reaching a societally and

environmentally sustainable result takes more like a decade

than a year…

The perspective and possibilities of different stakeholders are

fundamentally different to the time perspective (but it is

treated abstractly)

Basic science time – very long

Applied science time – long

Big business time – medium

Government time – medium

Politician time – short

Project time short (and getting shorter…)

Small business time – short

Citizen time – short (but also very long…..)

Implementation time

Small learning loops”

Real time learning in everyday

(working) life (benchlearning)

Emerging, interesting and

promising practice/ innovation

Enrichment of the ”ecosystem” of

knowledge and connections

”Big learning loop”

Strategic learning(benchmarking)

Good and sustainable

Innovation/ practice

”Evidence”

Time and small and big learning loops

Good practice =

Evolving, emerging, changing, generative practice

Able to negotiate itself, embed itself in a ”360-degree context”

(customers, horizontal partners, competition, management and

governance)

At the end of the day always situated, local practice

Interesting practice/ innovation (no evidence)

Promising practice/innovation (self-evaluation)

Good practice/innovation (self and independent evaluation)

Sustainable good practice/innovation (endures across

cycles/time)

Permanent partners and competitors

Temporary partners and competitors

Citizens and customers

Governance and management

”The Practice”

Past Present Emerging future

”360-degree Good practice and ”voices”/ perspectives

Partners

Facilitator

Decision

makers…Managers

”Voice” telling their story

Multi-actor dialogue workshop arrangement

Note-

taker

Virtual

connections

”Voices in audience from the ”360-degrees”, first listening, then in dialogue

Good Future Dialogue

In some curious way we are transported to three years

from now

to 9. November 2012 (which is a Friday by the way…)

”Its so good to see you again here in Paris…”

”I have heard good things have happened in your

projects..”

I’m curious to hear what has happened – what are you

personally delighted about what was achieved in your

project?...”

Good Future Dialogue Questions

Four basic questions are asked by the facilitator from the

representatives of the “voice”

(1)Now that we are in the future, and things in the innovation

have, from your viewpoint, progressed positively, what are

you particularly happy about?

(2) What did you personally do to help this positive outcome

materialise?

(3) Who were your key partners in achieving this?

(4) Were you worried about something two years ago, and

what helped to alleviate those worries?

Subjectivity and avoiding

regression

Commitment

Meaningful network

Advising on pitfalls

Permanent partnersTemporary partners

Citizens, customers

Management

”PracticeA”

”Practice B”

Practice/ Unit A telling their story of ”good practice”

(interesting, promising good…)

Practice/ Unit B istening and refelcting how the story of A fits their context

”Voices”

”complex learning”

Learning from ”good practice”In Multi-Actor Learning Spaces

”Voices”

Good Future Workshop 1

Good Future Workshop 2

Good Future Workshop 3

1. Good future anticipation

Time span ( for instance 3 – 5 years)

2. Reflection on realisation and

new anticipation

2. Reflection on whole process

and new anticipation

Good Future Dialogue Process

Conclusion

Where is Good Future Dialogue Good?

Future Dialogue is most useful in diffuse and open

situations and for exploring emergent ideas, connections

and possibilities

The emphasis on establishing contact, articulation of

perspectives, listening to others and building social

capital, networks and exploring possibilities for joint

action and new partnerships.

Good Future Dialogue, is an “offer”, an affordance to

connect. To what extent this offer is realised, depends on

many factors, in the first place of course on the ability of

the actors present to grab the opportunity, generate new

action and “hive off” to work further.

”Big learning loop”

”Small learning loops”

Implementation time

Emerging practice/

innovations

Everyday practice

Evidence based practice/ innovations/

sustainable impact

Research on innovations, impact and good practices

Workshops and projects in workplaces and everyday

contexts

FutureDialogues

”Nebulae” to generate new cooperation and co-creation

Living Labs

Quadruple Helix…

Development perspectivesRational choice/

planning

Learning

organisation

Everyday

complex

response

Basis of learning Expert knowledge

and managers

Explicit

Work based

Explicit and tacit

Life based

Local and tacit

Development

concept

Linear

Universalistic

Dialogical

Contingent

Self-organising

Ecological

Time-concept Abstract Contextual Subjective ”multi-

time”

Important Clarity

Uniformity

Good learning

spaces

Diversity

Polyphony

Good practice ”Are we on the

right track?”

”Are we learning” ”Are we

connecting?”

Enrichment of the social field= multi voice,

multi-actor

Enrichment of learning spaces

=Multi-voice

learningworkshops

Enrichment of good practice/

productecology

Enrichment of the contact/

meeting groundof small and big

loop learning

Enriching the ”small loop” and establishing contact with the big loop