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Exploring Network and Community Impact for Social Change

Discover tools and approaches for evaluating networks & communities. Learn how to demonstrate impact & facilitate systems of influence emerging. Join the Berkana Exchange to collaborate globally for positive change.

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Exploring Network and Community Impact for Social Change

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  1. Evaluating the Emergence of Leadership Within Networks and Communities of Practice • Boston LLC • September 21, 2007

  2. Intentions of This Gathering • Explore our collective knowledge about tools and approaches for evaluating networks and communities of practice • Deepen our understanding of how to demonstrate the impact of strong networks and CoPs on social change • Learn about how Berkana is doing its work • Find learning partners

  3. Calling Questions • What tools, approaches and challenges are we discovering in evaluating networks and communities of practice? • What is the relationship between strong networks/CoPs and creating impact in the world?

  4. What Time Is It?

  5. How Change Happens In Living Systems

  6. Roles to Play as Systems Change

  7. Berkana’s Role: Emergence of the New When separate, local efforts connect with each other as networks, then strengthen as communities of practice, suddenly and surprisingly a new system emerges at a greater level of scale. This system of influence possesses qualities and capacities that were unknown in the individuals.

  8. Lifecycle of Emergence • Networks: commitment to self; fluid membership; fluid roles • Communities of Practice: commitment to advance field of practice; focus on creation and dissemination of knowledge; distinct roles • Systems of Influence: pioneering efforts suddenly become the norm

  9. Creating the Conditions • Condition #1: Self-organizing is happening • Condition #2: Knowledge moves openly and fluidly • Condition #3: The boundary is permeable • Condition #4: Diversity is present

  10. Berkana’s Strategy • Name • Connect • Nourish • Illuminate

  11. Introducing the Berkana Exchange • The Berkana Exchange connects pioneering leaders throughout the globe around their shared commitment to making a difference in and beyond their communities. These leaders are developing the capacity to solve their most pressing problems—such as community health, ecological sustainability and economic self-reliance—by acting locally, connecting regionally and learning “trans-locally.”

  12. What Should We Measure? • The impact of the learning centers on their local communities? • The value of participating in the Berkana Exchange on the health and vitality of the learning centers? • Whether the Berkana Exchange is effectively creating the conditions for systems of influence to emerge? • Whether systems of influence are emerging?

  13. A. Impact of Learning Centers • This should be easy, but… • The LCs do not have a practice of measuring their impact. More generally, they trust that they are making a difference. • Even if the LCs were measuring their impact, how do we know that participating in the Exchange had anything to do with it? • This community holds some sensitivity about North-South relationships. We choose not to make demands.

  14. Small Group Conversation • Invite someone in your group to share a related story • What similar challenges emerged? • What suggestions do you have about addressing those challenges?

  15. B. The Value of Participation • Structural Health: financial, strategic, technical • Personal Health: isolation, transitions • Community Health: decision-making, intergenerational relationships, community engagement • Learning Health: learning exchanges, practices and skills

  16. Small Group Conversation • Reflect on these four dimensions. How do they sound to you? • The Community Health and Learning Health dimensions can be challenging to measure. In your small group, choose one to focus on: What ideas and strategies are you working with? What is challenging you?

  17. C & D: Working with Systems of Influence • We have a hypothesis about creating the conditions for systems of influence to emerge, which includes: • Condition #1: Self-organizing is happening • Condition #2: Knowledge moves openly and fluidly • Condition #3: The boundary is permeable • Condition #4: Diversity is present • Are there other conditions? • How would we evaluate this? • And what about the question of whether the systems of influence actually are emerging?

  18. Closing Question • What is one thing that you’re taking home with you—a question, idea or thought that you’ll continue to play with?

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