ridges

uilding

A four step framework to build reflection processes that can improve territorial governance

Result of a knowledge cogeneration process between researchers and territorial stakeholders

A proposal put forward by researchers

Based on concepts that emerged during an action research process: social capital, territory, governance, facilitators, competitiveness, participation, complexity and strategy

Based on concepts previously defined by the research group

A framework for obtaining short-term results

What it is What it isn’t

The Framework:

Step by Step

Step 1

Build the main blocks that will support the bridge

Questions to ask:

1. What is the status of each participant (the role that they play) and, therefore, what is their decision-making capacity?

2. Has each person embraced their status?

3. Does everyone recognise each other’s respective status?

Questions to ask:

1. Do people trust that everyone has good intentions?

2. Do people have trust in the abilities of each person?

3. Is it a transparent process?

Questions to ask:

1. Are participants able to explain what the process consists of?

2. What differences are there in the way the participants interpret the overall objective of the project and the philosophy behind the work?

3. Have minimum elements shared by all been identified?

Structure Trust Shared Vision

Step 2

Develop a common agenda around the WHAT and the HOW of the process

Questions to ask:

1. What are the specific objectives of the project?

Questions to ask:

1. How many people share those objectives?

2. What are their interests regarding those objectives?

3. Who facilitates the process? 4. Who makes the decisions? 5. How are the decisions

implemented?

What How

Step 3

Reflect on the New Governance

Questions to ask:

1. Are all relevant actors involved in the process? 2. When the language associated with the project is

analysed: Whose process is it? In other words, how many people talk about “our” process?

3. To what extent is the decision-making capacity shared? For example, who decides what to use the project’s budget for and how does this happen?

New Governance

Institutionalise Change

Questions to ask:

1. Have new working methods been developed? 2. Has a process that defines regional development as

something continuous and that involves everyone been developed?

Changes and innovations in policy-making

Step 4

BASES

DEVELOPING A COMMON AGENDA

NEW GOVERNANCE MODEL

CHANGES AND INNOVATIONS IN POLICY-MAKING

Structure Trust Shared vision

What How

Participation

Facilitators

The Magic Ingredient:

Facilitators are important because they make things happen. Bridges are not built spontaneously.

BASES

Structure Trust Shared Vision

DEVELOPING A

COMMON AGENDA What How

NEW GOVERNANCE MODEL

Participation

CHANGES AND INNOVATIONS IN POLICY-MAKING

Facilitators

Something to keep in mind

Building a bridge is just one step. It needs to be taken care of so that it doesn’t fall apart.

In cases of multilevel governance, other bridges would need to be built, starting from Step 1.

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See “Territorial Development and Action Research”

For more information