Challenges of participation

The past weeks have showcased, in many different ways, how we all face the same challenges whether we discuss about decision-makers, employees or citizens. One of  the biggest challenge of our time is how to activate, involve and motivate our stakeholders or target groups, even colleagues, to participate in different processes, actions or events. It is not an easy task, as the tempo of our life is hectic, and many are not able to be in the moment anymore. Even in meetings, many are having a second discussion through channels of social media and claim to be present in both. Possible or not, that is the trend nowadays.

Will it then be possible to create an event that really involves people - not just their bodies, but also their minds? Event that is so interesting that participants do not even want to open their mobiles for e-mail check-ups, but are taken by the moment? All the possible ingredients for having this are in our hands and with partners we are able to create even something bigger. Some claim that only the change is permanent so is the Solutions -conference able to create a change for sustainability?
The early-birds are registering at the moment and many more will follow, so why not you too?

More carrots

On national level, a lot of discussion has been focusing on the future vision and what alternatives do we have for it. There seems to be a consensus that a change is needed and everyone has role to play in it. Still we are not burning yet for the change. Is it so that we do not have a huge need that forces us to do anything radical?

Before sustainable changes take place, we need to have many measures in place, both carrots and sticks. We can force some changes to take place by laws, taxes and limitations. Still the hardest challenge is - how to change the behavior of the citizens so that they feel positive about it? What changes trigger a behavior change and what kind of measures are needed for that? Many experts are looking for the answers in their own surroundings.

Many say that it does not, in the end, matter how do we reach the change, as long as it takes place. I do not totally agree on that, as we need to ensure that everyone is going to be on board. The carrots make things easier and we can all create them by being/looking for role models, organizing competitions or offering peer support. Hopefully the conference will be one of the big carrots! Let´s create the positive spin among our networks!

Good enough

It is hard to say when the local authorities are the best in their class. This can not be measured by financial language, as money is only a resource. Cities are aiming to become the best for the citizens. This creates a lot of demand from different stakeholders. Cities are pulled to different directions, and often forget what is the most important for the common benefit.

For local authorities it is important to see how effectively they fulfill the mission and what kind of outcomes are received in relation to the available resources. One can measure this only if the starting point is clearly analyzed and the change is somehow evidenced. How well do we see the process in our own cities?

You can not force a true change to take place. The changes are enabled by a wise leadership who understands their role. Without this enabling, we can not reach the status of being the best and reach sustainability.

It needs to be remembered that in the end it does not matter what you have reached in life - you are only good in comparison to what you can become.

Steps before actions

Nowadays, you can everywhere run into presentations, speeches and texts urging the actions to take place. "Enough for talking - time to take actions", "more actions, less talk" - is spreading fast. But why the process is so slow, although everyone knowns in principle, that changes are needed?

A true fact is that changes will only happen if the driving forces are strong enough or the organization culture enables visionary work. The force can be for example, a financial situation or a disaster that needs radical changes in previous manners. In any cases, nothing will happen unless there is a passionate person to create the demand or to push others to join him/her.This is vital. Sometimes a new combination of people will start something bigger than ever before or a person that has high enough status will trigger the process to start.

From the driving force, it is still some way towards real actions. A joint vision on the future is needed. This needs to be explicitly written, so that all are truly sharing it. Then one fact of success is based on how the organization works together and values the small steps taken. In many cases, the process itself results in bigger change then the real measurable outcome. This should not be forgotten.

During the planning process of Solutions2011 conference one encounters the process very vividly. It is fascinating to see how the different actors suddenly pull themselves together and start to jointly plan actions that just waited to be fulfilled. What kind of change would you like to see taking place?