Soft skills strong knowledge
Do you feel the power for change in yourself? Do you feel empowered with adequate skills and the knowledge to adapt yourself to the dynamism of an environment which is more and more dystopian?
Because I don’t. I mean I do not feel that I, myself, I am able to even think about stepping forward sometimes. But I want to. And in my experience I always felt the power of change when I left my bubble and teamed up with people who felt the need to do something.
But. How do we take action when we are not satisfied with our surroundings? How can we be sure that we are able to act effectively to change even small scale to make a difference? What if we never learned any of these skills? Neither in school nor from our family/parents? What if we fear we do not know how or where to start from? How can we learn and develop ourselves every day?
Because if you look around and feel powerless you would also think: we need a different scenario. Or something entirely different. Especially if we look at what is happening in politics and (social) media. The communication, the propaganda, the demagoguery and actions only reveal/prove me one thing: I cannot respect the system. Under no circumstances am I able to think these people are my representatives in any decisions. But unfortunately, they are. And I want to change the tone. I want to work on platforms which are not based on fear, hatred and revenge. Because this is politics now. I want smart people and empathic people, I want respectful people, and I want innovative people who work together for a common good. ALL OF THEM. Small scale. I see the impact in starting small. It becomes relevant when we collect trust instead of power.
And for that we need an altogether different way of talking, acting and collaborating in leadership. Most probably we need a different methodology to rule the world? Yes, if the world means a lot of smaller, cooperative communities. And more women in the leadership. Because they might have a different scenario.
That’s why, at HOLIS Summer School 2018 edition, we will work with five exceptional women team leaders with the aim to achieve encouraging, engaging and empathetic scenarios for the topics we decided to work on with local partners in Sobole, Poland. Topics which are related to the local economy, communities and wellbeing to boost grassroots, community-led local developments. All of these women are wise, come from a wide range of experiences across different professions, education or communities which make them able to work with diverse people in various projects. They are role models and also ordinary people who need more visibility to be shown and ability to work.
These women have diverse and valuable mindsets: Dana has a performative art background but working with migration projects too; Joana is an architect who works with less integrated local communities, and Barbara is a professor who teaches design theory, design thinking and has a strong knowledge of creative industry in the region; Michala is a wonderful storyteller through UX, communication and product design and has exceptional knowledge of the Eastern European heritage, and finally Cansu is a woman with humanitarian law background who helps IoT companies to increase their possibilities.
We are extremely excited to work with them and can not wait for 10th of August when the team work will start at Sobole. Before that I was interested in how they felt being part of Holis and what their expectations were. So I asked them a few questions. Please read their answers below.
Why did you agree to be a team leader at HOLIS this year?
Dana Olarescu: It’s the challenge I was looking for, coming at a time when I was enquiring whether temporary communities can use compassion, empathy and generosity as a foundation for creating content for ‘strangers’. We live in an unavoidably finite world; we deplete our resources, and treat our ecosystem as a disposable object, with complete disregard toward others too. I am most comfortable within the area of participatory performance, but what is the relevance of art in our contemporary society, if it fails to engage with these urgent topics? So using my soft skills to provide practical help to rural communities is exceptionally appealing, and an incentive to push my limits.
Barbara Predan: I am interested in exploring different challenges.
Cansu Deniz Bayrak: Simply put, because of my interest in multidisciplinary approaches. Even though I am in tech for several years now, my background is in political science and human rights which gave me a different perspective which proved to be an advantage time and time again. I strongly believe in diverse teams, which result in holistic solutions.
What is the most exciting and the most challenging thing in the role?
Dana Olarescu: Stepping beyond my performative background by working within design both excites and terrifies me. Spending ten days in a rural setting as part of a group of over 40 people is a creative experiment, which demands personal and professional boundaries be pushed by life under the same roof. I am interested in democratic interactions, rather than conventional professor/student dynamics, and I am certain reciprocal relationships will be formed.
Barbara Predan: I have no idea what to expect and what the final outcome will be. I find this quite intriguing.
Michala Lipkova: I see the role of the team leader in helping to find clarity and focus. To keep the bird’s eye view and stay on top of things, while the design process gets messy. Very often it is helpful to know the potential of the individual team members — therefore one of the challenges that I see is the shortage of time, and the fact that we won’t be too familiar with each other’s skillets beforehand.
Cansu Deniz Bayrak: I am slightly nervous of working with brilliant design students from all over the world. I once dreamed of becoming a designer, so it might bring up some past regrets seeing their capabilities! Joking aside, I am curious to see what sort of tangible solutions we will be able to bring to real-life problems, and how my heavily urban approach will translate to leading the team.
What do you think of the role of non formal education nowadays?
Dana Olarescu: At a time when education in Western countries becomes increasingly expensive, and universities gift their students an exorbitant bill at the end of their studies (nowadays spanning much of their adult lives), resisting this intellectual exploitation requires non formal education methods. Finding ways to collaborate by using individual skills, practices, and experience is vital to our future development, and sharing these ideas with others, can help to disseminate functional models throughout both immediate and distant communities.
Michala Lipkova: I am terminally curious. As a designer who has been professionally involved in academic environment for last 8 years, I see lot of question marks around how we are currently working at our university. I can’t help myself feeling that the formality, long-term planning and fixed curriculums are the burden that stops us from real learning. Clusters of innovation like HOLIS are great opportunity to test new approaches. I believe that one of the roles of nowadays non formal education is to disrupt what we take for granted, to proof of emerging concepts.
Barbara Predan: Both formal and informal education are crucial in defining who we are and how we perceive the world. I find them both extremely important.
Cansu Deniz Bayrak: I wish more people realised how important it is to be in a fluid mindset, and that is not learned by sitting in a classroom. Anything that encourages first hand experience is invaluable.
When would you feel satisfied after the Summer School? (What would you like to achieve with your team?)
Dana Olarescu: My interests lie in sustainability, environmental psychology and well being, and my goals are twofold: on the one hand, I hope to bring awareness of these issues to both the team and local community, and establish a relationship based on mutual understanding, trust and skills exchange. This will in turn influence our decision making and the collaborative process.
On the other, regardless of the final project’s shape, I also aim for the result to be fully enjoyed, useful and relevant to the end users (Sobole locals), and to create new connections within the community.
Michala Lipkova: When we will be able to bring value to the region and when people will be leaving fueled with brand new experience.
Barbara Predan: I find satisfaction in overcoming our most common preconceptions. If this happens during the workshop — if only for a brief moment — I will be quite happy.
Cansu Deniz Bayrak: When I see what we proposed make a change, which I know is a long game!
We will work with them. In a country which also celebrates the 100th year that Polish women have had the right to vote in 2018.
We will also share all of the projects on our website and communication channels after the Summer School but we are also to happy to invite you for the last weekend (18–19th August) when we will present them for the public. If you are interested in please do not forget to write us to holis@codec.network
Till we meet: cooperate with others, act for common good and love yourself!
