North East Together 26: More than you imagine is possible (May 2024)
We gathered on 22 May 2024 for North East Together’s 26th whole network event: More than you imagine was possible…Building momentum for change and effective collaboration: early insights from LocalMotion.
This was the third in our series of four half-day in person events for 2023 and 2024, all focused on growing and developing our collaborative leadership capacity and capability. We’ve be using this time together to learn about and start to apply and develop the North East Together Collaboration toolkit and framework to support more, and more effective, collaboration across the north east. To help us translate theory into practice, we’ll be spotlighting inspiring examples of collaborative leadership in action — learning from social leaders who are currently leading the way in this work.
The previous events in this series are
- North East Together #24 Gearing up for your collaboration journey, May 2023
- North East Together #25: Perspective, participation and power, November 2023
We know our region faces challenges and opportunities that no one person or organisation can resolve or respond to alone. We also recognise the need to embrace complexity and systems thinking when we reflect on the health of our social systems in the north east to develop more nuanced and ultimately effective interventions. Embracing complexity and systems thinking requires a fundamental commitment to working collaboratively.
The final event in this series in November 2024 will find us at the 10th anniversary of starting the network. We’re really curious to see what’s changed. We hope you’ll travel along with us as we share what we’ve learnt in our collaboration inquiry since we started out.
Together we can.
Building momentum for change and effective collaboration: early insights from LocalMotion
We bring NET members and friends together for mutual support, inspiration and collaboration, and each event includes these three elements. The event pack and slidedeck tells you more about the event…read on for our write up.
Guided networking: NET collaboration framework
We started with a guided networking activity to get to know each other better and connect. We had conversations in pairs and threes — guided by the NET collaboration framework — to share our thoughts on key issues and considerations for successful collaborations and what would help us collaborate more effectively. We offered the following prompts to guide people’s conversations…
- Do the key issues and considerations for successful collaborations resonate with you? And why?
- What strikes you most about the framework?
- In practical terms, what would help you collaborate more effectively when it comes to conflicts and tensions or goals, indicators, outcomes and impact?
North East Together collaboration framework and toolkit
This is taking another couple of steps together around the North East Together collaboration framework.
Here’s a summary of the collaboration framework. We shared the full toolkit with those who came or sent their apologies. If you’d like a PDF copy, just ask.
More than you thought was possible… national perspective
Kathleen Kelly, director of collaboration, LocalMotion, shared her thoughts about the first three years of LocalMotion’s ambitious, system change journey, and what they are noticing — and think we could learn from — about the patterns, trends, successes and pitfalls from the six places and the funders involved, with Q&A.
LocalMotion was created in response to funding squeezes and the increasing demand on charities and local grassroots organisations to plug the gap; people and communities who traditionally have little power, minimal resources and are often working in silo from one another. The six places are Carmarthen, Enfield, Lincoln, Middlesbrough, Oldham and Torbay. The funders collaborating on LocalMotion are City Bridge Foundation, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, Lankelly Chase Foundation, Lloyds Bank Foundation and Paul Hamlyn Foundation.
The funders stared with asking themselves what might be possible if we work together differently, and if we work with places differently. This was about acknowledging the funders/LocalMotion didn’t have all the answers, a need to start with people where they are to build on local strengths, and use the concept of the double-blank page, and ask what do you want to work AND how do you want to work on it?
Kathleen left us with three things she’d learnt
- The beauty of taking the next right step rather than having all the answers before taking a step
- Normalise challenge and conflict as this is a sign something is starting to happen
- Help people feel the future they want to see — galvanise all the senses to step into and imagine the future
Responses and curiosities
We facilitated a generative activity to give time to reflect on and share insights, ideas and curiosities from what we’d just heard from Kathleen and to look ahead to hearing from the Middlesbrough team. We had another go with our talking sticks to support equal voice and participation from everyone.
More than you thought was possible… Middlesbrough’s perspective
Our second conversation was with Mark Davis and Ania Deputate — part of the LocalMotion Middlesbrough team — to share their experience and insights from the first three years of the work. We asked about the approaches they’d taken, learning gained and successes in the areas of conflict, goals, impact, governance and leadership. The conversation was followed with a Q&A.
Mark shared how LocalMotion Middlesbrough started by spending a lot of time together, listening to local people and communities, and learning what was most important to Middlesbrough. This was community wellbeing and community wealth, with equity, diversity and inclusion wrapped around these two priorities. He acknowledged they’d started a journey they didn’t know where it would take them but how this felt OK for this system change work, which feels very organic and emergent. Ania shared how she was focusing on relationships, making time for people to connect through conversations — not take action straightaway or be tokenistic — to build real trust, deep connection, and allow honesty.
Both recognised no one likes conflict and tension, and it points to a need to solve it together not to hide from it. They’ve learnt to ask what does the relationship need from us now to move forward, so zooming out rather than focusing in on the conflict itself.
The short film, The LocalMotion Story: Middlesbrough shares more about the work so far.
Thank you
Thanks to all our members for showing up and being there for each other. This is what it’s all about and we appreciate being part of this community in the north east. We are hugely grateful to Ania Deputate, Kathleen Kelly and Mark Davis for sharing their work, thoughts and questions, and inspiring us all. Thank you all.
We’re hugely grateful to Dr Joanne James from Newcastle University Business School for her collaboration with us for North East Together. This event was Jo’s last event with us as she explores what might be possible outside of academia. We can’t thank you enough for your support, inspiration and generocity over the years.
About North East Together
North East Together is the network for social change leadership in the north east.
Our collective mission here at North East Together is to create the conditions, and platform for, collaboration to become the norm in the north east and to nurture a healthier social change system.
Our network offers mutual support, enables collaboration and inspires social leaders. We offer a series of dynamic network events; whole day events, self-organised collaborative working groups; pathways into coaching; and independent social change events. Our events are supportive spaces where leaders can meet one another, explore issues of social change, network and begin to collaborate. It’s for leaders from the voluntary, charity, social enterprise, education, public and private sectors. It’s for experienced, new and future leaders of organisations, work, and ideas.
North East Together is hosted by Yes We Can and is a collaboration between Yes We Can and Newcastle University Business School. We’re grateful for the support both organisations give to North East Together.
2024 events
These are our plans, so far…
- 11 September 2024 — NET Connect #6, 16:00–17:15, online — book your place
- 28 November 2024 — North East Together #27: The me, we, us of collaborative leadership — planting the seeds of change, whole network event, 13:00 for 13:30–16:30 + later for more informal networking — book your place
We’ll also host more NET pop ups to inspire us and nudge us to collaborate as topics and opportunities come up. If you’re feeling inspired to hold your own NET pop up event, don’t forget the NET team can collaborate with you to host your own. Talk with Robert, Marie or Stephanie if you’d like to do this.
