The thin line between excitement and stress
Jos and Wieteke, 07–15, teamblog
It’s Friday morning, almost everyone in the office is on holiday and Wieteke and I are sitting in the same room as we were yesterday, and the day before, and the day before, and…
You could call it a war room, or a nerve centre. We’re sitting here because at the moment, we’re in the midst or planning and organising the first Social Lab in Hong Kong, together with the Jockey Club Make A Difference School and Good Lab. Two teams consisting of citizens, students, government officials and policy makers will, by means of Kennisland’s Feed Forward methodology, work on two important cases in Sham Shui Po, one of Hong Kongs poorest neighbourhoods.
- The first team will focus on homeless people in Sham Shui Po. The main question we ask ourselves, the homeless inhabitants of Sham Shui Po, professionals and policymakers is: “What is it like to be homeless in Sham Shui Po?”.
- The second team will focus on lonely elderly in Sham Shui Po. The main question we ask ourselves here, along with (lonely) elderly, professionals and policymakers is: “What is it like to be alone as an elderly person in Sham Shui Po?”.
Of course, getting an answer to these questions is only half of our work in the LabSprint. The second part of the week will be all about brainstorming, idea generating, prototyping and testing of possible solutions for the problems that either the homeless or the lonely elderly experience.
Socials Labs as vehicles for learning and change
In the face of fast moving, global, often elusive developments, national governments and their counterparts (public sector) find it eminently challenging to innovate policies and public services to answer pressing societal needs. Vice versa, how do we re-engage with the state as citizens? To arrive in a new, more inclusive relationship between citizens and the state, with new practices and better outcomes on the ground, we believe that we need to start in practice, with people and their stories. What do they aspire to in life? What enables them to thrive and to what extent are they willing and able to contribute to society?
By organising a Social Lab in Hong Kong we try to address these questions, and provide a learning experience for all the attendees and participants. Both cases we will work on seem to be in urgent need of a change in policy, and require new ways of interaction between all the stakeholders involved — From policy makers to citizens, from local NGO’s to government officials. Can we imagine citizens in Hong Kong becoming active agents in positive social change? We are looking forward to investigate.
In the meanwhile, we will continue preparing our workshops, the Field Guide and all the materials for the participants. But there’s no need to worry, we’re all the more excited to get started! Luckily now we’re already used to being in a war room, because that’s what the participants will also experience once we start. It’s going to be an intensive and immersive, but most of all, an unforgettable learning experience.
Objectives
We do not believe that a LabSprint like ours can fix major problems that a high number of citizens experience in a district like Sham Shui Po, especially not in just one week. But we do believe that we can show policymakers, professionals and citizens on a small scale how they can meet each other, better understand each other and adjust their behaviour according to these insights. We also think that these unusual encounters could lead to new ways of tackling smaller social issues, that in turn could lead to tackling the major problems we just talked about. You can see the LabSprint as a step along the way of creating change and impact, and use the insights you obtained during the week in your work, studies, or out in the field.
On this Medium page everyone will share the stories they collect, their own reflections on the cases, and their thoughts about the learning process of participating in a Social Lab.
Interested? Join our first Open Class on August 15th, from 2 to 3.30 pm at the Good Lab and follow our blog.
