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| marine_colab:lab_approach_essay [2017-03-29 10:04] – nik | marine_colab:lab_approach_essay [2017-03-29 10:28] – nik |
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| The first year of Marine CoLABoration progressed in two phases: a scoping phase and the transitional phase. The scoping phase was designed to encourage engagement, develop a collective vision and initiate some preliminary experiments. It was important to take time to foster commitment in the group. The participants appreciated that they “were not presented with an initial agenda, but were allowed to spend a lot of time to get to know each other.” By the end of the scoping phase the participants were ready to take on a more pro-active role in designing the lab sessions themselves. During the transitional phase the lab began to incubate larger experiments and to formulate longer term objectives and operational models. Throughout the year face-to-face collaboration during lab-sessions was complemented by continuous access to online discussion and documentation. The process and results were shared on a collaborative wiki, conceived as a growing collective memory. | The first year of Marine CoLABoration progressed in two phases: a scoping phase and the transitional phase. The scoping phase was designed to encourage engagement, develop a collective vision and initiate some preliminary experiments. It was important to take time to foster commitment in the group. The participants appreciated that they “were not presented with an initial agenda, but were allowed to spend a lot of time to get to know each other.” By the end of the scoping phase the participants were ready to take on a more pro-active role in designing the lab sessions themselves. During the transitional phase the lab began to incubate larger experiments and to formulate longer term objectives and operational models. Throughout the year face-to-face collaboration during lab-sessions was complemented by continuous access to online discussion and documentation. The process and results were shared on a collaborative wiki, conceived as a growing collective memory. |
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| Every lab meeting began with specific questions. How could the Marine CoLABoration change the world? What do you need from Marine CoLABoration and what could you contribute? How does the Marine CoLABoration relate to the wider context of current work and emerging themes in the marine sector? What experiments could you design to respond to systemic challenges in the marine environment? What would you like to achieve as the Marine CoLABoration team? How will you know that you have achieved it? How will you organise yourselves in order to achieve it? What do you know about the past and the present of Marine CoLABoration, what do you aspire for the future? How could Marine CoLABoration become a self-sustaining community of practice? What is Marine CoLABoration and where is it going? Such questions were explored through a range of different sessions, which incorporated multiple ways of learning. For example, some sessions took the format of moderated conversations, others focused on visualising and enacting the ideas, others encouraged contemplative writing. Disparate sessions were collated together in a "flow" which lead towards concrete outcomes (e.g. sketches, prototypes, decisions). The outcomes from each session were used as starting points for another, where they could be questioned, debunked or developed further. The lab sessions themselves were regularly evaluated by everyone involved and adapted where needed. For example, while in the early scoping phase it was beneficial for the process to be designed by FoAM so the participants could fully focus on their work, it gradually became important for the participants themselves to take the lead in designing the lab sessions. They became more involved in all aspects of the process, which lead to increasingly taking "ownership" of the lab. By the end of the first year the group had become a closely knit team, working together on several values-based experiments (from reduction of plastic waste to testing ways to increase public engagement with the ocean). | Every lab meeting began with specific questions. How could the Marine CoLABoration change the world? What do you need from Marine CoLABoration and what could you contribute? How does the Marine CoLABoration relate to the wider context of current work and emerging themes in the marine sector? What experiments could you design to respond to systemic challenges in the marine environment? What would you like to achieve as the Marine CoLABoration team? How will you know that you have achieved it? How will you organise yourselves in order to achieve it? What do you know about the past and the present of Marine CoLABoration, what do you aspire for the future? How could Marine CoLABoration become a self-sustaining community of practice? What is Marine CoLABoration and where is it going? Such questions were explored through a range of different sessions, which incorporated multiple ways of learning. For example, some sessions took the format of moderated conversations, others focused on visualising and enacting the ideas, others encouraged contemplative writing. Disparate sessions were collated together in a "flow" which lead towards concrete outcomes (e.g. sketches, prototypes, decisions). The outcomes from each session were used as starting points for another, where they could be questioned, debunked or developed further. The lab sessions themselves were regularly evaluated by everyone involved and adapted where needed. For example, while in the early scoping phase it was beneficial for the process to be designed by FoAM so the participants could fully focus on their work, it gradually became important for the participants themselves to take the lead in designing the lab sessions. They became more involved in all aspects of the process, which lead to increasingly taking "ownership" of the lab. By the end of the first year the group had become a closely knit team, working together on several values-based experiments (from reduction of plastic waste to testing ways to increase public engagement with the ocean). |
| One simple way to foster emergence in a lab is to begin the process by introducing participants to each other as creative humans. As one of the participants noted: “We were freed up from organisational responsibility and brought together also as individuals not feeling that we always had to represent our brands. Facilitation was very important”. It was our hypothesis that playful co-creation could bring people together quicker than an expert debate or power-point presentations. For example, the first encounters of Marine CoLABoration included comparing personal "worldchanging experiences", visualising skills and personalities present in the group, and collaboratively designing future scenarios for the lab. Gradually, discussions shifted focus from individual to collective engagement. The first hypotheses and experiments emerged from participant-lead "open space" sessions about challenges with valuing the ocean in their current work: “The open space allowed us to explore what we wanted to know and what we wanted to do, without being pushed for results”. There was enough time and space for the participants to learn from each other, to learn by doing. Some ideas continued to develop and grow, others petered out. Collaborative teams were formed as required and dissolved when they became unnecessary. Rather than strictly directing the process, the lab approach encouraged fluid movement of ideas, inspiration and people. It brought to light where the participants' aspirations and energies lie. It allowed people to step up when leadership was called for and to forgo propositions if they had no traction. Marine CoLABoration became a "space to experiment with different ways of thinking and learning from others". The direction of the lab emerged from the work done in the lab. | One simple way to foster emergence in a lab is to begin the process by introducing participants to each other as creative humans. As one of the participants noted: “We were freed up from organisational responsibility and brought together also as individuals not feeling that we always had to represent our brands. Facilitation was very important”. It was our hypothesis that playful co-creation could bring people together quicker than an expert debate or power-point presentations. For example, the first encounters of Marine CoLABoration included comparing personal "worldchanging experiences", visualising skills and personalities present in the group, and collaboratively designing future scenarios for the lab. Gradually, discussions shifted focus from individual to collective engagement. The first hypotheses and experiments emerged from participant-lead "open space" sessions about challenges with valuing the ocean in their current work: “The open space allowed us to explore what we wanted to know and what we wanted to do, without being pushed for results”. There was enough time and space for the participants to learn from each other, to learn by doing. Some ideas continued to develop and grow, others petered out. Collaborative teams were formed as required and dissolved when they became unnecessary. Rather than strictly directing the process, the lab approach encouraged fluid movement of ideas, inspiration and people. It brought to light where the participants' aspirations and energies lie. It allowed people to step up when leadership was called for and to forgo propositions if they had no traction. Marine CoLABoration became a "space to experiment with different ways of thinking and learning from others". The direction of the lab emerged from the work done in the lab. |
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| ====Conclusion==== | ====Conclusion==== |
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| Ocean protection is in urgent need of bold alternatives. The lab approach enables prototyping these alternatives as collaborative experiments. Experiments whose scope, scale and effectiveness can increase with every iterative cycle. The lab approach amplifies small successes and avoids grand failures. It aims to find unexpected answers to obvious problems and obvious answers to unexpected problems. It encourages the participants to find entry-points to meaningful interventions, to explore, expand and open up. As such, it is not limited to ocean protection. The lab approach can adapt to many contexts and work with many different groups of people. It can negotiate divergent needs and worldviews in an ongoing process of trial and error. Rather than attempting to find consensus (which may not exist) on how to solve a problem (which may not be clearly understood), the lab approach addresses issues through a dynamic ecosystem of collaborative initiatives, with heterogeneous objectives and outcomes. Inspired by the complexity and resilience of living organisms, the lab approach calls for multiplicity and diversity, for complementary and contrasting solutions. For co-existence and co-creation with humans and non-humans alike. The Marine CoLABoration is an example of how the lab approach can work in practice. It supports collaboration in a diverse group of motivated participants, combining their individual ambitions into meaningful joint initiatives. While the lab's experiments advance through agile cycles, it takes time to develop shared purpose and structure. If the lab continues to evolve and increase its influence with stakeholders, the Marine CoLABoration can drive systemic and cultural changes with substantial impact. The lab approach is one of many possible ways to address ocean protection. It is not necessarily the best nor the only one. However, it certainly has its place in the "ecology of practices" engaged in improving the health of the ocean. In the two years of its existence, the Marine CoLABoration has shown how the lab approach can lead to novel ways to connect with the ocean and inspire hope, even in places where optimism is in short supply. | Ocean protection is in urgent need of bold alternatives. The lab approach enables prototyping these alternatives as collaborative experiments. Experiments whose scope, scale and effectiveness can increase with every iterative cycle. The lab approach amplifies small successes and avoids grand failures. It aims to find unexpected answers to obvious problems and obvious answers to unexpected problems. It encourages the participants to find entry-points to meaningful interventions, to explore, expand and open up. As such, it is not limited to ocean protection. The lab approach can adapt to many contexts and work with many different groups of people. It can negotiate divergent needs and worldviews in an ongoing process of trial and error. Rather than attempting to find consensus (which may not exist) on how to solve a problem (which may not be clearly understood), the lab approach addresses issues through a dynamic ecosystem of collaborative initiatives, with heterogeneous objectives and outcomes. Inspired by the complexity and resilience of living organisms, the lab approach calls for multiplicity and diversity, for complementary and contrasting solutions. For co-existence and co-creation with humans and non-humans alike. |
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| | The Marine CoLABoration is an example of how the lab approach can work in practice. It supports collaboration in a diverse group of motivated participants, combining their individual ambitions into meaningful joint initiatives. While the lab's experiments advance through agile cycles, it takes time to develop shared purpose and structure. If the lab continues to evolve and increase its influence with stakeholders, the Marine CoLABoration can drive systemic and cultural changes with substantial impact. The lab approach is one of many possible ways to address ocean protection. It is not necessarily the best nor the only one. However, it certainly has its place in the "ecology of practices" engaged in improving the health of the ocean. In the two years of its existence, the Marine CoLABoration has shown how the lab approach can lead to novel ways to connect with the ocean and inspire hope, even in places where optimism is in short supply. |
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| Maja Kuzmanovic and Nik Gaffney are co-founders of FoAM, a network of transdisciplinary labs at the intersection of art, science, nature and everyday life. Their work can be found on the FoAM website http://fo.am and you can follow FoAM on twitter @_foam | |
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| We would like to thank Vali Lalioti, http://valilalioti.com for contributing her team-coaching and business innovation expertise to designing and facilitating the process, Louisa Hooper and Andrew Barnett for their vision, engagement and co-ordination, The Marine CoLABoration members for their creativity and commitment and everyone at CGF UK for their support https://gulbenkian.pt/uk-branch/our-work/valuing-the-ocean/. | We would like to thank Vali Lalioti, http://valilalioti.com for contributing her team-coaching and business innovation expertise to designing and facilitating the process, Louisa Hooper and Andrew Barnett for their vision, engagement and co-ordination, The Marine CoLABoration members for their creativity and commitment and everyone at CGF UK for their support https://gulbenkian.pt/uk-branch/our-work/valuing-the-ocean/. |
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| | Maja Kuzmanovic and Nik Gaffney are co-founders of FoAM, a network of transdisciplinary labs at the intersection of art, science, nature and everyday life. Their work can be found on the FoAM website http://fo.am and you can follow FoAM on twitter @_foam |
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maja