10 Regional learning networks in the social welfare domain: drivers of social innovation in social work
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Suzan van der Pas
Abstract
Since 2015 the Netherlands has undergone a welfare system transformation which has impacted healthcare governance and the redistribution of responsibilities and austerity measures. Key was the devolution of formerly centralised services and support to municipalities, which in turn necessitated a strategy for social innovation in which local partners develop new practices for social care and well-being. Regional learning networks (RNSWD) have been set up to address wicked problems and encourage innovation in the social welfare domain.
Although the RNSWD are highly diverse in structure and approach, they do share a common transformative rationale for their approach. Learning facilitators hold key, preconditional roles, often being (politically neutral) action-researchers from the affiliated RNSWD, but sometimes also boundary workers from (stakeholder) practice organisations. Agenda formation was generally determined collaboratively by network members, comprising themes such as collaborative issues and new conceptions of care and well-being practices. All networks apply peer supervision or deliberative procedures.
The main conclusion is that processes of liberation and empowerment of network professionals are fundamentally intertwined with a learning approach to social innovation: dialogue and supervision create a space for reflection on existential questions regarding the organisation of care and social support, and what this means for professional and personal identities.
Abstract
Since 2015 the Netherlands has undergone a welfare system transformation which has impacted healthcare governance and the redistribution of responsibilities and austerity measures. Key was the devolution of formerly centralised services and support to municipalities, which in turn necessitated a strategy for social innovation in which local partners develop new practices for social care and well-being. Regional learning networks (RNSWD) have been set up to address wicked problems and encourage innovation in the social welfare domain.
Although the RNSWD are highly diverse in structure and approach, they do share a common transformative rationale for their approach. Learning facilitators hold key, preconditional roles, often being (politically neutral) action-researchers from the affiliated RNSWD, but sometimes also boundary workers from (stakeholder) practice organisations. Agenda formation was generally determined collaboratively by network members, comprising themes such as collaborative issues and new conceptions of care and well-being practices. All networks apply peer supervision or deliberative procedures.
The main conclusion is that processes of liberation and empowerment of network professionals are fundamentally intertwined with a learning approach to social innovation: dialogue and supervision create a space for reflection on existential questions regarding the organisation of care and social support, and what this means for professional and personal identities.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front Matter i
- Contents vii
- List of figures and tables x
- List of abbreviations xi
- Notes on contributors xiii
- Introduction 1
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Framing social innovation and social work
- Social work and social innovation: how the twain can meet 11
- How to change our neighbourhoods, regions and the world: using symptoms, systems and transformation as a framework for social innovation and social work 24
- Social work, social innovation, discretion and creativity: day-to-day innovation of practice 41
- Potential for social innovation in social work: applying the capability approach 54
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Examples of social innovations in social work across Europe
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Co-creation and co-production of social services: social innovation in practice
- The art of co-creation: service innovation in Europe 71
- Promoting social services innovation: regional and local examples from across Europe 84
- Co-creation in action: lessons from the CoSIE project 98
- Social innovation and service users’ involvement: enhancing the knowledge of social work 112
- Moderating processes of social innovation: insights from a case study on labour market activation 124
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Education and learning: social innovation in social work education and learning
- Regional learning networks in the social welfare domain: drivers of social innovation in social work 139
- Putting learning communities into practice: innovation of social work education 150
- Learning from innovation processes: introducing Easy Language in adult protection services 164
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Community work, community-led innovation and collective action
- The rediscovery of community: community development as social innovation 179
- Climate change from a green social work perspective: responding to a constantly evolving crisis challenging social work practice 193
- Co-creation of nature-based solutions: guidelines for citizen engagement 208
- Innovating social work practices to better address homelessness: participatory action research with community services in Italy 223
- Challenging the power status quo: paradoxes in grassroots social innovation 236
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Social entrepreneurship: inclusive and regenerative models of social business and innovation for sustainable impact
- Social entrepreneurship as social innovation: what about social work? 251
- The growing rhetoric of entrepreneurship in times of crisis: future challenges of social work in the case of Portugal 263
- Unlimited incubators for belonging, cohesion and impact: nurturing ‘what is already there’ 276
- Developing the innovative power of social work: synthesis and future directions 289
- Index 298
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front Matter i
- Contents vii
- List of figures and tables x
- List of abbreviations xi
- Notes on contributors xiii
- Introduction 1
-
Framing social innovation and social work
- Social work and social innovation: how the twain can meet 11
- How to change our neighbourhoods, regions and the world: using symptoms, systems and transformation as a framework for social innovation and social work 24
- Social work, social innovation, discretion and creativity: day-to-day innovation of practice 41
- Potential for social innovation in social work: applying the capability approach 54
-
Examples of social innovations in social work across Europe
-
Co-creation and co-production of social services: social innovation in practice
- The art of co-creation: service innovation in Europe 71
- Promoting social services innovation: regional and local examples from across Europe 84
- Co-creation in action: lessons from the CoSIE project 98
- Social innovation and service users’ involvement: enhancing the knowledge of social work 112
- Moderating processes of social innovation: insights from a case study on labour market activation 124
-
Education and learning: social innovation in social work education and learning
- Regional learning networks in the social welfare domain: drivers of social innovation in social work 139
- Putting learning communities into practice: innovation of social work education 150
- Learning from innovation processes: introducing Easy Language in adult protection services 164
-
Community work, community-led innovation and collective action
- The rediscovery of community: community development as social innovation 179
- Climate change from a green social work perspective: responding to a constantly evolving crisis challenging social work practice 193
- Co-creation of nature-based solutions: guidelines for citizen engagement 208
- Innovating social work practices to better address homelessness: participatory action research with community services in Italy 223
- Challenging the power status quo: paradoxes in grassroots social innovation 236
-
Social entrepreneurship: inclusive and regenerative models of social business and innovation for sustainable impact
- Social entrepreneurship as social innovation: what about social work? 251
- The growing rhetoric of entrepreneurship in times of crisis: future challenges of social work in the case of Portugal 263
- Unlimited incubators for belonging, cohesion and impact: nurturing ‘what is already there’ 276
- Developing the innovative power of social work: synthesis and future directions 289
- Index 298
