Kom naar de international Masterclass op 3 februari 2016 van 14:45 – 16:30 tijdens de International Week bij GGM op de HAN Campus, Kapittelweg 33 in Nijmegen. In de Masterclass gaan we in op de Engelse en de Nederlandse versie van de participatiesamenleving op basis van inleidingen van Sara Jones, Joost Beunderman en Frans de Vijlder vanuit London.

On Wednesday February 3rd HAN University of Applied Sciences organizes in collaboration with the Cass Business School and Impact Hub Islington an international masterclass at City University London on the theme ‘Big Society, Curse or Blessing?’

A number of years ago, inspired by Philip Blond’s Big Society, the Dutch government has introduced the idea of the so-called ‘participation society’. Since January 2015, national welfare state responsibilities for care for the elderly and disabled people, youth care and unemployment services have been conveyed to local government (the so-called threefold decentralization). The concomitant introduction of the compensation principle implies that citizens can no longer claim classical welfare state entitlements. Instead, it is expected that citizens themselves take a more active role in the maintenance of each other’s health and well- being, while municipalities decide on the way they support their inhabitants in social participation, more or less as a last resort. A similar policy in the UK has been criticized heavily, especially after the appearance of ‘Whose society’, last year’s final Big Society Audit.

In this Masterclass, three lecturers give their point of view about the theme. Joost Beunderman, Director at 00 and Civic System Lab, dr. Sara Jones, senior lecturer and course director Masters in Innovation, Creativity and Leadership and dr. Frans de Vijlder academic director of Applied Research Centre for Public Affairs at HAN University, will interpret this policy from different perspectives and explore directions about how we should respond to the consequences. They discuss the implications and influences of new forms of participation, collaboration, leadership, and education. What can the Dutch learn from the experiences in the UK?

Joost Beunderman will speak about the Civic Economy. How can core sectors and activities such as care, learning workspace, energy, food and hardware become more democratic, more open to citizen involvement and co-investment, more open source, more civic? How can we focus on the institutional infrastructure behind this? How can we initiate a dialogue on the major challenges and opportunities that civic economy means for societal and economic values? We need a discussion about systems change and the mechanism that set in motion, such as ‘21st Century Town Hall’.

Sara Jones will present examples that illustrate opportunities offered by digital tools and platforms for meeting some of the challenges, in relation to participation and collaboration, that are presented by visions of a Big Society.

Frans de Vijlder will discuss the two faces of the participation society from the perspectives of national and local governments, citizens, social and health care providers. Especially he will pay attention to the new role and extremely difficult position of the professional. The latter has also far reaching consequences for the education of professionals in health and social domains.

Afterwards, there will be a debate by video livestream with the participants at City University with senior managers of social organizations in youth care and homecare, lecturers and bachelor students in the Netherlands.

Where and when?
• Wednesday February 3rd from 14.45 until 16.30 Continental time.
• City University London with video livestream at HAN University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands.

Location of the video livestream at HAN will be Kapittelweg 33, room D118.

For whom?
• Students and alumni of the Masters in Innovation, Creativity and Leadership at City University London.
• Students of the Master Management and Innovation of HAN University on their international trip in London.
• Bachelor Students in Social Studies at HAN University in the Netherlands.
• Lecturers and professors from both Universities.

Afterwards
• Networking between both staff and students from the UK and the Netherlands.

Room D118 has limited space. HAN students and staff that wish to participate may send a message to hilde.wierda@han.nl to announce their participation.

HAN abstract international masterclass