Two-day Workshop: Empowering Social Innovation for Transformative Change

17 mei, 2018 - 18 mei, 2018

How do we deal with power in our social innovation work? Who has power and how do we empower ourselves and each other to (re)claim power? What are the power dynamics and unintended consequences in the fields we are working in? In the context of the European Network project Social Innovation Community, DRIFT organizes a two-day workshop for critical thinkers and doers to explore the power dimensions of social innovation work.

Social innovation and transformative change are inherently political. Political in the sense of (reclaiming) power. Such politics manifests as people produce their own energy, envision alternative futures, reshape places, participate in decision-making and frame their own rules. For social innovation to be transformative, it has to engage in politics in the sense of challenging existing institutions and norms, (re)negotiating new rules and decision-making arrangements and shifting existing power relations.

This workshop will gather critical thinkers and doers who are working on social innovation in practice and/or in theory and who are excited to engage in critical discussions, to gather and share experiences on power and empowerment dynamics in social innovation. We will discuss such questions such as:

• How do we deal with power in our social innovation work?
• Who has power and how do we empower ourselves and each other to (re)claim power?
• What are the power dynamics and unintended consequences in our social innovation field(s)?

The two-day workshop will take place in Amsterdam on May 17th-18th, 2018. Day 1 will offer an interactive programme with various speakers and session formats. In the morning we focus on power dynamics and neighbourhood politics, including the case of participatory budgeting and other examples. In the afternoon we zoom out to discuss empowerment and transnational social innovation movements. In between, there will be a session with the acclaimed participatory drama approach ‘Theatre of the Oppressed’ for an embodied experience of power and empowerment. Day 2 will consist of a writing workshop in which participants are challenged to distill their ideas on and experiences with power and empowerment in social change into a sharp piece of writing (blog, essay or article).  Read the invitation for more details on the programme.

Participation
Are you interesting in participating in this inspiring workshop? Please note that seats are limited – it is recommended to apply as soon as possible! If you are interested, please sign up as soon as possible by writing an email to Sarah Rach  including:

• Some lines about yourself in relation to the topics of social change, power and empowerment;
• Whether you want to participate on both days or only on day 1 (it is not possible to participate in the writing workshop without having participated in the first day);
• What topic(s) you would like to write on and what you would like to get out of the writing workshop as an outcome.