Summary
“How can I innovate participation?” is the question, “Activation” is the answer.
Summary of a research paper by Suzanne Keurntjes
If you want to know more about this research paper, feel free to contact me.
This research paper was written for the Incubate festival In Tilburg (The Netherlands). Every year in September this festival presents over three hundred performances, movies and exhibitions during eight days. Their goal is to actively engage locals and (other) festival-visitors with their festival, based on the idea that the key to innovation will be found not within, but outside existing circles. Therefore participation is very important, it enables the festival to both be innovative and stay innovative and it inspires their audience to continue their own projects, even after the festival has ended.
In the early stages of this research it was concluded that in order to innovate, a new view on participation was needed; a new non-linear approach that would encourage people to take action and work together. A process with an unpredictable outcome in which people would not ‘just join’ a project, but actually own their own dynamic process. We called this new and alternative interpretation for participation ‘activation’.
Because no academic theories were written about the concept of activation in this context, the main goal of this research paper was exploring what activation is, how it comes about and what an organisation like Incubate can do with it.
The first chapter starts by explaining the differences between participation and activation and clarifies why the term participation is insufficient in many cases. Based on Charles Leadbeaters theories the paper continues by explaining that activation is the transformation of participation: an active process in which communication, presentation and participation continuously rotate. The chapter ends with a definition of activation. The second chapter focuses on intrinsic motivation, meaning and creativity, three concepts that together form the basis for activation. By creatively sharing personal motivation with others, motivation will increase and a project will become more meaningful. In the third chapter the theories explained in the first two chapters are combined with the results of three interviews with people who put the activation into action in their daily lives. Chapter four is written to inspire organisations who want to adapt the unpredictable process of activation. It focuses on the importance of personal communication, meaning, creativity, ownership and fun.
The conclusion is a short video you can watch here.
The paper concludes in a discussion section in which Suzanne analyzes her own process of activation and the way she wrote this theory and its conclusion. The final paragraph is an open invitation to the reader.
This Master thesis was written by Suzanne Keurntjes for a Master studies called 'Algemene Cultuurwetenschappen' at Tilburg University, the Netherlands.
Summary of a research paper by Suzanne Keurntjes
If you want to know more about this research paper, feel free to contact me.
This research paper was written for the Incubate festival In Tilburg (The Netherlands). Every year in September this festival presents over three hundred performances, movies and exhibitions during eight days. Their goal is to actively engage locals and (other) festival-visitors with their festival, based on the idea that the key to innovation will be found not within, but outside existing circles. Therefore participation is very important, it enables the festival to both be innovative and stay innovative and it inspires their audience to continue their own projects, even after the festival has ended.
In the early stages of this research it was concluded that in order to innovate, a new view on participation was needed; a new non-linear approach that would encourage people to take action and work together. A process with an unpredictable outcome in which people would not ‘just join’ a project, but actually own their own dynamic process. We called this new and alternative interpretation for participation ‘activation’.
Because no academic theories were written about the concept of activation in this context, the main goal of this research paper was exploring what activation is, how it comes about and what an organisation like Incubate can do with it.
The first chapter starts by explaining the differences between participation and activation and clarifies why the term participation is insufficient in many cases. Based on Charles Leadbeaters theories the paper continues by explaining that activation is the transformation of participation: an active process in which communication, presentation and participation continuously rotate. The chapter ends with a definition of activation. The second chapter focuses on intrinsic motivation, meaning and creativity, three concepts that together form the basis for activation. By creatively sharing personal motivation with others, motivation will increase and a project will become more meaningful. In the third chapter the theories explained in the first two chapters are combined with the results of three interviews with people who put the activation into action in their daily lives. Chapter four is written to inspire organisations who want to adapt the unpredictable process of activation. It focuses on the importance of personal communication, meaning, creativity, ownership and fun.
The conclusion is a short video you can watch here.
The paper concludes in a discussion section in which Suzanne analyzes her own process of activation and the way she wrote this theory and its conclusion. The final paragraph is an open invitation to the reader.
This Master thesis was written by Suzanne Keurntjes for a Master studies called 'Algemene Cultuurwetenschappen' at Tilburg University, the Netherlands.