Bulletin #20, September 2022
The Better Way network is continuing to grow at pace – we are excited to announce we have now reached 1,000 members.
But, of course, we are determined to widen our reach even further. What makes this network so special is the incredibly diverse mix of people committed to making a positive change, from different sectors and backgrounds, with different lived experiences, working at national and local levels, bringing so many different insights and creating a very different kind of conversation. So, let’s continue to grow, and become even more diverse, because that’s the best way to ‘build a bigger we’. Is there someone you know who might like to join? If so, please pass this email along. We will make them very welcome.
Below you’ll find an invitation to our autumn programme of online events, including our Annual Gathering on December 1st. We hope to see you soon, if possible on multiple occasions.
And we end this bulletin with a few links you might like to explore.
Very best wishes,
Caroline Slocock and Steve Wyler
Co-convenors
A Better Way
to improve services, build community and create a fairer society
carolineslocock@civilexchange.org.uk
stevewyler@betterway.network
www.betterway.network
Twitter: @betterwaynetwrk
AN INVITATION TO FORTHCOMING BETTER WAY EVENTS
To join any of the following or to find out more please go to our forthcoming events page, or click on the individual links below, or you can email info@betterway.network. New participants are always very welcome, and we look forward to seeing old friends as well.
Freeing up staff to build relationships. Against a backdrop of ingrained command and control cultures and contracting practices in many organisations, how can we ‘liberate the method’ to do things differently, as Mark Smith explored in this essay from Building a Bigger We. Thursday 22nd Sept, 3.00-4.30pm, online.
Listening well in a digital age. What are the digital methods that can build good conversations, including with those that are often left out, and allow people to develop solutions together? Tuesday 27th September, 15.00-16.30, online.
Leadership: does strategy still matter in times of crisis? In these turbulent times are we shifting away from a conventional planning approach? What does this mean for how leaders operate? Thursday 29th September, 11.00-12.30, online.
Removing the roadblocks: how can the last crisis help us tackle the next? Britain is facing crisis after crisis, lurching from the pandemic to the cost-of-living crisis and a recession, without having healed from the last, and the effects are deepening divisions. We’ll be reflecting on lessons from the pandemic that might help with whatever comes next. Tuesday 11th October, 11:00- 12:30, online.
Joining forces and unequal alliances. Where there are big differences between organisations, in size, resources, status, for example, what are the best ways to join forces? Thursday 13th October, 11.00-12.30, online.
Sharing power to level up. What does it mean for the state to share power in Levelling up? What are the limits, and the potential, and how can we shift the current culture to give more power to local people and organisations that support them? Wednesday 19th October, 11.00-12.30, online.
Unlocking our humanity and imagination: imagining an end to poverty. What if we could eradicate poverty? If we could imagine a different future, how would we work differently today and what would we do? This group will be using Moral Imaginations' methodology to imagine a world where poverty does not exist, helping us generate new perspectives, new ideas and see things from a different point of view. Thursday, 20 October 2022, 14:00-15:45, online
Roundtable - How can the NHS and communities join forces? NHS England has issued new statutory guidance on partnership working with people and communities to improve services. At this event we will consider the new guidance, hear from people across the country who are joining forces in their communities to drive change, and share ideas about how to make this really work. Monday 31st October, 10.00-12.00, online.
Better Way 2022 Annual Gathering. Our annual event to bring people together from right across our network, to explore some of the big themes that have emerged in recent months and also to look ahead. It is a chance to hear some great speakers, to enter into discussion and debate, to share ideas and insights, and come away recharged and refreshed! Thursday, 1 December, 12:00-17:00, online.
What does a well-being approach to leadership look and feel like? Over the last two years well-being has come on the agenda like never before. This seems to be a big and welcome shift. But what does this mean for the practice of leadership? Tuesday 13th December, 10.00-11.30, online.
FORTNIGHTLY WEDNESDAY "DROP IN" MEETINGS
Every two weeks we hold an informal Zoom event for people in our network ‘family’ who would like to say hello, share news, exchange ideas, get something off your chest, and just check in with each other. It’s also a good way for people new to the network to get to know us and explore what we can offer.
All meetings are on Wednesday mornings from 9am to 10am, online.
As well as events listed here more will be posted on our website soon, so do keep an eye on our forthcoming events page.
AND FINALLY, HERE ARE A FEW THINGS YOU MIGHT LIKE TO CHECK OUT…
How not what. In London, the Cripplegate Foundation has been encouraging a small group of local charities, alongside the local council’s Homes & Communities team, to work in a different way, putting their primary effort into building relationships so that the people they work with can feel heard, visible, and valued. They say: ‘This way of working is not new or complex but requires real and ongoing thought and intention.’ The website contains a selection of practical ideas for how to do this well.
Caring for Place. Patsy Healey’s study of self-organisation and grass-roots activism in rural Northumberland makes the case that building place-communities that are open minded, encouraging tolerance and respect, and preventing individuals from ‘being tightly trapped in an alienating micro-culture’, is hard and difficult work, but is nevertheless ‘a productive starting point to work towards a better world’.
Why don’t we invest in early action? Caroline Slocock’s recent report on the work of the Early Action Task Force shows that substantial progress has been made over the last decade. The challenge now is to turn what is widely accepted as common sense into common practice, and the report sets out an early action agenda for the next decade.
It’s all about Power. As this guide from the Sheila McKechnie Foundation explains, attempts to work in solidarity with people with direct, first-hand experience of social issues often fall woefully short despite good intentions. ‘Those with first-hand experience told us that, too often, their experience is used in ways that are tokenistic, or even exploitative.’ The guide acknowledges that learning to work together, in active solidarity, when our experiences, insights and ideas might be very different, is hard – but it is a critical challenge of our time – and a better understanding of power can really help.
Street hassle: searching for authenticity. Book a place at a one-off London stage show on 13 April 2023 exploring the theme of authenticity in our society through the voice of young people overcoming disadvantages, with Better Way member Colin Falconer talking about his experiences of the charity sector, and the work of Lou Reed.
About a Better Way: We are a network of people across society exploring how to improve services, build community and create a fairer society. Together we have drawn up eight principles and a model of behaviour change for a Better Way. Our recent publication Building a Bigger We contains 36 short essays by Better Way members, which illustrate our thinking. The network is hosted by Civil Exchange, and is currently supported by the John Ellerman Foundation. You can find out more, contact us, and indeed join us, via our website here: http://www.betterway.network/. If you don’t want to receive future bulletins, simply send an email to let us know: info@betterway.network.