They are the ‘Facebook generation’ – they don’t think twice about giving their e-mail address and willingly disclose their phone and mobile number. They blog, twitter, chat and meet each other online – 24/7, it goes without saying. Networkers are the drivers of globalisation. And one characteristic they share stands out above all others: they are busy, busy, busy!
In a world in which the borderlines between politics, industry and the civil society are visibly blurring, people who can cross borders and build bridges are
In a world in which the borderlines between politics, industry and the civil society are visibly blurring, people who can cross borders and build bridges are
In GIZ’s work, expertise in management and in coordinating work processes is particularly called for in situations where there are complex stakeholder structures with competing interests. Acting as a networker, AgenZ brings this expertise to bear to promote dialogue processes.
more in demand than ever. In GIZ’s everyday work, interface expertise and management skills are required, above all, anywhere that complex stakeholder structures come up against various, sometimes competing interests. Added value in multi-stakeholder processes is created when diverse interests are successfully linked together in a constructive fashion. This requires viable networks and tested cooperation structures.
At GIZ, AgenZ is a central junction for initiation of network structures and measuring cooperation corridors – whenever it is a question of setting the scene for policy statements that clients and partners want to make. This has little to do with establishing social networks a la Xing and Facebook or formal networks, i.e., cooperation structures with fixed rules and medium-term or even long-term agendas. Rather, AgenZ comes into play when what is needed is the formation of expert networks, termed Communities of Practice (CoPs).
Communities of Practice are groups that pursue – at least for a time – common interests. Their members command comparable degrees of expertise and competencies and usually share a common set of values and attitudes. CoPs are volunteer associations. Their primary objective is to achieve the greatest possible density of knowledge, experience and resources in order to be able to master future tasks as effectively and efficiently as possible. CoPs are generally informally organised and often dissolve after fulfilling their immediate purpose. Their basis as a social network nevertheless continues to exist.
Communities of Practice are groups that pursue – at least for a time – common interests. Their members command comparable degrees of expertise and competencies and usually share a common set of values and attitudes. CoPs are volunteer associations. Their primary objective is to achieve the greatest possible density of knowledge, experience and resources in order to be able to master future tasks as effectively and efficiently as possible. CoPs are generally informally organised and often dissolve after fulfilling their immediate purpose. Their basis as a social network nevertheless continues to exist.
Communities of Practice – The Africa Forum as an example
Since its founding, AgenZ has repeatedly contributed to the establishment of numerous CoPs for a variety of clients and to supporting their performance capacity. But not every conference, not every multi-stakeholder forum, not every world’s fair is at the same time a network platform. And even though the networking aspect constantly plays a role in such dialogue processes, the establishment of a viable CoP depends on the momentum generated. The second Africa Forum co-hosted by Federal President Horst Köhler in Accra was such an event: it was the right kind of meeting at the right time in the right place. Only so could it have developed its special impact, referred to later in Schloss Bellevue as the “spirit of Accra”.Between 2006 and 2008 AgenZ advised President Köhler on holding the Africa Forums as part of his Partnership with Africa initiative. At the second Forum (12-14 January 2007 in Accra, Ghana), President Köhler went along with an experiment: at the recommendation of AgenZ, he invited 50 young leaders from 18 African countries and Germany, another six national presidents and around 40 political, business and civil society leaders to exchange views on questions relating to their common future.
‘The young leaders grilled their presidents,’ President Köhler said with satisfaction at the conclusion of the conference. ‘They asked critical questions. And the presidents made a valiant effort to answer them.’
This success was not served up on a plate, but was carefully prepared. Long before the young leaders met their peers, they had communicated among themselves about theme corridors and discussion portals in an internet platform developed and moderated by AgenZ. In November 2006 they sequestered themselves in Luther’s city of Wittenberg, drew up position papers, practised presentation techniques and model arguments and met their host, Horst Köhler, for the first time.
This kind of experience bonds people together because it is based on pooled skills, jointly defined goals, and the experience of community. Thus the Young Leaders Network of the Africa Forum remains in existence today. Early in 2008 the majority of these young bearers of hope met for a reunion in Berlin. In interaction with Bruno Wenn (former head of the Africa Department of Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW)) and Andreas Proksch (former Director General of GIZ’s Africa Department) they summed up the key points of their work to that date and agreed on an organisational form for the future.
In Collins Magalasi from Malawi and Lars Allenstein from Germany, the network can draw on two committed speakers who now tie up the loose ends and harmonise member initiatives in accord with the occasion. In this way, the Young Leaders Network of the Partnership with Africa Initiative has become an important informal bridge between the continents, social actors and various interest groups and in a variety of constellations still today influences processes and decisions here in Germany as well as in Africa.
Further information
Interview with Andreas von Schumann, October 2009 (in German)> Agenz-Interview-vs.pdf (PDF 0,23 MB)
Africa-Forum: Dialogues between equals
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