The Systematic Approach

The systematic approach is often a top-down approach, initiated by policy-making, at local or regional level, and including policy frameworks, strategic planning and implementation measures.

At some point the development of a learning community needs to install formal structures in support of the further development and the sustainability of the created infrastructures.
At this point the independent infrastructures link directly to the local government or to a consortia led by the local government.
The infrastructures need support, in the form of resources, formalizations or systematizations, to go to a higher level.
What are the typical accompanying measures in the systemic approach?

• A formal consortia might be established to govern and take further the learning community interests, perhaps including the legal right to perform financial transactions
• The learning community initiative is included in the local government annual budget
• A consortium of strong stakeholders wish to co-finance the learning community activities and take them further
• The learning community initiative needs permanent physical or technological facilities, such as a flexible community centre
• The local government or a consortium of strong stakeholders decide to employ one or more staff members to focus on the further development of the learning community initiative
• A formal agreement between stakeholders in the learning community initiative is established, obligating the different stakeholders to different support measures
• A strong private company decides to invest a considerable amount of sponsor-money in the further development of the initiative

Such initiatives are typical for systemic measures, and there are obviously many different forms of systemic interventions.

What are the opportunities, challenges and obstacles in the Systemic approach?

• The basic values and principles of the learning community initiative should be kept intact
• The roles of the local government might change along such steps
• The systemic approach might threaten direct participation and involvement
• Systemic measures might put pressure on the independent structures and on the control structures
• Local groups of citizens and small organisations might be lost along such changes

• Systemic measures might offer the learning community initiative stability, resources and recognition
• Systemic measures might enable the community to reach out to many new citizens and to address challenges that so far were impossible for the initiative to work with
• Systemic measures might offer more strategic perspectives to the learning community initiative
• Systemic measures might enable the initiative to put more quality into the activities.