ENCC – Local Networks: (a guide to) Reimagining the Work of Cultural Centres

“A local network is a web of cooperative, horizontal, direct and democratically managed relations between autonomous actors active on a territory.”

“Local networks are evanescent creatures, which can develop visible contours and weight or can maintain a fog-like state. Nourished by interpersonal relations, with occasional partnerships among members, and based on reciprocity norms, information sharing and mutual trust, they are social and informal beings at their core. Sometimes, their shape gets even more crystallized, with clear coordination and governance structures, based on formal rights and responsibilities and a contract. Local networks depend on good, honest and frequent communication between actors, and a (constructed) perception of togetherness, which often, but not always, mean that they also develop a social identity – a logo, a name, a website, and an explicit goal that others can relate to.”

Local networks can be driven by community engagement, sustainable and professional development or social change. It is about finding the common ground and direction for all elements of the network.

There are similarities within local networks (territory, local policies, history..) which can help consolidate a network. There is also a common wish or need for transformation: networks tend to build when the context is not right for the networks’ players.

“The most common way to understand networks is the way we refer to people who stay in touch, who help each other, who find time to catch up now and then. All this we call networking. It provides for weak ties among people and organisations and could also be called our available connections.”

“A second way to understand a local network is as the web of connections between an organization and its stakeholders.”

“A third definition of local networks looks at networks as cooperation.”

Stakeholders theory: “Stakeholder theory models the organization as a map consisting of a set of nodes (the stakeholders) and connections between the nodes (economic, legal or moral claims or interests). Tschirhart (1996) places stakeholders in six categories: internal (board, employees, volunteers), resource providers (funders, media, suppliers), political environment (lobbyists, legislators), community (interest groups), arts industry (associations, competitors, col-laborators) and customers (advertisers, patrons).”

Social Anarchy: “Social anarchy offers a model of how networks form and work in the cultural world. It reflects the way the creative force unravels in processes which have little to nothing in common with the formal path-ways of organisational management.”

This chapter lays out the important elements to give birth to a network: trust, similarity of status and power, proximity and situations of common hope and action.

This chapter is about the practical life of a network: its governance and personnel, identity and core values, the democratic management or the “feeling of a network”.

This chapter explores some of the triggers which can change the vision of a network or the relationship of its members: opportunities and challenges, accountability, institutionalization…

Public authorities can have a great role in the funding of local networks and they can encourage the emergence of new local networks in their territory. They are also crucial interlocutors for advocacy and policy making at local level.

This chapter depicts the way local networks can help small cultural organizations in mutualizing certain tasks and exchange skills and roles to avoid organisations to be overwhelmed by certain tasks.