By Jessica Chamba, EY Global Human Services Leader
Social inclusion is a vital component of a cohesive society. And initiatives to advance social inclusion work best when they’re co-created by professionals, service users and their families.
Working with multiple levels of government adds considerable complexity to projects but is intrinsic to many social projects. This is why we decided to host a recent workshop on how to launch collaborative projects for social inclusion at the European Social Services Conference (ESSC) in the beautiful city of Antwerp at the end of June. And this is also probably why more than 80 professionals decided to attend that workshop.
Key challenges
Perhaps not surprisingly, the attendees felt that undertaking joint funding was the biggest challenge — securing the necessary, long-term financing, and then managing tight budgets efficiently.
Anyone who has worked on such a project knows that building a collaborative culture is another big hurdle. It’s challenging to engage stakeholders, overcome siloed thinking, and get ministries and other organizations to work together toward agreed common goals. And, of course, you need the appropriate administrative support and communication.
Lack of political and organizational commitment is another potential stumbling block, especially when different organizations have varying goals, which can hold back stakeholder cohesion and prevent alignment.
The attendees also felt that a collaborative project is unlikely to succeed without appropriate knowledge sharing and capacity building. Project leaders need to overcome “anti-knowledge” attitudes, manage different levels of understanding of the subject matter and recognize that local government is an important resource.
Finally, projects are likely to falter without robust accountability and evaluation, and a suitable legal framework and governance model.
Critical success factors
When discussing what makes a project effective, the attendees highlighted the need for mutual trust and respect, with a healthy dose of humility thrown in. Believing in the people you work with, and communicating in a humble manner, can make a huge difference.
Social inclusion projects also work best when solutions are co-created rather than imposed, giving community members “skin in the game” by involving them in policymaking and project design — and demonstrating the positive impact of the project. It also pays to invest in training to ensure that those working on the project gain skills and confidence.
At the same time, co-creation flourishes under strong leadership and inspiring communications, where experienced leaders use clear language and evidence-based arguments, and are fully transparent about objectives and funding, aligning costs with goals.
Projects often succeed (or fail) on the quality of governance and management, which calls for clear roles and responsibilities — and accountability, with regular meetings. Management can be enhanced through selected use of outsourcing and the involvement of experienced colleagues.
And governance goes hand in hand with effective strategic planning, defining and prioritizing short-term objectives, and monitoring for continuous learning.
Understandably, the attendees stressed the importance of data, which should be shared to inform decision-making, with regular evaluations — through surveys and feedback — to assess impact and track progress.
Even when all the above criteria are satisfied, a project can flounder when political priorities change. To counter this threat, leaders should exhibit political astuteness, to enable them to continually influence the policy agenda, and present a strong business case to acquire ongoing funding and support.
Toward a collaborative future
It is too difficult to summarize a workshop to only some key findings. The attendees at our Antwerp workshop were full of ideas, knowledge and experience and the most valuable part was the concrete exchange of practice they were able to have about what works best or not. Their insights provide valuable guidance for bringing together different levels of government, to increase the chances of success for collaborative projects that improve the lives of people in the community.