Action Learning Case Studies

To build up knowledge about Civic Driven Change the Centre for Civic Driven Change is involved in collaborative action research. In 2008 and 2009 The Centre conducts a collection of so-called Action Learning Case Studies (ALCS) in different countries, among them Tanzania, Kenya, India, Indonesia and Cambodia. These case studies are grounded in the tradition of explorative action research.

With these ALCS, the Centre wants to explore the unknown with regard to civic driven development initiatives. How do social change processes happen? What are drivers of positive social change, and how could they best be supported?

After completion of the initial Case Studies, the Centre for Civic Driven Change has organised an international workshop, bringing together stakeholders from all cases with the purpose of learning from each other’s working practice, and sharing the findings of the case studies – thereby jointly generating a better understanding of civic driven social change processes. This Joint Learning Workshop has taken place in September 2009.

How does an Action Learning Case Study come about?

The starting point and heart piece of an ALCS is always a ‘story’. The storyteller is selected in advance and all the people involved have a close relation to the story. In a story-telling workshop (which usually takes place after a short phase of preliminary orientation for the study team) different stakeholders who are in some way related to the story come together and critically and appreciatively inquire on the story. The gained insights are then triangulated with additional data, gained through desk research, community visits, interviews, focus group discussions, organisational inquiry, and other explorative research methods. The subsequently produced report is shared with all people involved.