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Facts Facts Facts
The 'Shelter Cluster' is an important setting, illustrating a new mind-set for social inclusion. Kolding municipality coordinates the booking of shelters to maintain social inclusion by ensuring a mix of people with and without special needs.
(1 full-time equivalent), which from the start of the development work has supported the interdisciplinary cooperation and also ensured the involvement and ongoing cooperation of the many associations, local institutions and residents who were - and to a greater extent hopefully will be - users of the area.
Ordinary people, associations and employees from the municipal housing, activity and social services concerned with social and disability issues were involved all the way: from creating an understanding of their needs and their position in relation to the potential of this field, to their being involved in choices and decisions connected with the design and establishment of the actual physical sites. Later on, more attention was paid to citizens with special needs and how social parameters can be translated into buildings in which people with different challenges can meet. Consulting architects were close to all the processes involving end users. Design School Kolding's laboratory for social inclusion helped uncover the needs of the vulnerable section of the target group and contributed to an in-depth understanding of the barriers, opportunities and concepts at work in the development of the 'third meeting place'.
'It's very different to anything we've been involved in before. The end users, together with us staff, have been involved from the very beginning, coming up with ideas and suggestions and putting our needs into words. What will the interior look like, what will the building look like, what colour should the garage be, what kind of doors shall we have? We've been right down to the nitty-gritty of how we're going to use the place, live and function there. And when they started building out there, we joined the builders and helped where we could'. Lars Nord Rødtnes, Social Educator and Nature Guide, Nordhøj, Kolding Municipality's Employment, Activity and Social Centre for people with physical and/or mental disabilities
Significant victories
It was a victory to have developed a common vision and created commitment and involvement from the political level to the individual level - and as a facilitator in the process the municipality, which has contributed comprehensive professional and regulatory expertise. This has been an important prerequisite for understanding the problem area in order to develop new thinking and concrete solutions in new collaborative constellations. The dialogue between the municipal and national levels has confirmed that equality of social inclusion was an agenda and complex issue that cuts across municipalities - and is actually very complex to achieve. A new, shared mindset on social inclusion was gradually constructed, exemplified by the buildings that resulted.
Linking a complex issue with the development of natural spaces as a lever for finding new solutions and cooperation at all levels has been groundbreaking and has produced results that are innovative and meaningful. The vision has been maintained throughout - and continues in the operation of the area.
Key challenges
• Working with Collective Impact is time consuming. For example, it is a time-consuming process to do extensive needs assessment and user research in order to understand the issues and the needs of end users. As a result, the process has sometimes seemed lengthy and unclear to those involved.
• Architects' lack of experience and knowledge about working with social inclusion in the built environment was also time-consuming and it required extensive discussions to incorporate the social components into the physical design.
'When we're talking about complex challenges and what the other collaborators are supposed to do, then you have to start by getting the various experts to talk together. That doesn't always happen by itself. We've held a lot of very long meetings to keep the users in mind when discussing the landscape, materials and design, and making sure people's needs get translated into the final plans. We've had to stick to what it is we really want from these facilities'. Mads Kyed, former Development Consultant and Project Manager, Troldhedestien, Kolding Municipality
Value for partners
• Collective Impact was a whole new way of working together, opening up a new collaborative process and mindset - for example, a whole new focus on looking deeply at the problem, using and building data, setting clear goals and sticking to them.
• The focus on the issue of social inclusion meant that it became clear to everyone that the only way to work was cross-disciplinary and across political committees.
• A lot of external expertise through collaboration with philanthropic agencies as partners. Working on a project together with the general public, various associations and local institutions.
Essential learning
There is great potential in linking national and local agencies when testing new ways to tackle a complex issue. Linking provides an important strategic space for reflection where important learning can be discussed at system level, which can influence mindsets.
The time-consuming process of linking people and the social component with physical buildings and outdoor spaces has yielded significant lessons about the value of the municipality as a facilitator. The municipality has been persistent, acting as a hub for cross-collaboration, as a 'translator' between parties, and insisting on keeping the focus on the overall purpose - even when it is difficult.
The work with the Troldhedestien has created a significant training ground for Kolding Municipality in relation to working with a change of perspective and a movement away from a focus on what people with special needs are entitled to through legislation to a focus on creating a basis for human development.
'I often use Troldhedestien to exemplify the fact that if we want to create something new, we can't do it with the same old thinking. Because everyone can see that it has produced something that is really beneficial and makes people happy. Right now we are talking a lot about young people's mental health. We have so many resources we can call on and so many people who want to contribute. We just need to learn how to build the bridges and organise cooperation in different ways'. Birgitte Kragh (V), Chair of the Social and Health Committee, Kolding Municipality
'The whole project is a hugely interesting experiment in how we can shift boundaries and get things moving by going beyond traditional disciplines and creating ways and means of drawing civil society much more into the delivery of welfare services and creating more meaningful live'. Mads Kyed, former Development Consultant and Project Manager, Troldhedestien, Kolding Municipality
Results
A different perception of how the municipality can work with social inclusion has been created. And of how it is possible to engage the municipality's resources in a new way - illustrated here through the interaction between the professionalism of the social sciences and the development of a physical environment in - and in harmony with - the natural surroundings. While respecting the existing natural environment, the Troldhedestien project provides a framework for new and different kinds of community.
The goal of improving the Troldhedestien Trail and making it more attractive to more types of people is pretty well achieved. In particular, staff and end users of social and disability services have embraced the path. For example, a group of people with physical and/or mental disabilities from the municipal job, activity and social facility, Nordhøj, have been given the regular work maintaining Dybvadbro Station and the surrounding shelters. They call themselves 'The Forest Group'.
'It's turned out exactly as we imagined out there, and that's absolutely fantastic. The Group (from the municipal facility, Nordhøj, ed.) loves going out there. They have a fantastic workplace and enjoy every day they are there. Having to solve tasks together creates a social bond between them. And they meet visitors out there who ask questions. Children and adults. Then they answer and tell about what they do. It's huge for them and they massively proud of their work'. Lars Nord Rødtnes, Social Educator and Nature Guide, Nordhøj, Kolding Municipality's Employment, Activity and Social Centre for people with physical and/or mental disabilities
The forest group from Nordhøj is well known in the area. A small workshop is the focal point for many activities, fellowship and meetings. The neighbours, who were initially sceptical about having a number of shelters in their backyard, have now formed the Friends of Dybvadbro Association and are grateful that the area is kept in such good order. That's equality of social inclusion in action.
Activities not initiated by the original participants have started to emerge in the area. A group of citizens with special needs from the nature guide training invited, on their own initiative, some young vulnerable citizens from one of the municipality's centres to spend the night in the shelters. There have been weddings and jazz concerts, and many school classes and institutions use the area.
'There's a lot going on out there now that we only hear about. A lot of things come naturally, simply because the framework is there. Of course, a lot of effort is still needed when it comes to the more vulnerable target group, but we're really off to a good start'. Karen Tønning, Project Coordinator, Kolding Municipality
The change effected is clearly documented by an impact measurement carried out by the Social Action analysis agency in collaboration with the Collective Impact group Inclusion for All. Using the area by end users and staff in the social and disability field has greatly fostered an experience of togetherness. Their experience of community has more than doubled.
The forest group offers nature guidance for kindergarten children in Kolding.
