7 Summary of Week 7

You started your learning this week by thinking about different ways in which individuals and citizen groups exert influence and ‘speak truth to power’. You have ended your learning with a focus on language and meaning-making at the micro-level – in the practices of the ordinary meetings, debates and discussions of ongoing collaboration.

Power is a complex issue, and the ways in which a collaborative approach is impacted by power asymmetries has only been touched upon. To be clear, our aim here is not to make a political point, but rather to raise your awareness of the issues of power at work, even as voluntary organisations develop a collaborative approach with individuals and organisations across the public arena.

Next week is the final week of the course, in which you will consider collaborative leadership in the context of long-term collaboration across different organisations and sectors and through multiple partnership arrangements and joint projects.

Now go to Week 8 [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] .