Cooperation relationships of civil society organisations on communal level (ZivilKoop)

Communities increasingly rely on welfare mixes when providing social services. This includes a stronger involvement of the civil society (Evers 2011). Many communities have already established cooperation and coordination structures beyond informal collaboration. Regarding educational policy, they refer to the concept of „Bildungslandschaften“(educational landscapes). Starting from a broader understanding of education, they aim at the establishment of a communal system of integrated policy areas (Brüschweiler/Falkenreck 2016).

However, the design of „Bildungslandschaften“ is often dominated by planning aspects rather than by educational innovation. Civil-society actors hereby primarily act as providers of education and learning and not so much as interest-guided co-designers of public welfare (Stolz 2012). Moreover, it remains unclear if and how citizens are involved in this process.

Against this background, the project pursues two aims: Firstly, an evidence-based investigation of the engagement of civil educational actors is carried out in four selected cities/districts. Secondly, in respect of the empirical findings and in cooperation with relevant actors in situ, fostering communal approaches are developed.   

The empirical investigation will focus on work and cooperation relationships of civil-society and communal actors in the educational area.

The methodical design comprises a standardised online survey and qualitative interviews with communal and civil-society actors, involving qualitative and quantitative network analyses. Moreover, an online communication platform will be developed to present and validate interim research results. This comes along with supporting the participative enhancement of communal approaches.

The research results as well as the given feedback regarding the Web-Log will be presented and discussed at regional conferences in the four selected cities/districts.