Arantzazulab is a catalyst in Social Innovation. We promote and encourage collaboration with local and international stakeholders to adapt to new contexts and share new ways of doing things. We believe that profound transformations must be brought about through collaboration.
Networking
The greatest transformations arise from collaboration. The next critical step in social innovation can only be achieved through active listening, reflection, collaboration, mutual learning, creativity, knowledge, and shared education. Collectively we will respond to the challenges of the future and the needs of our society. Now, as always, global challenges will have collective answers.
From the outset we have begun to establish relationships of trust with a wide network of stakeholders, working to build bridges and position ourselves in local and international spaces and networks (Image: relationships and collaborations activated in 2021).
"Neutral" collaborative space
There is one thing that makes us especially happy in our very first year. Continuing with the tradition of Arantzazu in the Basque Country, Arantzazulab was created as a collaborative space for people, as a space for broad consensus, as a meeting place for diverse opinions and perspectives, as a space for working with different political cultures, and as a hub for different stakeholders involved in research and experimentation. We have made a concerted effort to make this happen and take our role as a catalyst most seriously.
Today, we can humbly say that we have left our first footprint on this path. Several stakeholders have praised our contribution in this sense: and there are many who see Arantzazulab as a "neutral hub/collaborative space". Collaboration between stakeholders gives us the strength to continue being a space for free reflection and innovative experimentation. This small achievement gives meaning to our mission.
– Arantzazulab ecosystem stakeholder
A small nations alliance
It is true that the level of change is global, and that our scale is very small. However, the changes ahead invite us to develop a new agenda as a country. If we are to successfully respond to the challenges of this new world, we need to embrace new ways of looking at the world and new ways of organizing. Because only by strengthening a network of relationships and cooperation between public institutions, people, and organized society will we be able to respond to our challenges as a society.
We believe that an alliance of small nations and systems convenors working together to experiment, create pilots and delve deeply into the structural challenges obstructing change will have meaningful impact for each of us and at a global scale.
