Katarzyna Plebańczyk Civil society, participation, and urban games – comments on the research in the context of culture management. The ideas of social participation and participatory management have become very popular in recent times. They are applied to every aspect of life - they are present in numerous documents, they set out trends in policy and management at the macro level and also in small institutions or organisations. On the other hand, they can be related to the concept of civil society, as these trends often go hand in hand, even though they tend to be analysed from different points of view. Civil society is typically considered from the perspective of the development of the society’s awareness in the fight for its rights and is associated with the existence of civic organisations, which themselves are active and influence the advancement of democracy. Such organisations deal with the problems of everyday life and make efforts to pressurise the government into addressing them. They include both formal and informal organisations which pursue an active dialogue and stand between citizens and the government. The ideas of participatory management generally emphasise the elements which are directly related to management, the employer-employee relationship, the possibility to allow employees to participate in the process of management, and the direct introduction of employees to the arcana of company management (the micro level). During recent years, however, this concept has been extended and used on a macro scale, approaching the meaning which is close to social participation, but still oscillating around the area of management. There is still a need to further develop these ideas to avoid conventional thinking. Later in the article, the above topics will be elaborated on and then referred to the research supporting culture management, particularly to using urban games. The very concept of an urban game is regarded here as the mere starting point of a discussion, as it is more about the use of its distinctive features, main objectives, and ways of implementation – an urban game could be just as well played out outside urban environments (or metropolitan areas as stated in its main premise) and take the form of a rural or even field game. The choice of activity which is tentatively discussed here is based on the same premises as the previously mentioned ideas. First of all, it involves a high degree of human involvement (participation), both direct and indirect. The planned event entails the participation of those who are actors and those who are spectators. In addition, an entire performance takes place with the use of virtual space and broadly defined social media, activating the community in a more indirect manner, which is not to say that this community is any less involved. It seems that such a large and committed audience should not be underestimated, and researching all its aspects is quite an unorthodox undertaking. This idea became the basis for the research project which aroused the interest of an international circle of collaborators1. This fact alone shows that today there is a conducive environment for the topic as well as the main concepts described above. Civil society 1
An international consortium, in which I participate, submitted a joint application for receiving a grant for the project. The application reached the final stage of the competition. Other national and foreign partners have also expressed their interest, which proves that the issues described in the following article and the adopted methodology have a broad response in the milieu of practitioners and theorists.
The concept of civil society evolved in Poland in the 1990s, when the country experienced the transition and was consciously heading towards the democratisation of social life. However, as mentioned by such authors as Andrzej Siciński [Siciński; 1996], the concept itself is not new. In modern history, it appeared in the English social thought of the 17th and 18th centuries in the theories by John Locke and David Hume. They described the characteristics of the society they lived in, which was evolving on the basis of the social contract, not the natural order. Over time, civil society started to be associated with the rule of law and citizens’ initiative. Adam Ferguson, a philosopher of the Scottish Enlightenment, became so absorbed in the idea of civil society that he penned an essay on its history. He claimed that this concept has its genesis in the accelerated development of civilization and economy, and also in the changes in the social structure. This topic was further developed in later ideas of Hegel and Antonio Gramsci; however, as pointed out by Siciński, their notions, unlike the previous ones, had more of a postulative nature and did not describe the actual development of society. One exception was the descriptions of the 19th-century American democratisation processes by Alexis de Tocqueville. In late 20th century, the ideas of civil society appeared anew in the writings of Ralf Dahrendorf, who wrote about the autonomic "manifestation of interests, values, and preferences," or of Anthony Giddens, who emphasised that, on the one hand, this type of society and its activity leads to order, but many a time it fuels conflicts, as the social dialogue includes various interest groups fiercely defending their stances. According to Giddens, the role of government and the state was to resolve conflicts and protect the individual [Siciński; 1996]. The above ideas reappeared in the context of the collapse of communism, when the centre of gravity started to shift towards the advancement of democratic systems, and when the visions of civil society in power began to be unfolded. Giddens states that for a new social order to have a chance to develop, certain conditions should be met: o the government and civil society should be partners; o there should occur the revival of the community through encouraging local initiatives; o the third sector should be included; and o local public space should be protected [Ilczuk; 2002: 26]. This subject often returns in our daily discussions about whether there exists civil society in Poland or not. There are opinions both for and against, and they refer to the development of the third sector and the level of trust between the authorities and the average citizen. As stated in one of the definitions, "organisations which form the third sector include private entities geared towards meeting the pressing needs of individuals. If they choose to implement public initiatives, they do so according to the will of their founders, owners, or managers" [Grzelońska; 2011: 327]. In the same text, Grzelońska analyses the activities carried out in the third sector, separates organisations involved in the production and distribution, and states (also based on other cited studies) that non-governmental organisations in their most visible form, created "in order to present and promote certain ideas and values, and simply labelled in the following text as civil society organisations, unite people for whom the ideas and values cementing the official state institutions are unsatisfactory" [ibid: 337]. In its publication on the NGO sector, Central Statistical Office (CSO) presented the data as of the end of 2005 and, based on the REGON (National Business Registry Number)
classification, reported that there are 67.5 thousand active and independent entities, while in 1997 this number amounted to 27.4 thousand. They include: o 56.4 thousand associations and similar member organisations (including volunteer fire departments, social committees, associations of physical culture, hunting clubs); o 5 thousand foundations; o approximately 3.9 thousand economic and professional self-regulatory organisations (including professional associations, guilds, chambers, social and professional organisations of farmers, and employers' organisations); o about 2.2 thousand social religious entities (member organisations and institutions providing social services and operating within churches and religious associations) [CSO 2009]. According to the same classification, 2010 saw more than 12 thousand registered foundations and 71 thousand registered associations (excluding volunteer fire departments; when they are added, the number of registered organisations is nearly 100 thousand). "In an even broader perspective, this appraisal could also take into account 6.5 thousand economic and professional self-regulatory organisations, 3.8 thousand other membership organisations not classified as associations (e.g. hunting clubs, mutual assistance funds, social committees, etc.) and about 2 thousand branches of local organisational units of the Catholic Church which perform social activities [Przewłocka and Herbst; 2011]. The database of the portal which is the source of the above information is run by the KlonJawor Association, which has been engaged in the gathering of information and the formation of a database on the activities of the non-governmental sector since the early 1990s. As of today, the Association states that there are over 120 thousand registered organisations2. However, what needs to be emphasised the most is not so much the sheer number of existing organisations, but the fact that the majority of them considers activities centred around the arts and culture, leisure time organisation, and hobbies to be the core of their functioning. Excluding the units of volunteer fire departments, the activity map is as presented in the figure below:
Source: Przewłocka, Herbst, wiadomości.ngo.pl, 2011.
2
The cited numbers are not fully comparable, because, even in the studies done by CSO, the classification system kept changing and despite the Act on public benefit organisations and volunteer work, adopted in 2003, which excluded from the classification such entities as political parties, trade unions, associations of economic self-government units, and professional associations, they still appear in the charts. Despite this, it seems that it is possible to observe an upward trend; it is only difficult to determine its scale.
For example, the figure shows 14% of organisations that are directly involved in activities which the database classifies as "culture, art, and the protection of cultural and national heritage." As of 2012, the absolute value of this proportion amounts to more than 14 thousand entities (14,661). By comparison - the aforementioned studies cited by Grzelońska mention the number of organisations operating in culture to be 19%. Undoubtedly, attention should be paid to the fact that the state (the government) has created the conditions for the development of the NGO sector. One common denominator for the studies discussing the beginnings of this sector is to identify its root causes, such as the system change and the crisis accompanying the initial years of transition. It seems, however, that the rapid development of this sector in recent years could be examined from additional points of view. Paradoxically, this evolution is fostered by the lack of employment opportunities, which makes citizens start to "take matters into their own hands." Another motivating factor for the society to take action is the fact that the fiscal system and the opportunity of joint action are more conducive to being active in NGOs than to running one’s own business. The second vital reason concerns the consequences of Poland’s accession to the European Union, where, together with the implemented regulations, there emerged new circumstances affecting the development of the sector, whose results can be observed today. They are the most directly associated with the possibility of utilising EU funds. Within nearly every EU-funded programme (and sometimes also funded with national or private means, e.g. from bank programmes or large companies), non-governmental organisations can apply for grants for their projects, and there is very frequently the full funding option (while analysing the third sector for the year 2011, Grzelońska did not mention such possibilities). This necessarily generalised presentation of non-governmental organisations aims to show the broad range of the sector considered to be the basis for the development of civil society. To conclude this topic, what should be also mentioned here are the activities of the civic or social movement nature which appeared during the last few years. In the field of culture, it is worth mentioning such initiatives as the Citizens of Culture movement, which the official website describes as "a reform movement which calls for changes in culture that will enable to use the potential of social engagement, citizens’ creative energy, and the enormity of cultural heritage to the fullest" [obywatelekultury.org]. The movement was formed in May 2011 with the main objectives of building mutual understanding between the society and public authorities by influencing the activities of the latter. This manifests itself primarily through co-operating in the field of developing and implementing the Treaty for Culture, signed in 2011 by the Minister of Culture, and establishing movements which entail similar activities in various Polish towns and cities. It should be emphasised that the proposed scope and initiatives are mainly focused around the "providers" of culture, and refer to those to whom culture is addressed – i.e. the general public - only in an indirect way. Therefore, there appear comments and opinions which criticise the fact that the participation in the movement includes those individuals who are more involved in "forming" culture rather than in receiving culture or participating in it. Such individuals are institutionally engaged in working for culture and include officials or managers in cultural institutions, and also the representatives of the cultural milieu. Perhaps, however, with time and more involvement on the part of the Movement’s initiators, the idea will have a chance to evolve and to motivate the average citizen to take action too.
Both forms - NGOs and civic movements - can be placed within the framework of Giddens’s elements conditioning the development of civil society. At the same time, the two forms fit the ideas of participatory governance perfectly, taking into account both the direct and wider meaning of this phenomenon. Participation The starting point of deliberations is certainly the word participation. This term is also used to define co-management, co-operation, and co-determination. Thus, participatory management should be equated with the management that directly involves employees partaking in the process of management, including strategic management. In general, the idea of participatory management refers to the internal relations of the company; lately, however, it has been also considered in a broader perspective. To quote some of the definitions - V.H. Vroom describes participation as "a process of joint decision-making by two or more parties, in which decisions influence the future situation of those who have made them" [Mendel: 2002]. The essence of this definition is the collaboration of many interested parties and a fairly wide range of topics. Another definition, much broader and put forward by David E. Guest and Derek Fatchetta, says that it is "any process by which a person or a group of people determines (i.e. deliberately influences) what another person or group is to do" [ibid.]. Although it was only recently that the very idea has gained popularity, the history of management sciences has been developing the concept of management with an element of participation almost from the outset. Even Henry Fayol, a representative of the 19th-century administrative trend in management, preached that there is a need for expansion of employees’ rights and powers. He emphasised the possibility of including employees in organisational decision making, thus providing a company with the opportunity to advance (one of his 14 principles of management is openness to initiative and innovation, being an important factor in employee motivation; however, it still allows for the use of authority and discipline). The examples from both the theory and practice of management could be multiplied endlessly. Some of them should be mentioned in the following article, including the paternalistic management style and the formation of the idea of human relations by T. Bata, a shoe manufacturer. In the early 20th century, he was a pioneer in the implementation of self-organisation in industry – his labour system was based on the principle of decentralisation, manifested in the creation of financially and economically semiautonomous organisational units, which were able to function predominantly thanks to workers, their sense of responsibility for completing their tasks, and their opportunities for self-actualisation, which furthered the development of the entire enterprise. Another entrepreneur named G. Bardet, the owner of the factory producing automatic machines, allowed his employees to co-manage the company. In 1925, a works council was established in Bardet’s plants, in which the elected delegates, together with the management, discussed the degree of task implementation and made various decisions (including the ones of the broader, strategic importance for the company). Bardet's experiment brought tangible benefits in the form of remarkable employee involvement in the execution of tasks and the increased support for the company - employees began to identify themselves with the factory, the quality of work improved, and the propensity for strikes dropped [Piwowarczyk; 2006].
After World War II, social development contributed to the official and formal implementation of participatory ideas, particularly in the countries of the Communist Bloc, where state ownership was legitimised. In 1951 in Germany, Social Democrats sanctioned the statutory employee co-determination in the sphere of company management (in the mining and smelting industry). In the People's Republic of Poland, Works Councils appeared by the 1945 decree, and the wave of thaw in 1956 brought the Act on works councils, which introduced solutions heading towards participation. The latter remained a dead law, and was abolished by a subsequent law of 1958 on industrial democracy, whose provisions de facto deprived workers of co-determination opportunities in favour of carrying out the tasks for the Communist party. The ideas of participation in management turned into subsequent rights gained by employees and are closely related to the functioning of the state – in the wake of the 1980 events in Poland, a new law on workers’ self-management body in a state-owned company was passed. From a historical perspective, it is primarily evaluated as a militant entity with the functions similar to those assigned to trade unions rather than an advisory body, established in order to streamline management processes, although it must be admitted that many times the so-called Artistic and Programme Councils functioning in cultural institutions fulfilled all the necessary functions. After the system transformation in Poland, the topic of works councils and their extensive rights returned many a time in the context of impediments to change and reforms. Ironically, works councils reappeared along with Poland’s accession to the European Union and the implementation of the EU Directive whose main idea is to inform employees about the company's activities and maintain internal consultations. Under the act passed in Poland, all companies employing more than 50 people have the obligation to establish such councils, with the exception of those in which similar bodies already exist (e.g. Artistic and Programme Councils). The above-discussed issues refer to the fundamental model of participatory management – a company’s internal dialogue. In recent years, however, a somewhat broader approach to the phenomenon could be observed, which deals with the external environment of the organisation. It derives from such factors as the observation of the changing environment, universal access to information and the Internet, and globalisation. It is especially visible in the public sector, where citizens want to know what the money from their taxes are spent on and want to have some control over it. This approach is an obvious aftermath of the development of civil society, but also of the implementation of the good governance and multilevel governance principles, promoted by such institutions as the United Nations, the World Bank, and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. These principles entail a high level of public participation and maintaining a dialogue with the public on the most vital issues relating to the development. However, they are also close to the thoughts on management, strategy building, and strategy implementation, from where it is not far to participatory management. This idea was even expressed in the study conducted by the Malopolska Institute of Culture in collaboration with the Faculty of Humanities of the AGH University of Science and Technology, which had a characteristic subtitle, “between participation in culture and participation in management.” Participation is becoming an increasingly used term, particularly in the context of much broader strategic management and the talks about cultural policy development. About the research
Debates on the evolution of culture and on setting strategic goals occur in the form of exchanging views, and the voice of society is taken into account while drawing up specific management tools in the context of state cultural policy (in accordance with the previously described principles), and sometimes even in the context of managing a particular cultural institution or organisation. Openness, acceptance of different points of view, experience, observation of different needs, and, ultimately, fulfilment of those needs – these are the elements which should mark today's management in culture. In order to attain this model, both parties, the provider and the consumer must engage in a mutual dialogue. In recent years, we have been observing an increase in the amount of culture research focusing on management. They result from the introduction of the EU strategic guidelines. In Poland, such studies are reflected in the establishment of the Culture Observatory programme in the Ministry of Culture, which is designed to subsidise such activities. Although the budget is meagre compared to other programmes (e.g. for 2013, 3 million zlotys were allocated - about 1/4 of the amount for cultural education and slightly more than half of the amount allotted to the promotion of reading), it should be noted that it is growing steadily year after year. It is extremely difficult to distinguish between the types of studies that focus on culture in its symbolic meaning and the types which deal with culture from the functional perspective – the latter are always significant not only for culture management, but also for the understanding of its essence. When we are considering opinion polls, cultural participation research, and analysing cultural offers, such studies are crucial for culture management in many ways - from analysing needs and preferences (demand), through analysing the offer (supply), to the comprehensive discussion about the impact on human and social development. Both commissioned research as well as studies that are carried out as a result of grants (target subsidies and competitions) share some similar features. The first and most essential characteristic is that they are typically quantitative in nature and show a statistical mean. Qualitative research is very rare in Poland, although there is an increasing need for this type of studies too. Advantages and disadvantages of the formal processing of statistical data are similar in each country. In Poland, they can be summarised as follows: Advantages: • The existence of a statistical requirement (although it concerns public institutions). • Recognising the need to collect and process statistical data by establishing a special unit focused exclusively on culture (CSO’s Centre for Cultural Statistics). Disadvantages: • Data is incomplete and imprecise even in the dimension of public institutional culture (as shown by the reports prepared for the 2009 Congress of Polish Culture, where e.g. the reported number of museums varied by more than 200, depending on the institution and the way of data collection). • There is no information in databases on non-governmental organisations or companies operating on the culture market (e.g. CSO does not keep such statistics and the information on NGOs can be found in the databases of the Klon-Jawor Association). • Entering only one form of declared business activity into the CSO statistical system (based on the first code of the Polish Classification of Activities), so that
companies which marked their activity in culture at further positions do not appear in the statistics. • Slow pace of information processing (e.g. statistical yearbooks are published with almost a year’s delay). • Selective presentation of research results; lack of access to full, comprehensive studies. Nevertheless, the culture market is beginning to recognise that cultural activity is competitive, requires knowledge of the environment, the possibility of finding one’s own niche, and the plan on how to use it. This is truer for non-public culture, where catering to the needs of culture consumers conditions the existence of culture providers. The consequence of this fact is the lack of planning in terms of funds that could be allocated for research. In this context, the impediments to conducting research in culture are the following: • Lack of awareness of or disregard for the fact that taking strategic as well as operational actions should be preceded by a meticulous diagnosis of the situation. This, in turn, leads to a very limited budget for research on culture in general. • Basing cultural activities primarily on public institutions – this leads to general ignorance of the way the NGO system functions and the lack of management tools in this sector. • Narrow-mindedness – those who commission research want to obtain information related only to the area directly subordinate to them; different bodies of public administration display no will to co-operate with one other. • The most important thing for potential stakeholders is a research sample, leading directly to quantitative research and the compilation of statistics. Having enumerated the fundamental impediments, one could attempt to determine what kind of research on culture should be conducted: • First of all, such research should be comprehensive, covering a wide range of various forms of cultural activity; it should provide diagnoses both at the micro (an institution/organisation or a local government) and the macro level (the level of a region and higher). • It should be continuous. It is necessary to constantly monitor cultural activities for each institution individually and also in a wider perspective. • Even though it does not look good in statistics, qualitative research should operate on an equal footing with quantitative studies. • Culture is created for its addressees - it seems necessary to carry out not only monitoring and observation, but also opinion polls and surveys on cultural needs; it is also crucial to allow for greater consumer participation. With this approach, studies on culture may be used for a specific purpose. They can support the development of institutions and organisations – this is the first step towards strategic thinking and the development of plans. They provide an opportunity to promote a particular institution, to build its positive image, and to find its place in public space. For public administration entities, such studies bring opportunities to build knowledge, provide a basis for action, and serve to establish a modern system of culture management, in which there is room for dialogue between the provider and the consumer, for participatory management, and for broader social participation.
These necessarily general comments on culture research have been presented as an introduction to the further part of the article, which describes how the idea of urban games could be used in the context of research. This is an idea which meets the needs of a contemporary consumer of culture. In order to move on to this topic, it seems necessary to mention another important thread associated with a shift in the traditional perception of a culture consumer. With the rapid development of new technologies, universal Internet access, and the blurred lines between the forms in which culture is provided and consumed, the 19th-century model of upbringing prevalent throughout the 20th century and stating that it is appropriate to visit places where high culture is created has lost its significance. The research conducted by TNS OBOP (Institute for Public Opinion Research) in 2000 revealed a discrepancy between how being a man of culture is perceived and what being a man of culture actually entails in real life. The results show that, at least once a year, a man of culture should do the following: - visit a library (59% of the respondents believe so, 28% actually do visit a library once a year); - attend a social gathering (59% of the respondents believe so, 81% actually do attend a social gathering once a year); - read a book (55% vs. 57%); - visit a theatre (52% vs. 11%); - visit a museum (43% vs. 16%); - go to the cinema (43% vs. 30%); - visit the opera or operetta (41% vs. 2%); - attend a painting exhibition (40% vs. 9%); - attend a classical music concert (39% vs. 3%); - attend talks and lectures (38% vs. 8%); - attend artistic and folklore events or festivities (36% vs. 42%); - attend a sports event or a match (22% vs. 28%); - attend a pop concert, a teenage music concert, a jazz concert, etc. (22% vs. 22%) [TNS OBOP 2000]. At the end of the decade, what could be seen in different analyses (e.g. by CBOS – Public Opinion Research Centre - and OBOP) was a definite shift towards a broader understanding of culture. This is also evidenced by the results of my own research conducted in 2005, which aimed at collecting the opinions of the consumers of cultural services in Kraków [Plebańczyk and Górski; 2006]. The questionnaire included an open-ended question about the best and the worst cultural events in Kraków in the past year. Very interesting trends could be observed in the answers. On the one hand, some events mentioned by the respondents could not always be categorised as strictly cultural, as it turned out their cultureness was interpreted more broadly, such as in the case of the Cracovia – Wisła Derby in May 2005 (football matches between the two famous teams of Kraków), or "Na Rynek Marsz" (~Forward March to the Main Square!) - the event promoting race walking, organized by Robert Korzeniowski, the world champion in this sport. On the other hand, the above events, easily qualified as sports events in this case, were mentioned together with concerts, theatre, or opera - activities usually attributed directly to culture. Events indicated by the respondents reflected their general participation in culture – they frequently listed exhibitions or concerts (every music genre). There were a lot of mass events. Next to these more ‘athletic’ events, there were others, e.g. a failed March for Tolerance, Open Days in malls, Huta (the Steelworks), and Kraków’s CHP Plant, and also the White March after the
death of Pope John Paul II organised by the city’s community via phone calls, e-mails, and "the word of mouth." The problem of failing to distinguish between various types of culture, although shown in a slightly different context, was also visible in the subsequent research carried out by a team of sociologists led by Wojciech Burszta. In 2009, they prepared a report on the state of urban culture in Poland, which was commissioned by the Ministry of Culture for the Congress of Polish Culture in 2009 [Burszta, Fatyga, Majewski, et al.; 2009]. An attempt was made to reconstruct a model of a man of culture. He should be: 1) educated, namely: a) he should have a wide general knowledge apart from specialised or traditional knowledge; b) his interests should go beyond the issues of his everyday/private life; c) he should use his knowledge for self-development; 2) sophisticated, namely: a) he should be able to behave in/adapt to different situations and know the rules of savoir vivre; b) he should "go out," visit the institutions of traditional culture (going to the theatre, cinema, concert halls and reading books were the most often mentioned); c) he should speak correct Polish and have a rich vocabulary; 3) open to contemporary culture and its transformation, namely: a) above all, he should be interested in other cultures and ecology; 4) socialised, namely: a) he should have extensive relations with other people which are based on kindness and politeness; 5) mentally balanced, namely: a) calm, not chaotic; 6) a citizen, namely: a) he should be interested in the affairs of the world and his local community. Although the above reconstruction shows a mature citizen who is conscious of his duties to the state as well as his rights, it does not include the topic of participation in various forms of culture and the consequences that it brings to the research attempts. This consequence brings the concept of a hybrid culture which is ubiquitous and functions in many areas of our lives not traditionally associated with culture. A rich cultural offer and active consumers have forced us to take a different look at the entire sector. The potential that culture has for the whole economy has been acknowledged. The hybridity of contemporary culture is also owed to the today’s consumer, who (as a conscious participant and citizen) exceeds the existing barriers, wants to know, touch, and feel, co-create, and co-participate. He wants everything – to attend symphony orchestra concerts, visit operas, and theatres. He enjoys modernity, but can also appreciate traditional forms. He can go to a football game, a rock or shanty concert, and a dinosaur park. A minute later, he draws a moustache on Mona Lisa and uploads it for everyone to have a laugh and become inspired. It should be noted that the processing of the achievements of others is not a strange phenomenon in culture – we have always observed people utilising the works of other artists to create their own. References, commentaries, and polemics – they have always been present. What has changed is the fact that today it is consumers who process the works of art, thus creating a kind of their own commentary, expressing their opinions, frequently via new technologies. They do not do this with the need to create a new work of art, but rather to exhibit their individual skills, at the same time selling their know-how.
Still, the consumer is very poorly recognised by the providers of culture. They do not know what promotional and marketing tools to use in order to reach him, or how to maintain a dialogue with him. One option to start such a dialogue is to use urban games. About urban games As I mentioned at the beginning of this text, I treat the term of an urban game as a starting point for further debate. It implies a certain type of activity possible to be adapted to different circumstances. In order to develop this issue further, let us devote some time to the games themselves. An urban game is a relatively new but already fairly popular form of entertainment, played out in many cities around the world. It combines the features of traditional street happenings, paper chase games of scouts, and newer forms such as RPGs, computer games, or flash-mobs. Initially considered as a form of pure entertainment, it was quickly incorporated into business environment for team building or searching for non-standard methods to develop human creativity. RPG (a role-playing game, often called a game of imagination) is a game in which players (from one to several) assume the roles of fictional characters. An entire game takes place in a fictional world which exists only in players’ imagination. Its aim is generally to play the game according to a planned scenario and to achieve the pre-arranged or individual goals, while maintaining a selected set of rules, referred to as the game mechanics. A flash mob is the term which is used to describe an artificial crowd of people that gathers unexpectedly in a public place to perform a brief act which is typically surprising to random bystanders. Such acts involve strangers who know only the date and the essence of a flash mob. Usually, these events are organised via the Internet or text messages. A happening is marked by directness, formal openness, the elements of improvisation (although there were scripted happenings), it stimulates the spectator into action, and entails the elements of arts and theatre3. Urban games are organised mainly in large cities and derive from the idea of simple entertainment. They are based on a story invented by the authors for the purposes of the game. They may be commercial in nature (the market is quite replete with companies specialising in the organisation of such games to order) or they may be used for business purposes and intended for a particular group of people, constituting part of the professional training, for instance. The prototype of contemporary urban games was Ringolevio, created on the teeming streets of American cities during the Great Depression of 1929. In the 1960s and 1970s, there appeared Manhunt – but here we’re talking about the entire family of games, which evolved from tig and hide-and-seek, through the scouts paper chase to the night strategy games involving teams equipped with communications gear and camouflage clothing. The next stage was enriching the real world with the virtual one - in 2002 in Minsk, Belarus, the game of Skhvatka (Encounter) was developed. Unlike the older types, it does not entail direct physical encounters between participants, but it is more of a combination of computer roleplaying game with a skill game played out in the real world (limited by time, participants are to search for codes hidden in the nooks and crannies of the city, which allow them to go to the next level after being entered into the system). In Poland, the first and oldest urban game (already employing modern media) was Nokia Game of 2000 - players assumed the 3
I included more information on this topic in the book edited by D. Hejwosz and W. Jakubowski entitled Kultura popularna – tożsamość, edukacja, Poznań 2010.
role of the protagonist of a mysterious story and completed various tasks, striving to solve the riddle. In order to take part in the game, it was necessary to have a mobile phone and Internet access, through which players received information about further missions to accomplish. Moreover, it was essential to regularly follow the news in the press, radio, television, and other media, as clues to help you complete the task could have been anywhere. The completion of each stage of the game had to be confirmed by visiting certain web pages at the specified time and answering certain questions which were posted there. Those who did not make it dropped out of the game until one final winner was left. The players who had dropped out earlier, as well as others who did not play at all but were interested in its course, could still follow the game by reading the news on the website, but without active participation. The largest and the longest-running urban game (played since 2005) is Urban Playground: Miasto to gra (Warszawa) [Urban Playground: the City is the Game (Warsaw)], which triggered the craze for this type of projects in Poland. The game combines the elements of happening and a narrative, is played out at several levels, and the boundary between fiction and reality is blurred - the streets of Warsaw are the board, the city’s residents are the players, and the city is the game [www.urban-playground.org]. Another example is the initiative of the Partyzantz Team (Katowice). Their activities entail the elements of three worlds: real, virtual, and fictitious. The team coined the phrase the city is the board and created the first Polish Silesian superhero. The concept of urban gaming rapidly began to be employed not only as entertainment. There appeared games whose aim was to promote culture, the city, or the region. They initiated a trend for participation in a new, innovative way. This approach is radically different from the initiatives presented earlier. There are countless examples of such projects, but to mention just a few: o Literackie Gry Miejskie (Literary Urban Games) organised by the Warsaw Rising Museum (based on popular books and characters from literature or other fields, e.g. following the footsteps of Wiech or Marek Piegus) – a similar initiative was organised in Wrocław - the project based on the detective novels by Marek Krajewski, entitled Murder in Breslau; o Legenda Stanisława Wyspiańskiego (The Legend of Stanisław Wyspiański) in 2007, where the main task was to find the missing memorial Plaque, without which the monument located in the Main Square in Kraków could not be revealed (it was organised in collaboration with Gazeta Wyborcza and the Groteska Theatre, with the financial participation of the City of Kraków); o W pogoni za aktem (In pursuit of the Charter) (2007) – here, the task was to find three out of the five missing seals from the Incorporation Charter of Kraków; o Operacja V.I.C.T.O.R.I.A. (The V.I.C.T.O.R.I.A. Operation) (2008) - also held in Kraków to celebrate the 325th anniversary of the Battle of Vienna; o Poetyckie Gry Uliczne (Poetic Street Games) – organised since 2008 by the Literary and Publishing Centre of the Łódź Cultural Centre – the gist of the game is to find lines from a poem which are hidden around the urban space; The next step in the development of urban games was the emergence of tourism games, in which one can take part at any time (e.g. in Poznań, players obtain a game card via the Internet or in tourist information centres, and then tour the city by solving puzzles; a similar game is available in Kraków, although it is largely a commercial initiative aimed at marketing).
Using urban games to promote the history and culture of a given place is extremely popular among the organisers and the participants. Games have quickly become something more than just fun, which was noted by municipal governments, happy to be involved in the organisation of such events. The above-mentioned cases and the rules of urban games can be considered with reference to the previously discussed ideas of civil society and participatory management. The features shared by all types of initiatives include: o The participation of both the provider and the consumer; o Social inclusion; o Providing individuals with the opportunity to express their own opinions - directly through participating in a game and comments, or more indirectly, e.g. by tracking the events. As a result, all these activities can serve a social function, or can create culture. Using a game in scientific research results from the observation of participation in culture and from researching the games themselves. In the business environment, there is an area called gamification, which is undergoing intensive development. It uses the mechanisms from role-playing and computer games in order to increase people’s participation and to influence their behaviour. The theory and practice of gamification derive from the media studies conducted by Byron Reeves at Stanford University and Clifford Nass. These studies focussed mainly on how people react to media, and the subjects’ behaviours confirmed an interesting and innovative thesis of the researchers which states that, contrary to our intuitive notions, our interactions with computers, television, and new media are fundamentally social and natural, such as our interactions with other people. The authors discovered that people’s reactions show that media are more than just tools. Media can invade our personal space, may have a personality that matches our own, or may be members of a team and activate gender stereotypes. Media can trigger emotional reactions, require our concentration, put us in danger, affect our memory, and change our ideas about what is natural. Media are full participants in our social and real world (Reeves and Nass; 2000). The results of these studies have been the most widely incorporated into marketing initiatives and became the basis of many business activities, particularly those which employ media in the most direct way. With their features typical of RPGs and computer games, urban games also include the elements of gamification, not only in the context of media that support the communication system between the participants (forums, e-mails, and chats, which build social bonds between them), but also in the context of the main ideas of this trend. They make people participate in activities which are in line with the expectations of the project originator, they are based on the pleasure that comes from completing new challenges, from competition, or co-operation. Due to their ubiquity and wide social response, these games can become crowd-pulling events or can be used for research purposes. An urban game itself is usually based on some fundamental rules, such as the following: o Creating the board on which the participants have to move (typically, it is urban space, but it can be any other space limited to include a specific area). o Direct participants must stay involved: they must associate places and facts, quickly solve riddles, and work against the clock. But above all, they must demonstrate a certain level of knowledge and a desire to acquire new knowledge. o An important element of the game is disguise and camouflage (both among the players and game creators).
o The script uses new technologies, the Internet, and mobile phones. In terms of research, the most crucial elements are the participants of such events. The game is engrossing. There are direct participants (selected on the basis of applications or competitions). There are also those who dropped out in the pre-selection stage – they usually follow the course of the game, cheer, and provide their feedback. Finally, there are those who are observers on principle. The game triggers a wide response – there are direct fans who physically observe the teams and their struggle, there are those who are watching the game via media, and finally those who do not watch, but comment. The games are preceded by extensive publicity and promotion. They evoke great emotions long after they are finished. This broad spectrum of individuals, who are actively engaged in and emotionally connected with the participation in the event, willingly sharing their opinions, is a very interesting starting point for research on culture, as it allows to analyse such elements as: o Social response to cultural activities and, as a result, to direct participation; social response considered in the broader context - for example, reactions to the information appearing in media (promoted events); willingness to engage in a debate. o Feedback – the opinions of participants and physical observers and the comments posted by Internet users; the opinions about cultural activity, participation, cultural offer, and cultural needs. Collecting many varied opinions about the event and the accompanying statements in one place makes it possible to analyse a large number of people and has a strong link with the ideas discussed in this text – with participation and the development of civil society. It allows for a broad analysis which can take many different points of view, and is an attractive and unorthodox form of research. New media and the evolving form of participation in culture have led to a shift in the way culture functions. There have been numerous changes in the sphere of providing aesthetic impressions, in the educational component, and in building the relationship and the sense of community between the culture provider and consumer. In response to the growing desire to partake in the creating and commenting of culture, there has appeared an attempt to make consumers take part in the processes of planning, conducting, and evaluating of cultural events - an approach rooted in the idea of civil society. Changes which are occurring around us are very intensive and require fast reactions. Therefore, we must perpetually adapt to new environments in order not to be excluded. The biggest evolution in the 20th century concerned the very understanding of culture and the culture-related domains, e.g. the ones influencing the creation and reception of cultural works (such as cultural industries), and not the ones creating culture directly. The omnipresent culture exists in many areas of our lives which are not typically associated with it, giving rise to new, hybrid forms. What is also changing is the culture consumer – he is increasingly active, he wants to participate and make decisions. He wants to use both traditional and ultra-modern forms. He wants to have fun, but at the same time to deepen his knowledge about his own culture and build his identity. Providing him with the opportunity to participate means catering for his needs. Other vital elements in this world include the ways in which we investigate and analyse them. Just like culture, they are hybrid and try to meet the expectations of those partaking
in the entire process, they try to appeal to them. They focus on a multi-faceted analysis of phenomena and include different approaches, taking a very broad perspective on participatory management and considering it as part of building a development strategy and creating cultural policies at the national level. The final comment could be provided by the words of G. Hagoort from Utrecht University, which appeared in the book published in 1992. They state that the surrounding world is constantly changing and, just like twenty years ago, it still creates persistent problems with the analysis and evaluation of phenomena: Up until recently, the most essential task for those managing culture was to create the fundamental conditions for the creative process. Nowadays, this task is changing and requires a careful observation of the very process of culture management, as well as the further development of the vision concerning culture and policy, which would define a new place for cultural institutions in the constantly changing (world) society. References Burszta W., Fatyga B., Majewski P. i inni, Raport o stanie i zróżnicowaniach kultury miejskiej w Polsce, Warszawa 2009, Raport przygotowany na Kongres Kultury Polskiej w 2009r., opublikowany na stronie WWW. kongreskultury.pl Czy Polacy są kulturalni? Czyli deklarowane uczestnictwo w kulturze a wyobrażenia o człowieku kulturalnym, TNS OBOP, Warszawa 2001, Dz. U. z 1981 r. Nr 24, poz. 123, Ustawa z dnia 25 września 1981 r. o samorządzie załogi przedsiębiorstwa państwowego. Dz. U. z 2006 r. Nr 79, poz. 550,Ustawa z dnia 7 kwietnia 2006 r. o informowaniu pracowników i przeprowadzaniu z nimi konsultacji Dz.U. 1945 nr 8 poz. 36, Dekret z dnia 6 lutego 1945 r. o utworzeniu Rad Zakładowych. Dz.U. 1956 nr 53 poz. 238, Ustawa z dnia 19 listopada 1956 r. o radach robotniczych. Dz.U. 1958 nr 77 poz. 397, Ustawa z dnia 20 grudnia 1958 r. o samorządzie robotniczym. Giddens A. Trzecia droga, Warszawa 1999 Grzelońska U., Rola sektora non profit w polskiej gospodarce, Studia ekonomiczne nr 4 (LXXI) 2011 s. 325-344 G. Hagoort, Przedsiębiorczość w kulturze: wprowadzenie do zagadnień zarządzania w kulturze, Kraków 1997 Hejwosz D., Jakubowski W. (red.), Kultura popularna – tożsamość, edukacja, Poznań 2010 na formularzach SOF, Warszawa GUS 2009 Ilczuk D., Polityka kulturalna w społeczeństwie obywatelskim, Kraków 2002 Piwowarczyk J., Partycypacja w zarządzaniu a motywowanie pracowników , Warszawa 2006 Plebańczyk K., Górski P., Oferta kulturalna Krakowa 2005 w opinii jej odbiorców, Kraków 2006 Przewłocka J., Herbst J., Ile jest w Polsce organizacji i czym się one zajmują? 2011-06-29 wiadomosci.ngo.pl [odczyt: 2012.03.20.] Reeves B., Nass C., Media i ludzie, Warszawa 2000 Sektor non-profit w Polsce. Wybrane wyniki badań statystycznych zrealizowanych przez GUS Siciński A., O idei społeczeństwa obywatelskiego, Wiedza i Życie 6/1996 Tkaczyk P., GRYWALIZACJA. Jak zastosować mechanizmy gier w działaniach marketingowych, 2012