Jeroen Laven and David O’Connor: “Passion before CoPs” Experiences of Building a Community of Practice. Presentation by Jeroen Laven and David O’Connor of ErasmusPC and Urban Design Ireland to the European New Towns Platform, April 2006. Jeroen Laven and Dave O’Connor attended the ENTP Community of Practice event at the Keizer Culinair, Keizersgracht, Amsterdam on 21st April 2006 with the aim of talking about their “Experiences of Building a Community of Practice”. Laven and O’Connor are involved in the building of two separate but inter-related CoPs: ErasmusPC and Urban Design Ireland (UDI). Both have known each other for some time, since 1991 in fact, when Laven undertook an Erasmus student exchange programme to University College Dublin. There, a group of students from around Europe started an extended social network that has stuck together and expanded over the years as they continued to stay in contact and build new friendships. Even though many of the network now have families, continued visits to Dublin, Rotterdam, Grenoble, Stockholm and other places have held this friendship together. Aside from a general agreement that life is to be enjoyed, the group share an interest in culture, cities, the environment and urban matters in general.
Beermat start in Dublin pub However, it is only recently that the idea of starting a formal network to develop and propogate the ideas that have too often been thrashed out in pubs in Dublin or coffeehouses in Rotterdam, but sometimes left behind (on the beermat???). This inspiration came from Laven who developed the concept of ErasmusPC with some Rotterdam colleagues. Coincidentally, O’Connor was at the time initiating a group in Dublin known as Urban Design Ireland. An opportunity was spotted and Laven was invited to talk about planning and urban development in Rotterdam to the event, which was itself an outstanding success in no small way as a result of the latter. UDI, with its opening conference, a well thought out website and ideas forum and enthusiastic response got off to a terrific start with much promise for the future shown. Continued brainstorming sessions in Rotterdam between an eclectic but energetic group of people: planners, sociologists, urban thinkers, web designers started thrashing out the ErasmusPC concept. A website and network was launched that has
continued to build on its own success and has captured the imagination of the increasing number of people to be involved in the project.
The Irish Celtic Tiger’s boom, 9 new towns being built The recent social and economic history of Ireland sets a good backdrop to the underlying motive behind both initiatives. No western European society has undergone such a radical transformation since the group of friends first congregated at the UCD students union bar. From a standpoint of economic stagnation and consistent emigration in 1991, Ireland now enjoys the highest GDP per capita, the fastest growth rates, highest productivity rate per capita, highest housing output (one in three houses have been constructed in the last ten years), highest rate of inward migration in Europe and an economic model which is the envy of many old-Europe economies and the role model for the ten accession states.
The Central Statistics Office forecasts that by 2036 the island population will exceed 8.2 million, a figure higher than pre-1848 “Great Famine” Ireland. In other words, more people than have ever lived on the island. While this is surely an ecological landmark, the significant difference is that the modern resident population will be an overwhelmingly urban and expectant one; while its poorer, far more dismal antecends were predominantly rural and subsistent. These boom-times are not without their drawbacks. The consumer-borrowing rate is reaching unheard-of proportions, carbon emmissions and traffic levels are running out of control, voluntary activity and community involvement are down while stress-related illnesses are up. The surest conclusion can only be that Ireland is a rapidly changing place, with its culture and identity being transformed before people’s eyes.
Of interest to the ENTP community is the estimated 9 new towns being developed in Dublin currently. An estimated 30% of new homes in these areas will be snapped up by the “new Irish” (the CSO states that 160 languages are now spoken in Ireland, while Balkan government ministers complain loudly about the “brain-drain” to Ireland). O’Connor observes that these places are being developed in a very “ad-hoc” fashion. Some relationship-forming with ENTP can be no bad thing.
The rise of ErasmusPC Ireland, of course, is merely a microcosm of the global experience of societal and urban change, (albeit, surely a real hotspot for the study of such change). But it is this very experience of transformation that fascinates ErasmusPC and its members. What started over a few social drinks in the UCD bar and other hostelries in Dublin (ErasmusPC are always open to the suggestion of a pint in “Hogan’s” or “The Globe” – seriously, we’re not joking about this one) has extended into a network of acquaintances whose collective experience is essentially global. Clearly not a bunch of folks to sit on their hands, their particular response to this process of transformation was the main creative initiative under discussion: ErasmusPC. Laven described ErasmusPC as the emerging “international network for the study of the relationship between cultural and urban development”. An intrinsic element of this network is the diversity of people involved. A cursory glance of regular contributors and drivers of the group reveals planners, filmmakers, social workers, web-designers, writers. Essentially, anyone with an interest in culture and cities; for these two words descibe the essence of ErasmusPC. An essence that is fundamental to the direction of the group, for its parameters are loose and its boundaries flexible. It’s raison d’etre is the creation of a fusion of ideas about cities and human cultural development.
ErasmusPC has achieved a high temperature of momentum after a short period of time. Website hits grow as fast as new contributions are posted and e-bulletins are issued. The list of contributors grows in stature and participation is now drawn from at least 12 coutries and 5 continents. ErasmusPC’s success lies in two areas: the energy of its proponents and the creativity of its ideas. One observer likened it to the Endemol (who created the TVshow Big Brother) of urban development. ErasmusPC reckon that the most succesful of these ideas are the simple ones, and the direct ones. The 8Questions concept evolved after some extended late-night email exchanges across countries but is dramatically succesful. In fact it almost generates its own momentum, thanks to the final question which prompts respondents to nominate a next candidate. But ErasmusPC has also succesfully carried out live interviews, attended related events, provided live links to global urban cultural fora and is rapidly becoming the internet portal for observations on urban cultural development. To ENTP, what are the key ingredients of ErasmusPC’s success? Laven reckons it is accessibillity; so the website is key, but not the be-all and end-all of the group. Active content
is a must. This makes ErasmusPC useful, thereby generating repeat visits and yet more traffic in ideas. By issuing e-bulletins, ErasmusPC has stealthily built on its existing subscriber base.
UDI’s charter It is worth reflecting here on UDI, which started at around the same time but has hit a very different trajectory. UDI formed as a group of people who realised the need for a forum to debate the development of urban places in Ireland, particularly in the midst of the boom, with so much design and development activity taking place. UDI set out to create a defined organisation whose role would be to provide a forum for debate on urban design in Ireland. Like ErasmusPC a website was created with a particular look and feel. The website is hosted, maintained and supported by www.irish-architecture.com, themselves funded by the Irish Arts Council and with links to the Architectural Association of Ireland. Indeed, UDI set out with a long term set of objectives and made a point of meeting and talking to as many representative and design-based bodies in Ireland as possible. UDI feel that establishing a “charter” of its aims was critical to ensuring credibility and long-term success.
Summer of Urbanism During the talk, O’Connor gave reference to a third initiative, that of a group of graduates of planning (of which O’Connor was one himself) who, having finished a course of study and having focused on a number of gap-areas in Irish planning, are looking at ways of continuing the momentum of their very positive group experience outside of the college environment. It was a good example of a possible third creativity initiaitve in its early stages. While this is possibly a “one-to-watch” at this point in time, the synergy and complementarities with ErasmusPC and UDI are striking. One particular initiative, the product of a brainstorming session among some of the graduates pointed to a “Summer of Urbanism”, whereby a whole series of concepts and events involving a diversity of actors and participants would explore the basis for planning in Ireland. Perhaps ambitious, but the good thing about ideas is that they are free and the success of both UDI and ErasmusPC can definitely be attributed to vision, ambition, attendant activity and the primacy of thinking around problems.
Lessons for the ENTP: Successes & Challenges So why were all these networks started? In essence it was a passion for the subject. In particular, a willingness to share and increase knowledge. It was important, at the outset, that there be no commercial focus. In other words, this was a concept that was being developed because it needed to be developed. Ideas for ideas’ sake. A sense of belief being ever-fundamental. Perhaps, most of all, the process had to be fun. Otherwise it was surely doomed to failure. That each initiative is still alive, on a voluntary basis, is testament to both belief and enjoyment. And what made them work (or not work, as the case may be)? The drive of a few key players is the simple and perhaps obvious answer. Within that commitment and energy, a few critical factors exist. Already mentioned, they are worth repeating: simple, clear well thought-out ideas. The experience of Laven and O’Connor is that this comes from the collective bashing of heads together. Our lucky experience is that this can happen just as readily online, over the internet and across national boundaries very succesfully. Witness the 8Q project. Challenges: well, again, at the risk of sounding obvious, time is the greatest factor. UDI, for example, having got off to an outstanding start and faced with almost limitless possibillities, soon hit a barrier when its core team found themselves caught up with a time issue. With all
members involved at a senior level in various development activities, the group is something of a victim of the success of the celtic tiger economy. Further, two key members have already left for Australia. Dave O’Connor reckons that this is something worth reflecting on: while both are moving for personal reasons, has the Celtic Tiger really catered for the lifestyle expectations of the young creative community and are these micro-migrational effects being picked up in the wider census monitoring? Possibly not, based on personal experiences encountered by O’Connor. But, if one lesson can be gleaned from the establishment of these CoPs, it is that any CoP is not going to be a success if it does not have a key number of individuals who both believe in the concept and are willing to make the personal commitment to make it happen. It can only help if they are passionate and believe in the cause. Technical issues also present themselves. The internet can be a powerful platform for sharing ideas if it is used properly. Having access to local resources who could shape and manage the website development quickly and with an understanding of the nature of the project was critical to the rapid growth of ErasmusPC. A mechanism for easy administration allows the main contributors to get stuff up online quickly and easily. Above all, it is vital that the project be an entertaining one, both to its participants and users. The project should also provide something that is useful to people. Therefore the creativity factor can never be ignored. Coming up with new ideas on a regular basis is not an easy thing so if the project can tap into a wide pool of resources it will be more likely to be a success. Again, it takes energy and a few key individuals to dig around for this commitment from the creative talent pool. But it is this very effort that makes the project rewarding. All in ErasmusPC and UDI agree that their participation has led them to new levels of interaction and creative awareness with what is going on in the culture and design worlds. What you put in is what you get out of such a rewarding exercise, it would seem.
About David O’Connor and Jeroen Laven David O’Connor is a Geographer and Planner with an involvement in transport planning and urban design in Ireland. Currently with ILTP Consulting, David is involved in the design of many leading edge area-development schemes in Dublin. David has also made significant extra-curricular contributions to the development of urban design and the development of spatial, cultural and community planning within Ireland. He is a founding and committee member of Urban Design Ireland, an independent group established during 2005 with the aim of fostering debate and discourse on urban design in Ireland: www.udi.ie. David is also joint administrator, and contributor to the ErasmusPC network, a group established to promote the discussion of the influence of culture on the development of cities and regions. The ErasmusPC website is a collaboration between an international group of planners, urban designers, designers and other interested individuals in culture and cities. Specific themes include cinema and the city, planning design and architecture, gurus and thought-leaders in urban and cultural development. David is organising a series of seminars on planning covering new or under-explored research areas in Irish planning, such as Personalised Travel Planning, Cultural Planning, Marine Planning and new methods of assessing Public Open Space. David is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport of Ireland (MCILTI) and a Graduate Member of the Irish Planning Institute. david.oconnor@erasmuspc.com Jeroen Laven (36) works for the Housing and Planning department (dS+V www.dsv.rotterdam.nl) of the city of Rotterdam as an urban policy manager. In autumn 2005 Jeroen founded www.erasmuspc.com with international friends and colleges. ErasmusPC is an international network focused on the influence of culture on the development of cities and regions. We organise meetings, write reviews, interview people. We are a platform for new ideas and discussions. Most of all: we are curious what we can learn from other people. jeroen.laven@erasmuspc.com www.erasmuspc.com www.udi.ie