Transformation in Engagement and Engagement undergoing Transformation

Engagement is systemically relevant, promotes social cohesion and thus democracy. Engagement changes as the world changes - digitalisation, global challenges and the post-growth society will continue to shape the engagement landscape in the future. New forms of engagement can already be identified. We have taken a closer look at this change and described it in an impulse paper. The special feature: We take a holistic perspective and, in addition to much-discussed structures and processes, look above all at cultural aspects and the attitude with which those involved look at the world.

How can we think holistically about engagement? And how can we understand the change in engagement more profoundly in order to make it shapeable? Using an ethnographic approach, we approached these questions with engaged people from different organisations who told us about their real lives in various interviews. We based the statements collected on the four-quadrant model (based on Ken Wilber). The model reveals various dimensions that make it possible to classify and map the interdependencies between the individual (the committed) and the collective (the organisation/community/society), between the inner experience and what takes place on the outside. It quickly becomes clear that several factors play a role in these complex interactions: One’s own psyche and attitude, culture and communication, behaviour and skills and also structures and processes. Change on the outside always means change on the inside – and vice versa.
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