Recap of breakout-session Exploring Others’ ‘Knowledge Home’: Understanding Social Impact Differently
During the session on Social Impact, the concept was explored from a variety of perspectives, in an attempt to move away from ‘impact’ as a buzzword. The session was hosted by the communities Transforming Cities and Sustainability Education and Engagement. Discussions revolved around what social impact means, how it is created, and how we might approach it more thoughtfully and inclusively. Social impact means something else for different disciplines and roles. The session consisted of several talks with speakers of different backgrounds, with in between time for dialogues in smaller groups.
Stories from the field
Several speakers contributed insights from their own fields, starting with Arjan van Dorsselaer, who highlighted the role of social entrepreneurship in fostering innovation and value creation for communities. His framework for civic wealth creation emphasized a holistic approach, balancing social, communal, and economic wealth while engaging multiple stakeholders with clear intentionality.
Secondly, Jelle Boeve de Pauw, one of the core members of the Sustainability Education and Engagement community, spoke about social impact in education. He shared his own development/shift from the natural sciences (biology) to the social sciences, as he realized that for a change in how we relate to and impact nature, more tools for social change are needed. He argued that it is about people and their choices and skills and capacities perhaps even more than about content or technical expertise. Jelle advocated for team-based approaches, such as pedagogical coaching for school teams, to build capacity and ownership over their education/teaching methods and contents.
The practitioner perspective was given by Floris Zevenbergen who shared his experience with Chale Spirulina, his own start-up company that he recently founded in Ghana. He presented spirulina as the food of the future and emphasized the importance of intimate collaboration with the local people in Ghana.
After the first round of discussions, Jonas Torrens gave a short presentation on the Transdisciplinary Field Guide, comparing the process of social impact to the life cycle of a fungus: from encounters, to engagements, to collaborations. Hereby Jonas stresses that we need to move away from the fixation on results or what he called ‘projectification’.
Furthermore, Ozan Alakavuklar spoke about his own masters program ‘Organising Social Impact’, which focuses on integrating theory (critical knowledge), practice (teaching, community engaged learning) and social impact through collaboration.
Lastly, Joost Vervoort transformed from host into the last perspective giver and explored the emotional dimension of social impact, asking, ‘Why does it matter to feel something in our bodies for social change?’ He demonstrated the new framework for both artists and academics to position their work within the broader context of social change, demonstrating how creativity can inspire new connections and foster care and collective action. (See the 9 dimensions tool).
Discussing Social Impact
During the dialogues in smaller groups, the challenges of co-creating social impact were also addressed. Participants stressed the need to start conversations that genuinely empower stakeholders while avoiding those seemingly ‘designed’ or intended to delay the process of change, such as discussions that overemphasize the downsides of wind energy while ignoring its overall benefits. Another key message from participants concerned the importance of a bottom-up approach, with academia playing a mediating role by bridging the needs of communities and policymakers. It was stressed that relationships between stakeholders should be seen as investments, not as costs, and that space must be created for ongoing dialogues and processes, instead of short projects. Finally, one group called for more intentionality and selectivity in partnerships, challenging the assumption that industries like fossil fuels or artificial intelligence should always be included in impact projects. Participants were rethinking some key assumptions that may underlie some projects, the necessity of certain practices, such as the amounts of energy we use in light of the energy transition.
Cocreate, involve people in the entire process
One thing that stood out during the dialogues was the notion that impact may manifest in small, intangible forms, such as everyday conversations, which participants argued should also be recognized and valued as impactful. Moreover, one group noted that impact does not always have to be positive; actions can also harm or have unintended negative consequences. Additionally, social impact is often associated with change, but it can also involve preserving what exists, such as safeguarding reproductive rights. A recurring theme was the process-oriented nature of social impact: true change is achieved by co-creating solutions with stakeholders rather than imposing outcomes. “Cocreate, involve them in the entire process,” one participant said, highlighting the value of collaboration. The discussions also touched on the enduring aspects of impact-making. One participant mentioned the Taoist principle of “be like water,” as imperative for impact-makers, which emphasizes that the impacts (hopefully) extend far beyond the time that they are directly involved.
A key takeaway of the session is that social impact is often framed in terms of measurable outcomes, but participants emphasized the importance of moving beyond quantitative approaches. This exploration of social impact revealed that it is not a singular or static concept. It is a deeply relational and non-linear process that demands awareness of power dynamics, openness to new perspectives, and a willingness to embrace that perhaps the impact we make is not always to be noticed and measured. By focusing on co-creation, intentionality, and meaningful collaboration, we can reimagine what social impact can be and how it can create lasting, transformative change.
The organizing team of this session is: Ozan Alakavuklar, Arjan van Dorsselaer, Helen Toxopeus, Shirley Jin, Tom Gerritsen, Jelle de Boeve-Pauw, Geertje Speelman en Jonas Torrens.