Project

Discipline

reflexive society; interactive knowledge production; theatre; territoriality; silo syndrome; policy mix; place-based policies; public service; performative social sciences; social innovation

Lead
"Territoire" sera une pièce de théâtre co-développée par différents acteurs académiques et non académiques du canton de Neuchâtel. Cette co-création culturelle originale sera le cadre de divers forums et groupes de discussion. Elle donnera également lieu à des enseignements et travaux universitaires spécifiques. Prévue pour novembre 2017, la pièce suscitera une réflexion collective sur la manière de coordonner différentes politiques sectorielles et logiques d'actions cloisonnées ("silos") au sein d'un même territoire.
Lay summary
Le projet "Territoire" s’inscrit dans une initiative de la Maison d’analyse de processus sociaux (MAPS) de l’Université de Neuchâtel intitulée « Théâtre de la connaissance ». Débutée en 2013, cette initiative utilise le théâtre, et plus généralement la culture, pour promouvoir un dialogue innovant entre sciences sociales et société. « Territoire » sera une pièce de théâtre élaborée sur la base de différentes recherches de la MAPS et co-développée avec des acteurs administratifs, politiques, culturels et associatifs du canton de Neuchâtel. Elle traitera du « syndrome du silo » inhérent à des activités et politiques « sectorielles », qui évoluent en parallèle sans réellement se rencontrer. Si ce problème n’est pas nouveau, il revêt aujourd’hui une importance nouvelle : les défis écologiques, économiques et sociaux pour nos sociétés et nos régions nécessitent plus que jamais des réponses collectives  et coordonnées, dépassant ces « silos » d’action. La conception et le montage de cette pièce sera en interaction avec la société. A partir des témoignages d’acteurs publics concernés par la problématique, plusieurs saynètes seront écrites par un dramaturge  professionnel. Elles seront ensuite jouées à un public sélectionné. Sur la base des commentaires ensuite recueillis et d’autres forum de discussion régionaux, une pièce de théâtre sera finalement créée et jouée en novembre 2017. Outre cette création théâtrale originale, le projet « Territoire » associera plus largement les étudiants et d’autres acteurs régionaux à la réflexion à travers des activités d’échange et des ateliers pédagogiques innovants, des débats publics et une production audiovisuelle.

Direct link to Lay Summary

Last update: 05.02.2016

Communication	Title	Media	Place	Year

Number	Title	Start	Funding scheme

Territory builds on a five-year collaborative project conceived by the researchers associated with the Maison d’analyse des processus sociaux (MAPS, University of Neuchâtel) under the title: “Theatres of Knowledge”. Its fourth production, Territory explores new ways in which the social sciences can draw on and contribute to public debate, social innovation and local community belonging, in dialogue with regional, national and global agendas. In Theatre of Knowledge IV, we will work directly with our research subjects to create short skits and an original full-length play about an issue of central importance both to their professional lives and to our research agendas as concerned social scientists. Our long-term objective is to consolidate this experiment in the performative social sciences by establishing a permanent forum where scholars can engage with cultural actors and citizens in processes of scientific/artistic co-creation.The central issue to be tackled in Territory is the well known and much decried problem of “silo syndrome”, the pervasive tendency of employees working within hierarchical administrative systems (both public and private) to fail, even to refuse, to communicate with others working on the same or related tasks, either within a single organization or across sectoral or organizational boundaries. Silo syndrome is a central problem in a number of research projects we are currently directing, limiting possibilities for effective action and creating conflict and dissatisfaction in professional and public life. It is also a key challenge of the 21st century, as the enormous and multifaceted socio-environmental problems that must be solved, locally and globally, require that we invent new ways to work together, across disciplines, hierarchies, and political and territorial boundaries. Finding solutions will require thinking “out-of-the-silo” in original and provocative ways, and for this reason, we have taken silo syndrome as the central object for this collaborative experiment in problematization and theatralization.The research projects we will draw on are intentionally place-based: they all concern the canton of Neuchâtel and its public institutions. Importantly also, our inquiry fits perfectly with the Neuchâtel State Council’s four-year programme for legislative action, as the questions of territorial cohesion and institutional reform are of crucial relevance to this canton. For this reason, no doubt, our initial contacts with key actors at the local and cantonal levels have met with enthusiastic response, and we have garnered an impressive set of letters of support from the State Council itself, from the RUN and from major cultural institutions in the canton.The creative process will take place in three stages. In a first stage, we will work with a professional playwright to draft short, humorous skits based on the concrete problems of communication and cooperation within and across organizations that we are studying. In a second stage, using a focus group format, we will perform these skits for our research subjects, and discuss their reactions, objections and suggestions with them. During this phase, we will also host a series of public events in partnership with cultural centres in the canton of Neuchâtel, during which the wider public can share stories of personal run-ins with silo syndrome. Based on the material gathered during these first two stages, the playwright will write a full-length play translating the issues, interests and stakes that have been brought to light into a form that is both faithful to our research and thoroughly fictionalized. Finally, in a third stage, the play will be performed at different theatres in the canton, with the Centre de culture ABC (La Chaux-de-Fonds) acting as primary host. Sensitive to the privacy rights and professional obligations of the public servants we will work with, we intend this final theatrical production to represent a kind of safe “thinking space”, an event during which serious problems can be addressed in a setting that is simultaneously playful, engaged and respectful. The primary audience for this project is the public servants, politicians, associations and concerned citizens who are directly confronted with the problem of organizational territoriality. Indeed, our objective is that they be more than simple audiences for this theatrical production, but rather that they, or certain key actors at least, participate in its creation. We believe our approach will open up innovative avenues for communication and for applied and fundamental research on issues of central concern to contemporary society (environmental degradation, sustainable economic reform, and the relation between local identities, rootedness and development) and chart new territory for universities interested in reflecting creatively on their role in society.