Successful Co-Governance: A Journey of Collaboration and Cultural Awareness.

This week we focused on one story of where a co-governance arrangement and formal partnership agreement emerged between a school and its community, what helped it to succeed, as well as what barriers needed to be overcome.  Key partners included the local education provider (school) and the health and medical provider, in collaboration with Traditional owners and Indigenous community members. 

Insights 

The narrative acknowledged the coexistence of parallel systems, including traditional Aboriginal language groups and non-Aboriginal service providers. Amidst dominant structures, the dormant traditional voices within the community were left unheard and untapped. This stark contrast between established systems and untapped cultural roots catalysed a transformative journey

Over decades, power dynamics had become concentrated within the education and health service providers, with the medical centre showing more willingness to share power and governance with the community.  Walk Together at the time, and external intercultural facilitation was used to work with between the dominant entities and the community. 

The speaker's deep engagement with this process comes across as they recount these events. They detail how the transformative journey involved aligning voices, fostering dialogues, and ultimately realising a co-governance structure. The formal partnership agreement became a pivotal tool that encapsulated the negotiated roles and agreements between different parties - "Despite having shared aspirations for community wellbeing, the various entities were operating in silos”. 

The goal was to raise awareness about change that was needed, and that people wanted, without imposing changes from the top - "We started putting voices side by side, creating inquiry around them, and encouraging systems to talk together." 

Key Themes

The question/answers time uncovered some of the enablers and challenges in collaborative problem solving.   Walk Together Intercultural Facilitation and Walk Together tools were a driving mechanism that disrupted decades of deficit status quo outcomes.  It was acknowledged that each Walk Together journey is different, and in this story, some of the following aspects of the change were described below;

Letting Go of Control: An important enabler mentioned was the realisation that relinquishing control was by allowing situations to unfold, without micromanagement and instead, distributing leadership through the partnership allowed respected ways to open and adaptive ways of working to emerge.  

Cultural Traditions in Communication: Embracing cultural traditions emerged as a theme. Respectful questioning, deeply rooted in the participants' indigenous cultural heritage, was instrumental in bringing in two-ways of working together. Other ways of knowing and doing were utilised and this shifted from mono-cultural to multicultural approaches occurring in many different ways within this partnership. 

Collaborative Problem Solving: The transition from merely addressing symptoms to collaborative problem-solving, a formidable endeavour when individuals are accustomed to working in silos, was highlighted as a significant shift. However, this approach, bridging cultures and sectors, allowed for a deeper understanding of complex issues and the development of effective joint strategies

Accountability and Governance: The presence of accountability mechanisms within the partnership's governance structure ensured that actions were aligned with the partnership's goals and values. This layer of authority helped address challenges and conflict arising along the way.  

Elders' Support and Direction: The elders' support and authority served as key drivers for momentum and also cultural direction to the partnership. Their endorsement provided validation and guidance, reinforcing the value of the collaborative approach the entities were engaging in.

Strategic Action Framework: The SAF was praised as an effective tool for facilitating change. "It's so helpful in knowing next steps and aligning objectives and is really useful for leaders driving change because it covers various aspects and objectives as milestones to reach."

Next week we have decided to dive into the Strategic Action Framework to share a glimpse of how it works as the key systemic change framework that works to support groups and organisations to move through change collaboratively and strategically.