Turning Round the House: Empowering Inclusive and Collaborative Decision-Making
Turning Round the House -Empowering Inclusive and Collaborative Decision-Making
Effective decision-making begins by ensuring that every voice is heard. Turning Round the House is a playful open-access toolkit that provides a practical solution for organisations to retrieve and address their own infrastructural needs.
Why Turning Round the House?
This toolkit was born from an in-house challenge. Faced with a lack of research and publication infrastructure that no longer met the needs of researchers, lecturers, students, alumni, and partners of the Netherlands Film Academy, we developed a decision-making method that eventually led to the creation of the Research Atlas, an online archive. As the method helped us reach our goal, it inspired its own practice-based research project to figure out a way of making it accessible to others.
The Research ProcessThe follow-up research became a collaboration between several Amsterdam University of the Arts’ Research Departments – at the Film Academy, the Academy for Theatre and Dance and DAS Graduate School, originally entitled From Storing to Sharing. The researchers reviewed, refined, and tested the methodology with various programmes and groups within the Academy for Theatre and Dance. Their findings and experiences have been consolidated into a playful online toolkit for inclusive decision-making: Turning Round the House.
How does it work?
The toolkit empowers organisations to build inclusive ecosystems that give agency to everyone involved in their daily operations. By involving all concerned groups, it ensures that every voice is heard equally through prioritising inclusive decision-making. This approach fosters democratic and inclusive organisations, allowing for dialogue and collaboration to take centre stage.
Turning Round the House helps to identify shared priorities, enabling concrete, actionable and widely supported decisions to be made. This methodology not only offers flexibility and clarity to its organisers but also provides a unique opportunity to uncover underlying needs and foster understanding across the whole organisation.
What is it?
The process consists of three interactive sessions complemented by preparatory steps, and a full set of printable materials, and digital aids, all supported by a visually engaging and intuitive design. The goal is to move from brainstorming sessions to actionable decisions that reflect the needs of all participants. Through a game-like collaborative script, it provides a structured yet adaptable process, making it suitable for organisations with unique characteristics. All you need is a moderator, engaged participants and a welcoming space. The rest is provided.
Key Features
- Broad applicability: Suitable for any organisation seeking to balance diverse needs and perspectives in decision-making.
- Inclusive and egalitarian: Every voice carries equal weight.
- Practical and action-oriented: Goes beyond discussion to deliver actionable solutions.
- Interactive: Using a wide range of supporting materials and visual aids, it encourages active involvement of all participants.
- Flexible and open access: Freely available, customisable to specific needs, and widely accessible.
- Transparent and collaborative: Encourages dialogue and mutual understanding within any organisation.
Who Is It For?
Turning Round the House is designed for educational institutions, organisations within the creative sector, government bodies, and businesses. No matter the challenge, this toolkit provides a starting point for improving decision-making processes and fostering collaboration. Above all, it is a free and open-access tool which can be tailored to meet the specific needs of each organisation.
Turning Round the House
a manual for the collective re-design of artistic research infrastructures
Printable Assets
Session 1
- Category Cards
- Collective Ideas Map
- Ideas Map
- User Stories Sheets
Session 2
- Concept Scales
- User Stories Category Scales
- User Stories Category Sheets
- User Stories Sheets
Session 3
- Spreadsheet
- Year
2024