werkgroepen at groenlinks utrecht

Werkgroepen, bestuurvergadering GLU 4/10

What follow are loose thinking on werkgroepen binnen the afdeling utrecht. I am starting in the bestuur of the afdeling utrecht as werkgroep coordinator, so here some brainstorming.


Thinking on werkgroepen, ideas

Werkgroepen of groenlinks utrecht are entities that move information in channels: towards the party and towards the street. Both channels should have two-direction traffic. Further, there are two sub channels: inside the party they work or towards the members, or towards the fractie. That is what I see as connections of the werkgroepen with the rest of the world. Is any connection that I am forgetting?

Then, werkgroepen do two things. Or they discuss, or they act. By discussions I think of inhoudelijke agenda points in normal meetings, or heated discussions on bars. By acts I think in giving flyers in the street, or canvassing in a neighborhood. A third option is a mixed activity such as a politiek cafe. It is an action towards the street, because it is open and might get media attention, AND it is a discussion, because it helps to form opinion.

Tracking the werkgroepen, present, short and mid term future.

In my opinion, the bestuur in her role of supporting and organizational entity must be aware of what werkgroepen are meant to do, what they are doing right now, and what they intend to do. The first is pretty much clear, since each werkgroep has a reasonably updated definition at groenlinksutrecht.nl. The third is also more or less clear, since jaarplanen has been asked and compiled from quite some werkgroepen. The second is more vaguely known.

Accordingly, this is my short term priority. In order to track the present of werkgroepen I am busy attending meetings of them this month. At the end of the year/begin of the coming one, I'll ask for jaarplanen again, even if only for the record. This time I'll ask for a evaluation of their previous jaarplan.

My mid-term priority is to set the werkgroepen work, as far as they themselves desire, in digital format. For the end of october I intend to have compiled the wishes of the werkgroepen in this regard. In middle november the bestuur and the internet redaction will be presented with the wishes of the werkgroepen. In february we will be online, inside groenlinksutrecht.nl, or outside.

Future

The whole point of the issues above is to make werkgroepen known beyond their own group of people, and to be able to evaluate their work. A functioning groenlinks must be able not only to set up goals for its institutions, but also to evaluate the road to those goals. Important to notice, any evaluation should not be imposed from above (from the bestuur, for example). Evaluation is important for the werkgroepen in first place, and for the rest of the party in second.

In this sense I intend to organize a broad werkgroepen day, to be hold around february/march. The form of such event will be more clear with further discussion in the bestuur and with the werkgroepen. A forerunner to this werkgroepen-dag should be the second trekkers overleg of 2006, to be done before the end of this year. I would like to hear suggestions of the bestuur about an optimal datum for this.

On a suggestion of Lot (afdeling vz), I am in conversations with Marjan (former fractie vz) about another werkgroep-type possibility. The fractie might be interested in having a group of people organized around a one time event. It might be write a report or organize a day with vluchtelingen. These groups will be something like ad hoc werkgroepen. Needles to say, for this idea to prosper, an updated ledenbestand has to be accessible.