Impacto coletivo : uma abordagem etnográfica a partir da experiência da Zona de Inovação Sustentável de Porto Alegre

Abstract

This paper introduces Collective Impact (CI) concept and framework as a strategic approach of intersectoral collaboration, designed by Kania and Kramer (2011), which has been focused on providing an effective response to isolated and short-term impact to solve complex social issues. Characterized by a long-term commitment made by a group of actors from different sectors around a common agenda to solve a specific social problem, the CI has been widely adopted in several initiatives around the world. Since then, advances and criticisms have been made by several authors about this proposal, including the need to refine the model, considering crucial aspects such as an authentic community engagement. Therefore, the present research aimed to analyze which contributions the experience of community-based collaborative movements can bring to improve the proposal of collective impact. In order to address this issue, a qualitative research was made, using an interpretative approach through ethnographic methodology, at the Sustainable Innovation Zone, in the city of Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil - also known as ZISPOA. During and after the data collection, made through participant observation, documentary analysis and semi-structured interviews, data analysis was carried out, focusing on responding the specific objectives, describing the culture and the modus operandi of this community-based movement, as well as seeking to understand and analyze the perception of their members about the context in which they are inserted and the objectives they aim to achieve, from their own points of view. The main results that emerged from the empirical field regarding the characteristics of this community-based movement were: a) the force to overcome inertia and start the initiative to generate change; b) the ability to attract the attention of important groups of actors from different sectors of society; c) having adequate financial resources is not necessarily a vital precondition to start a CI initiative, but it is key to guarantee its sustaining in the long-term; d) the importance of promoting diversity of leadership profiles; e) the concern to strengthen the interpersonal relationships to guarantee the cohesion between the participants; f) the ability to create effective rules of interaction that lead to adaptive learning; g) the ability to stimulate the change of consciousness. Finally, from a practical point of view, the results obtained from this analysis allowed the elaboration of a set of managerial recommendations that can be applied by several types of social actors in order to improve the effectiveness of their collective impact initiatives.