Marco Antonio Pereira Querol

Strategies for the sustainability of expansive learning in a Change Laboratory

Introduction

Strategies for the sustainability of expansive learning in a change laboratory. Discover strategies to sustain expansive learning from Change Laboratory interventions. Learn six practical approaches for long-term impact, empowering participants & interventionists, and engaging decision-makers.

Abstract

The Change Laboratory is an interventionist method that fosters expansive learning by enabling participants to identify contradictions in their collective activity system and collaboratively design new solutions. However, the sustainability of this learning beyond the intervention remains a challenge. This paper discusses strategies to strengthen the continuity of expansive learning processes after the formal closure of Change Laboratory interventions. Drawing on practical experiences, six categories of strategies are presented: (1) empowering interventionists through training and networking; (2) negotiating with strategic decision-makers to secure resources and support; (3) empowering participants with preparatory training; (4) adapting intermediate tools to connect abstract concepts with concrete practices; (5) combining intervention with complementary communication methods such as media, theater, and consultative meetings; and (6) creating parallel learning spaces to support planning and engagement. Together, these strategies aim to consolidate and extend the learning outcomes of Change Laboratory interventions by fostering the participants capacity to maintain the learning process by themselves and to expand it to other social spaces. The systematization of these practices offers guidance for researchers and practitioners seeking to ensure the long-term sustainability of expansive learning in organizational and societal contexts.

Review

The paper, "Strategies for the sustainability of expansive learning in a Change Laboratory," addresses a critical challenge within the well-established Change Laboratory (CL) methodology: ensuring the long-term continuity of expansive learning beyond the formal intervention period. This is a highly relevant issue for both researchers and practitioners, as the true impact of such intensive interventions relies heavily on the sustained application and evolution of the learning achieved. The authors present a timely and practical exploration of how to embed and perpetuate the learning processes initiated by a CL, moving beyond the immediate success of the intervention itself. The core contribution lies in the systematization of six distinct yet interconnected categories of strategies designed to strengthen post-intervention learning. These strategies adopt a comprehensive approach, targeting various facets of the activity system: empowering interventionists and participants through training, engaging strategic decision-makers for support, adapting tools to bridge theory and practice, integrating complementary communication methods, and creating parallel learning spaces. This multi-pronged framework effectively aims to shift the locus of control for learning from the external interventionist to the participants themselves, enabling them to "maintain the learning process by themselves and to expand it to other social spaces." The detailed breakdown offers concrete avenues for action, providing actionable guidance for those implementing or researching CL interventions. A significant strength of this paper is its practical orientation and the explicit goal of offering guidance. By drawing on "practical experiences," the work moves beyond theoretical discussion to provide a grounded framework for enhancing the impact of expansive learning. While the abstract alludes to these strategies being derived from practice, future work could further elaborate on the empirical basis and evidence supporting the efficacy of these categories. Nevertheless, the systematization of these practices is invaluable, offering a robust starting point for researchers to design more sustainable interventions and for practitioners to strategically plan for post-intervention engagement. This paper significantly contributes to the methodological robustness of Change Laboratory interventions and the broader field of organizational learning and development.

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