15 min read
Build value together.
For people, our surroundings and the work we want to sustain together.
Living together, restoration and learning can strengthen one another. We want to investigate these connections in practice, with local people, researchers, entrepreneurs and public authorities.
A place becomes stronger when people share responsibility for one another and their surroundings. Syntrociety aims to connect independent Labs working towards this. Social value is the purpose; careful observation must show what the practice actually achieves.
The quadruple helix is a way to consider these four roles together. People working on the ground bring experience and questions; researchers can help assess findings; entrepreneurs contribute expertise and implementation; public authorities have their own public responsibilities. The partners page distinguishes existing relationships from cooperation still being sought.
For policy and public administration
Local practice can help investigate how aims for nature restoration, living together and area development work in a specific place. Obstacles deserve attention too.
We want to discuss opportunities and limitations with public authorities. Policy alignment is not a permit. Use, buildings and activities each require their own assessment.
For research and learning
Experience in living together, land management and decision-making can generate research questions. This requires clear methods, sources and agreements with participants.
can help connect practice and documentation. Public documents, internal records and research data have different conditions; we agree what is suitable and available.
For local enterprise
A Lab can work with suppliers, skilled workers and service providers from the surrounding area. This can connect work, knowledge and resources locally.
A healthy economy must sustain care for people and the place. Scale, continuity and financial results depend on the initiative and its agreements; they do not follow automatically from being a Lab.
For people and community
Living together needs room for personal freedom and shared responsibility. Good agreements can help people navigate differences, concerns and shared work.
An initiative can enable encounters and exchange with its surroundings. We also want to investigate who can participate, who is excluded and what burdens arise.
SYFERS brings together a method, a framework and digital tools. People and organisations can record plans, agreements and experiences. Technology helps retrieve information and investigate patterns; reflection and substantive assessment remain human work.
Different tools, one learning process
The parts have different roles and stages of development. Availability and conditions of use must be checked for each one.
syfers.eu
An explanation of the method, framework and tools for cooperation and learning.
syntrociety.org
The federation’s purpose, practice and development, with routes to participation and cooperation.
chart.syfers.eu
Focused on organising and recording shared work and decisions.
lens.syfers.eu
Support for documents, sources, proposals and reflection on recorded information.
RRL platform · rrl.syfers.eu
The RRL platform helps bring plans, observations and evidence together in a project record for land regeneration and responsible habitation.
people.syfers.eu
Support for contacts and relationships; access and use require clear agreements.
SYFERS documentation
Documentation as a foundation for explanation, application and research. Check each document’s version, context and conditions of use.
An example of the learning cycle
This is how it could work: a Lab records a proposal and the objections. Later the group discusses what the chosen approach achieved. A researcher helps investigate patterns and alternative explanations. Another initiative tries an adapted method and shares its experience. This feedback helps the first Lab adjust again.
This illustrates the learning process; it is not an account of measured results or existing publications. A useful lesson needs context: what was tried, under which circumstances and what remains uncertain?
Cooperation also affects the surroundings and those who may later build on the lessons. Below are the aims and possibilities we want to investigate.
The ground itself
Care for soil, water and biodiversity
A Lab can work on soil life, water retention and more space for plants and animals. The approach must fit the place, existing ecological values and the permissions required.
Whether the surroundings actually improve requires a baseline, suitable measurements and observations over time. We also want to recognise unwanted effects. A restoration aim is not proof it has already been achieved.
Further in the ecosystem
To legal thinking
Concrete initiatives can reveal where organisational form, land use and policy meet. Legal conclusions require the competent authority or an expert; a case does not automatically establish a general rule.
Further in the ecosystem
To the public narrative
A clear account shows what people are trying, what they experience and what remains uncertain. The conversation about living together and nature restoration can then draw on practice as well as ideas.
Further in the ecosystem
To future initiatives
Other groups can learn from methods, questions and mistakes. Every new place needs its own investigation and agreements; earlier experience is not a blueprint that works everywhere.
Further in the ecosystem
To international networks
We welcome exchange with other Living Labs and regenerative initiatives. Existing relationships and new opportunities are named and agreed separately.
We seek cooperation with people and organisations who want to support social and ecological value. We discuss openly what you can contribute and what you need. A healthy economy keeps the work possible; spending, progress and uncertainty must be understandable.
Read more about the legal questions in /implementation-gap, about the federation in /about, and about the method and tools in SYFERS.
What could cooperation mean for you? Read from your own role or explore the questions for municipalities and regions.
§ For region and municipality
The administrative depth
Opportunities, conditions and research questions for local shared living, nature restoration and cooperation.
For municipalities and regions → →§ For those looking for their role
From your perspective
For researchers, local people, Labs, entrepreneurs, public administrators and committed funders.
Choose your perspective → →You may have several roles. Begin with the questions relevant to you.