The learning programme "Working Through Networking" for the Green Agenda of the Province of South Holland is now four months underway. The team spirit of the fourteen officials involved is very good. There is a willingness to work together, to learn from each other, attentiveness and also a sense of fun. Here and there is movement in the network projects in which they operate. I am facilitating this process with Rosa Lucassen, and we work together well.

The learning programme "Working Through Networking" for the Green Agenda of the Province of South Holland is now four months underway. The team spirit of the fourteen officials involved is very good. There is a willingness to work together, to learn from each other, attentiveness and also a sense of fun. Here and there is movement in the network projects in which they operate. I am facilitating this process with Rosa Lucassen, and we work together well.

I love to see this kind of learning curve. The provincial Department of Water and Greenery has selected ten pilot projects for it. It wants to stop being the "cash machine of Malieveld" (where the civic offices are located) to them, and to search for new solutions to public matters in collaboration with the parties involved.

Each one has been assigned a project leader responsible for the contribution of the province. They are assisted by a facilitator, as a sparring partner. The facilitator of one project may be the project leader of another. Apart from mutual coaching sessions, there are periodic "triangle conversations" where the project leader's manager is also present. Everyone has been asked to keep a personal diary of their progress, to make the learning process visible.

After an initial introductory afternoon for the team and managers in March, there was an intense 24 hour workshop in the Hook of Holland on the 22nd and 23rd of April. This was an in-depth introduction to each other, the projects and the FAN network tools. It meant being together from noon 'til noon the next day, with many work sessions, social moments and exceptional catering courtesy of De Historische Keuken. Participants also got time to sleep, of course.

Last week, the first of five "development days" took place in The Hague on the 26th of June. A participant well versed in the Timeline Method from previous practical experience guided the team in making their own timeline, tracing the learning curve so far. The idea is that the project leaders will then apply this method to their projects with external actors in the coming weeks. This can help to focus attention on the process. Participants who might normally be preoccupied with content may gain new insights into the process, which usually encourages them to take greater responsibility towards it.

Attention was also paid to the progress of the projects. The team had often made use of the FAN tools in their coaching sessions, but applying them to real-life practical situations was another thing. "Oops, now it's for real!" as one of them summed it up.

The FAN tools help to clarify and discuss what is happening in a network process. The insights that lead to real change, however, happen on a deeper level. These could be about the ambition to really make something happen, for example, or about the attitude needed to engage at the level of co-creation. This might mean stepping out of power struggles and searching for harmony instead. Or making sure that others take you and your role seriously, or keeping an account of give and take, trying to maintain a balance.

The development days will resume after the summer, every six weeks. There will also be an afternoon in September with the management team of the department. These sorts of questions will be on the agenda:

• What does this way of working make visible, and how?
• How does this network approach compare to others being tried by the province?
• What mandate should be given to collaborators in such projects, and how should adjustments be made if necessary?
• How should the structure be re-arranged to make these projects more likely to thrive?

With just four more of these days to go, this looks set to become one of the most beautiful trajectories that I have yet been able to contribute.