SPIRAL methodology applied to collective actors

Territories and Collective Actors are living spaces, in other words, they are spaces (physical and/or institutional) in which citizens (inhabitants, workers, users, etc.) share a part of their lives. Within a co-responsibility approach for the well-being of all, future generations included, the citizens concerned are thus led to think about 1) their life together in this living space during the time they are sharing it and 2) the preservation of this space for humanity (and living beings in general), future generations included. This question is therefore concerning both 1) co-responsibility for the well-being of all in this living space and 2) co-responsibility for the preservation, development and transmission of this living space by developing solutions that make points 1) and 2) compatible.

This issue will arise differently depending on whether it concerns a territory or a collective actor. For the latter, the living space to preserve, develop and transmit is a human and institutional organisation which, from the point of view of the general interest, meet some specific functions (for example, a business meets a production function of some goods or service, a school meets the educational function, etc.). We will talk about “social missions” rather than “functions” because this first term illustrates the fact that they are part of the general objective of co-responsibility (or shared social responsibility) to ensure the well-being of all, future generations included. For instance, a primary school’s mission is to provide education to all children aged 6 to 12 in its municipality, a hospital has to ensure the health of citizens, etc. In the case of collective actors, the question of co-responsibility for the well-being of all arises in terms of compatibility between 1) the well-being of the persons who are sharing a part of their lives (workers, users etc.), we can call it the social mission of the collective actor, and 2) the preservation and development of the collective actor’s ability to respond to fulfil its social mission.

Learn more about the theoretical foundations of the SPIRAL approach within collective actors