embedded into the plan for the
convening. The design thinking process mirrors that of collective impact in that it explores a range of solutions (often unanticipated) by bringing together diverse perspectives, and examines the parameters of complex problems through collective problem solving. The design thinking process includes five steps:
• Define the problem;
• Empathize: Study the problem from the perspective of the user;
• Ideate: Generate multiple ideas through brainstorming processes; • Prototype: Develop models of
potential selected solutions;
• Test the prototype and continue to iterate, based on feedback.
Moving through a step-by-step process to understand the problem and the people affected, a team with different perspectives is put together to research, explore, generate ideas and move through the development of a potential solution that can be tested. This process creates space for carefully defining and exploring the problem being addressed, encourages the investigation of a wide range of
alternative solutions, and promotes understanding of the stakeholders for they are designing.
Incorporating design thinking created a frame for a process that promoted in-depth conversations grounded in understanding the perspectives of diverse roles and vantage points. Working across perspectives can provide new insights the needs of a particular context for rural arts education.
Adapted from Stanford University Institute of Design, 2009.
The Berkshire County context
Berkshire County is a 100 square mile region that shares many of the same challenges described in the research findings about rural areas: poverty and lack of economic opportunity, geographic distance, minimal transportation infrastructure, and limited funding for arts education. Lacking a county government, a
regional agency known as Berkshire Regional Planning Commission provides many shared services for towns across the county.
Berkshire County has experienced declining student enrollment, reduced tax revenues, and a commensurate reduction in arts education
programming in the schools. Despite these challenges, Berkshire County is renowned for art, culture, historical character, and natural beauty. Home to a wide range of exemplary arts organizations, including Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, MASS MoCA, Berkshire Theatre Festival, Tanglewood Music Festival, Norman Rockwell Museum, and the Clark Art Institute, to name but a few, Berkshire County draws thousands of visitors each year to its rich artistic offerings. Despite this wealth of cultural offerings, the access young people have to the arts is not mirrored in public educational offerings with the strength
one would expect in an area with such rich cultural assets.
What emerges in this rural context is the need to align resources, organizations, efforts and to define common goals and identify a shared agenda. Eberwein, of MCLA, discusses this idea of alignment:
There’s a little bit of a . . . misalignment between what we’re attempting to do as a county and what we’re actually doing in our schools. One of the core economic strategies in the county right now is to promote arts and culture as a primary feature of our area. In fact, when you talk to people from outside of the Berkshires . . . they’re going to say a couple of things invariably as associated with our region. They’re going to talk about an environmental backdrop that’s green, the view is clear, and [that] we’ve got hills and trails and streams and ski slopes and clean outdoors.. Immediately attached to that is a second thing they talk about—the notion of an arts and culture scene in our county . . . which is often connected to the significant reputation and affiliations of our cultural anchor [or backbone] institutions.
Eberwein points to the need to map the work happening at a regional level by aligning the strengths of the region
with what’s happening in the schools:
If we are building and trying to advance our reputation as a county that is a destination for arts and culture, then we need to significantly promote the arts in our schools as a key feature. . . . It’s one of the expected sets of experiences that all the children, the students, will be guaranteed. This could be promoted in a more intentional and deep manner. Currently, inconsistent strategies arts delivery and messaging exist in a county that is building an economic strategy around arts/culture, while these same goals are not being necessarily fully embraced by our schools. The question then becomes . . . if we’re going to do this as an economic development strategy, how will we support the same activity within our schools? By failing to do so, we are missing an opportunity in a county well known for the arts.
Identified needs in Berkshire County mirror the literature regarding collective impact’s description of the need for a common agenda (see description of collective impact in the introductory section of this paper). The creation of a common agenda, Eberwein notes, can become a mechanism for alignment:
I’ve been in the county for my entire life with the exception of a little time after
college. The thing that I continue to struggle with [in] our county is that we have a lot of really, really good people . . . with good intentions, who are
involved in many really good efforts and initiatives. However, there’s not always as much synergy or alignment between these efforts. What [I’ve seen] tends to happen is organizations are getting more protective over [their] scarce resources. However, that strikes me as precisely the time when we should look to our neighbor and say, “Let’s figure out a way in which we link our arms and move this forward, collectively.” Currently, there are a couple of really exciting efforts within our county that are beginning to break through these competitive silos that I think have existed historically in the county.
Perhaps the most significant focus of leadership in the county today is expanding the economy. Conversations about boosting the Berkshire’s creative economy, expanding the labor force, increasing tourism, and keeping young people in the area all emerged as
themes within this convening, mirroring this regional focus.