Curiosity takes courage

We don’t have all the answers and our stakeholders decide whether we’re relevant or not. That’s why FiN in 2020 established a so-called hackatorium as a forum where a group of board members across the different areas meet to discuss how to future-proof the union.

“We must constantly develop our communities to keep them up to date and relevant. We owe that to current as well as future members. But it takes genuine curiosity, will and courage to change,” says Kasper Skovgaard Pedersen. He is a board member of FiN and is heading the hackatorium.

“We often encounter the prejudice that young people today are less community-oriented. That's not true,” says FiN board member Kasper Skovgaard Pedersen.

Young people want community

The hackatorium met with representatives of the Danish Youth Council, the cross-political youth organisation SAGA and Roskilde Festival to discuss how to engage and involve grassroots.

“It’s been really interesting. We often encounter the prejudice that young people today are less community-oriented. That’s not true. But modern communities are less steeped in traditional structures and more fluid. If we as a trade union want young people to perceive us as relevant, we must find the right ways to appeal to them,” says Kasper Skovgaard Pedersen.

The hackatorium has used a very facilitating approach to capture trends and input in the best possible way.

“We must remember why we have two ears and one mouth. Because we need to listen at least twice as much as we speak. It’s not about the answers we give but about the questions we ask and the responses we get.”

We must learn to swim first

There is still some way to go before the work will result in changes in FiN.

“At the moment we’re tinkering with FiN’s engine room. We’re giving its structure a reality check, looking into what makes it strong and where it holds us back. We must learn to swim before we jump into the open sea.”

He says that the most surprising aspect of the process has been how difficult it is to change and to get people to join the journey. On the other hand, he is in no doubt about what has been the most rewarding:

“That’s the very open mandate we’ve been given. We’ve been allowed to think abstract thoughts and reach out to inspiring cooperation partners – also in other unions.