It's been more than 5 months since i got on the plane and left Greece (and my loved ones) to come to the Netherlands and participate in the Industrial Ecology master program. It was only natural that this would alter my life, especially the every day activities, almost completely.
I have to say, some years have gone by and i do not consider myself the party animal i was during my bachelor studies, and a good thing that is; trust me. So, it's only natural that the locations where i spent most of my time, can be used as a proxy to identify the (tangible) social networks i am part of. All that was just fancy words, basically saying that the two of the main social networks i am a part of derive from the amazing group of students i was lucky enough to meet in my first year here and by the complex, fragrant, loud and mysterious crowd of residents and friends in my block of a building.
Before i start analyzing these two systems according to their structure, relationships and mechanisms of coordination, i would have to point out that these do not represent organizations or firms. They contain people and as such, people can be spontaneous, they can change preferences and actions towards others easily, and finally these networks can lack a straightforward coordination and structure. Nevertheless, i will do my best in describing them.
Let's begin from the wonderful, soon to be, 2012 Industrial Ecology alumni. I honestly did not know what i would find coming here, i was mainly excited to meet people from all over the world. But what i did find was beyond my expectations, as these group of people have become partners in this new effort of ours and good friends.
These network started out as a group of dots, spread across the classroom, not yet connected, but to the single dot that represented (faintly for me) Industrial Ecology. Even that connection was not so well defined i guess at the start. As time passed, we started knowing about each other, talking about our lives, experiences and sharing views and opinions about things we learned, loved, or hated.
Soon enough, we started having fun too, as the small number of our group and our enthusiasm helped us to do some wicked (i might say) dinner parties and some good nights out. So that collection of single dots became, quite fast, a network where no actor (thats us) had more power than the other. No specific dependencies (if u exclude the very small smokers club and their need for lighters) can be identified. What i can identify though is that this increased interaction, this creation of trust and sharing of information, led to the creation of a network of people, which can be a future social capital for its members and others, for along time to come.
This polycentricity of our network (equal dots on equal distances) gave birth to some not so usual coordinative mechanisms. Instead of asymmetric dependencies or power and personal gain, other variables like trust, common goals, friendship created an equitable network of knowledge and collaboration, The dynamic of this network is reflected not only on the informality of these relationships but also on their strength, which reflects its embeddedness on our everyday lives.
Finally, i would like to point that the blurry dot of Industrial Ecology, when came into focus, transformed to another network (of teachers, second year students, people working in Delft or Leiden universities) which are invaluable to our efforts and to the process i just described. They gave us the safe haven, the knowledge, expertise and the push towards the right (and fascinating) direction.
The second social network, is the one formed by all the tenants and caretakers of our fabulous (not) housing arrangements. It is a big, square building, housing about 200 (speculating) souls and since most are students, people from all over the world. This social network is harder to analyze, since the interactions are not always straightforward. can be argued.
Thick walls and doors but mostly responsibilities and routines, separate the tenants. After 5 months in this building i've come to meet some wonderful people and make some good friends. In many ways this network is similar to the previous one, since the relations aren't determined by power or gain (well sometimes we do only knock for coffee or smokes) but mostly about informal relationships. Difference is that the creating of trust is a lot harder when your interpersonal relations are limited to some beer and dinner parties.
The coordinative mechanisms aren't entirely clear once more. I mean there are spatial characteristics of the network, that determine the strength the relationships (floor u live in, apartments close to you) but also cultural (common language or origins) and finally external characteristics specific to everyone (responsibilities outside the network).
Coming from Greece, where we value highly the existence of a house, a personal space you can fit to your needs and imagination, or sometimes a place to built walls and keep everyone else out, i find living in a place like this refreshing. The opportunities it provides, through the social network you engage when being a tenant, very much outweigh whatever negative things i can mention about it.
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