Sport as a complex adaptive system for place-based leadership: Comparing five European cities with different administrative and socio-cultural traditions

Abstract

This paper compares place leadership patterns of five European cities that have different administrative and socio-cultural traditions in order to understand the role that context plays in shaping city leadership patterns in the policy domain of sport. This paper uses an exploratory approach to analyse the city as a complex adaptive system. In pursuing this research, we investigate the main actors, structures, processes and followership patterns across different forms of city leadership (political, managerial, business and civic). Our findings show the similarities and the differences across the five cities that lead us to a two-part conclusion. Firstly, context may or may not influence city leadership patterns but it remains an essential parameter in comparative analysis.2 Secondly, the main challenges for place leadership in the policy domain of sport appear generalizable and specifically we observe that civic leadership as praxis can reinforce the transformative nature of place leadership in developing and sustaining socioeconomic resilience.

Place leadership and regional economic development: a framework for cross-regional analysis

“…The objective of this paper is to fill a gap in the literature on place leadership by examining variation in the practices of place leadership across six countries in order to distinguish those features that appear common and those that are context dependent. It makes use of regional economic development issues, and does so in recognition of both the critical role of economics in shaping city and regional futures, and the search by many researchers to understand better the social and institutional dimensions of regional growth (Budd et al, 2017;Rodríguez-Pose, 2013).…”

Introduction to city and regional leadership

“…Context greatly affects the capacity place leaders have to manoeuvre. Based on their study of five European city-regions, Budd et al (2017), in line with other studies, saw context as an essential parameter in the comparative analysis of leadership. In their analysis, the patterns of leadership included a number of common features in spite of the differing contexts, including the roles of political leaders, tensions between political and civic leadership and the intermediary role of managerial leadership.…”

“…In their analysis, the patterns of leadership included a number of common features in spite of the differing contexts, including the roles of political leaders, tensions between political and civic leadership and the intermediary role of managerial leadership. Budd et al concluded that the influence of context on place leadership is contingent; it may or may not influence place leadership patterns (Budd et al 2017). Hidle and Normann (2013) showed how much leadership patterns may differ between two cities in one country, specifically between the two Norwegian cities of Kristiansand and Stavanger.…”

Pomen religioznosti za evropsko identiteto mladih

“…Še danes močno odmevna izjava enega od tako imenovanih ustanovnih očetov Evropske unije, Jeana Monneta: »Če bi moral začeti znova, bi začel s kulturo.« To je vezano na predpostavko, da je ideja Evrope ključ do legitimacije Evropske unije. Ne glede na to, ali je Monnet dejansko izrekel te besede (Mokre 2007), je kultura zavzela pomembno mesto v integracijskih procesih. Politična skupnost, ki je demokratično organizirana, potrebuje suveren demos, neka določena stopnja lojalnosti in pripadnosti politični skupnosti pa je njen prvi pogoj.…”