Students’ research. Why is it (Im)Possible to Understand Each Other? The Role of Boundary Spanners in Lithuanian Regional Youth Politics

Project idea

While there is a consensus in the academic literature that collaborative governance helps to solve complex problems by harnessing the expertise of various stakeholders, it is observed that this practice is hampered by the abilities, values and objectives of actors representing different institutions or even sectors. In recent decades, the active involvement of boundary spanners in collaborative processes is increasingly seen as a solution to this problem. Boundary spanners are individuals who actively monitor the organisation's environment, take action to cross organisational or institutional boundaries, create and mediate information flows, coordinate the actions of the organisation they represent and its environment, as well as connect processes and actors across these boundaries. However, it is observed that these actors may face challenges and internal difficulties in coordinating the interests of different stakeholder groups. At the same time, their strategies are not sufficiently explored. Against this backdrop, the study aims to investigate how boundary spanners coordinate the interests of different stakeholder groups in collaborative processes. The research focuses on the boundary-spanning activities of coordinators of youth affairs in Lithuanian municipalities: actors with knowledge of the capacities, resources and needs of both young people and municipal authorities have the greatest potential to bring these groups together for joint decision-making. The research objective will be achieved through semi-structured interviews with youth coordinators in different municipalities. The expected outcome of the research is a code tree and a summary of the results of analysis on how boundary spanners see their role in collaborative processes, under which circumstances or issues their action becomes relevant, which operational strategies help ensure a smooth collaborative process, and which of these strategies have (not) worked well in practice.