Synergy is committed to building organisations that are participatory, accountable, effective and capable of sustaining long-term social change.
Our organisational philosophy starts from a simple recognition: movements for change need both participation and competence. They need open pathways for people to become involved, contribute ideas, build confidence and share responsibility. But they also need clear leadership, professional standards, defined roles, financial accountability, safeguarding, legal compliance and the ability to make decisions without becoming paralysed.
For that reason, Synergy does not adopt either a purely horizontal or a purely vertical model of organisation. Instead, we favour a diagonal approach: one that combines democratic participation with delegated responsibility, transparent leadership and clear accountability.
Horizontalism and Participation
Many social movements have been shaped by horizontalist traditions: participatory, egalitarian approaches in which decisions are made collectively and people are encouraged to become active rather than passive supporters.
There is much to value in this approach. People are more likely to contribute their time, creativity and commitment when they feel that they have a voice. Horizontal structures can also be more accessible, less bureaucratic and more responsive than large professional organisations that treat supporters mainly as donors, subscribers or recipients of information.
Synergy shares these concerns. We do not believe that members of a community should be reduced to passive consumers of services or spectators of change. The Synergy model is built around participation: members, fellows, artists, activists, students, volunteers, practitioners and partner organisations should all have meaningful routes through which they can contribute to the life and direction of the Centres.
The Limits of Pure Horizontalism
At the same time, purely horizontal or structureless forms of organisation can create serious problems.
When roles are unclear and decision-making processes are informal, hidden hierarchies often emerge. Charismatic individuals, friendship networks or informal insiders may begin to exercise power without clear accountability. Newcomers may struggle to understand how decisions are really made. Movements can become cliquey, opaque and difficult to join.
Pure consensus models can also become ineffective, especially as organisations grow. The requirement for everyone to agree can allow one person to block necessary action, regardless of their knowledge, experience or level of contribution. This can be demoralising for those carrying the greatest responsibility and can prevent organisations from acting with the speed and clarity required.
Movements that rely too heavily on unpaid labour also risk burnout. Talented activists, organisers and community leaders may give huge amounts of time because they believe in the cause, but they still need housing, food, transport, rest, recognition and livelihood. A serious movement must find ways to support the people doing the work, otherwise it will lose capacity, continuity and institutional memory.
The Limits of Vertical Organisation
Purely vertical organisations create different problems. Large bureaucratic institutions can become distant from the communities they claim to serve. Decision-making may become concentrated in the hands of professional managers, funders, trustees or senior staff, while members and beneficiaries are left with little real influence.
This can produce efficiency, but at the cost of democratic energy, creativity and ownership. Organisations can become risk-averse, expensive, hierarchical and disconnected from the people whose participation gives the work meaning.
Synergy therefore seeks to avoid both extremes: the paralysis and opacity that can arise from structurelessness, and the alienation and passivity that can arise from top-down bureaucracy.
Diagonal Governance
Synergy’s preferred model is diagonal governance.
Diagonal governance recognises that different decisions require different levels of participation, expertise and responsibility. Some decisions should be opened widely to members, fellows, partners and community participants. Others need to be made by people with specific technical knowledge, legal responsibility, professional experience or operational accountability.
The principle is not that every person should have an equal say in every decision. The principle is that power should be transparent, accountable and exercised at the appropriate level.
This is closely related to the idea of subsidiarity: decisions should be made at the lowest and most participatory level at which they can be made effectively. Where broad participation strengthens legitimacy, learning and ownership, decisions should be opened up. Where specialist expertise or legal responsibility is required, authority should be delegated clearly to those competent and accountable to act.
Leadership as Stewardship
Synergy understands leadership as stewardship rather than domination.
Leaders are needed. They hold vision, continuity, responsibility and institutional memory. They make difficult decisions, manage risk, coordinate resources, support teams, build partnerships and carry the burden of delivery. But leadership should not become personal ownership of a movement or organisation.
In the Synergy model, leadership must be transparent, accountable and renewable. Leaders should be supported and rewarded where their work is substantial, but they must also be subject to scrutiny, governance, community feedback and clear ethical standards.
Good leadership creates more participation, not less. It builds structures through which others can grow into responsibility, develop confidence and eventually take on leadership themselves.
Professional Competence and Community Participation
Synergy Centres are complex organisations. They involve venue management, finance, safeguarding, licensing, hospitality, programming, education, community development, partnerships, communications, legal compliance and property responsibilities.
These functions cannot be managed effectively through enthusiasm alone. Professional competence is essential.
At the same time, professionalisation must not become exclusion. The purpose of the Centre is not simply to create another managed institution, but to create a living community in which people can contribute, learn, organise, volunteer, train, collaborate, trade, create and lead.
The challenge is therefore to combine professional standards with participatory culture. Synergy seeks to do this through clear roles, transparent governance, fellowship pathways, membership structures, volunteer opportunities, community forums and regular mechanisms for feedback and review.
Accountability and Institutional Integrity
The long-term credibility of Synergy depends on institutional integrity.
This requires clear governance structures, transparent financial management, conflict-of-interest safeguards, safeguarding procedures, ethical leadership standards, regular review, and accessible routes through which members, fellows, staff, volunteers and partners can raise concerns.
It also requires mission protection. The Centres are intended to serve social, cultural, ecological and community purposes. Their governance must therefore prevent mission drift, private extraction, opaque decision-making and the capture of community infrastructure by narrow interests.
Accountability is not a bureaucratic burden. It is the condition that allows trust to grow.
A Living Model
Synergy’s organisational philosophy is therefore neither purely horizontal nor conventionally vertical. It is participatory but not structureless. It values leadership but rejects unaccountable hierarchy. It supports professional competence but does not reduce people to passive service users. It seeks democratic energy without organisational chaos, and operational discipline without bureaucratic deadness.
The aim is to build institutions that are alive, ethical, competent and participatory: organisations capable of sustaining people, projects, values and communities over time.
In this sense, Synergy’s organisational philosophy is part of its wider theory of change. If we want to create more cooperative, ecological and humane ways of living, our organisations must begin to practise those values internally. Governance is not separate from the mission. It is one of the places where the mission becomes real.