The Danish welfare system has a long tradition of collaboration between three sectors: the state, the private sector, and civil society. These arenas are traditionally united in their efforts to assume broad social responsibility in various ways (Hulgaard, Juul-Olsen & Nielsen, 2016). In recent decades, it has become increasingly clear that new approaches to developing social innovative actions and collaborations are crucial for addressing complex, so-called wicked problems (Torfing, 2012). Social innovative actions are understood as catalysts for change, shaping and enhancing the democratic voice of those involved (Mouleart & MacCallum, 2019).

Often, the solution involves establishing various co-creation processes initiated by the state, aiming to develop new ways of solving issues such as staff shortages in welfare institutions (schools, kindergartens, and nursing homes) or the growing number of young people disengaged from education or employment. But what happens when the initiative comes from a private company, such as a football club?

This project explores - and this presentation covers the unique impact of football communities on their local societies, specifically focusing on the Danish football club, Randers FC. Overall we aim to understand how partnerships between private, civil, and public actors function, and whether these actors can coexist with a dual focus on social and economic value creation.

Through ethnographic fieldwork conducted in and around Randers FC, this project explores the social and recreational pedagogical interventions these clubs perform alongside their professional football operations. Preliminary studies (Dybdahl & Frostholm, 2024) indicate that these clubs use social and recreational pedagogical interventions as part of their CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) strategies, a social strategy of which many professional companies strive to have. We also know that these private football enterprises employ pedagogical intervention forms that vary widely in expression, organization, and practice.

Specifically, we explore how and whay Randers FC, as a private company, takes on certain pedagogical tasks from Randers Municipality, a public entity, such as job centre initiatives. This includes reaching out to young people who are not engaged in employment or education, addressing gaps that the job center's methods do not seem to cover.

Therefore, this project furthermore explores the educational, formative, socialisation, and subjectification processes within the framework and practices of football clubs, and how these contribute to the clubs' societal social value creation. That resolvrs into the following research question: How do traces of social and recreational pedagogical intervention forms appear in private football organizations' Corporate Social Responsibility work, and what significance do these have for the clubs' social and societal anchoring in local communities?

This presentation highlights empirical fieldwork done by following Dennis, a Danish social worker, who as a part of his job takes a young man for a weekly 30-minute walk from the young person's house in a middle-class neighborhood around the local cemetery. The pedagogical premise is the walk itself and the relationship they develop during this time. Other examples from the worklife of Dennis cover taking a young woman to the dentist in order for her to get her teeth done:

"I am here to provide direct support to the young people and to establish a safety net for them. I consider myself to be a pedagogical worker available 24 hours a day!"

Overall, the project will contribute valuable knowledge that can be applied across different sectors to promote social inclusion, education, and sustainable community development. This will benefit not only those directly involved in the football clubs but also broader societal interests. The new knowledge gained will be crucial for understanding and improving the mechanisms behind socialization and education in alternative arenas such as professional football clubs.

This project has clear phenomenological and explorative foundations for its research methodology. According to phenomenology, one should never assume to know what another person feels, thinks, or wants. "We need to ask and listen carefully, which means temporarily setting aside the assumptions, theories, and reflections we usually have about the subject" (Jacobsen, Tanggaard & Brinkmann, 2015: 218). Phenomenology has acted as a scientific and philosophical inspiration for anthropology (Atkinson & Hammersley, 2007: 2). "The primary aim should be to describe what happens, how the people involved see and talk about their own actions and those of others, the context in which the action takes place, and what follows from it" (Hammersley & Atkinson, 2007: 7). We aim to explore the conditions, circumstances, and contexts within which social workers and young people in Randers engage in recreational and social pedagogical efforts under the auspices of a professional football organization. To this end, we employ classic ethnographic methods such as participant observation and semi-structured interviews, as well as field walks and walking interviews. The fieldwork involves being guided through selected areas in the city by local social workers. Walking interviews capture participants' experiences and perspectives in real-time, while field walks allow us to observe and interact with the physical and social environment more nuancedly. By using these methods, we seek to understand the complex social dynamics and the various forms of community that exist in Randers. Evans and Jones (2011) note that walking interviews generate more site-specific data than sedentary interviews, providing access to people's attitudes and knowledge about their surroundings. Jones et al. (2008) highlight that mobile interview techniques can move the interview process out of the "safe" interview room, allowing the environment and the walk itself to lead to productive and sometimes unexpected data collection. In our experience, the dynamics of the walk ensured this, and in the loose structure of the sessions, we drew inspiration from what Jones et al. (2008) describe as the go-along technique, as opposed to walk-and-talks with predetermined routes. "When conducting go-alongs, fieldworkers accompany informants on their ‘natural’ outings, and – through asking questions, listening and observing – actively explore their subjects’ stream of experiences and practices as they move through, and interact with, their physical and social environment. A hybrid between participant observation and interviewing, go-alongs carry advantages when it comes to exploring the role of place in everyday lived experience" (Kusenbach, 2003, p.463).

This project contributes new knowledge about pedagogical interventions with young people, occurring in the intersection between private, public, and civil actors. It expands our understanding of how these interventions are influenced by and adapted to diverse cultural and organisational contexts. Additionally, the project provides insights into the societal role of local football clubs and their unique impact on local cultures, value and norm communities. It explores how these entities foster collective identity, belonging, and connection among young people and their communities. Our experiences show that pedagogy, when practiced in the spaces between private, public, and civil actors, such as within a football club, takes on various forms and purposes. In the Coorporate Social Responsibility work of football clubs, we find how initiating pedagogical interventions for groups of vulnerable youth can be interpreted both as a strategic move to highlight a private actor's social responsibility and as a heartfelt pedagogy, characterized by an almost activist normative understanding and phenomenological inquiry, as seen in our field data from the Danish football club Randers FC. Coorpotate Social Responsibility work thus evolves from a calculated strategy at the management level to a heartfelt pedagogy through relational work, presence, and accessibility. This makes pedagogy in the intersections between private companies, public institutions, and civil society a task of organizing pedagogical and social interventions as intuitive encounters in a complex world. Consequently, the pedagogical interventions and processes examined in this project cannot be formalised as a method but exist as emergent phenomena that arise when the need for action occurs. For example, Randers FC's CSR office, as a private actor, takes on tasks for the local job center, a public actor, by reaching out to young people who are not engaged in employment or education, addressing gaps that the job center's methods do not cover.

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