Ecosystems for Systems Change

Intro — Thinking — Canadian Ecosystem — Dialogue and Ideas Jam — #SIecosystem — People+Projects to Follow

At the heart of social innovation is systems change — trying to challenge and, over time, change the defining routines, resource flows, authority flows or beliefs of a system. Our greatest social problems are systemic — they are entrenched, perpetuated by the status quo of power, institutional culture, social expectations, myth and narrative.

To enhance the wellbeing of communities and support people to thrive — to take on our systemic problems — we need to shift the systems holding a problem in place. We need systemic solutions.

“We can’t impose our will on a system. We can listen to what the system tells us, and discover how its properties and our values can work together to bring forth something much better than could ever be produced by our will alone”

― Donella H. Meadows, Dancing With Systems

Why ‘ecosystems’ for systems change?

Ecology has long informed social innovation work.  As one of the most robust ways of thinking about complex systems and system dynamics, ecology offers a powerful framework for considering the conditions of a system, emergence, adapation, and the complexity of intervening in a web of interdependent relationships. It also helps us focus on roots causes — to ask why? so we get to the core conditions entrenching a problem.

It also reminds us that systems change implicates both social and ecological ecosystems.

By talking about fostering  ‘ecosystems for systems change’ — seeding and sustaining the enabling conditions for systems change action — we hope to co-create a conceptual common ground to listen to existing systems, discover their properties, and align emergent opportunities with our values and goals, working in collaboration across multiple points of intervention to grow the conditions for promising social innovations to thrive.

There are many partners in this dance…

Major collaborative and investigative projects are exploring how to craft social innovation ecosystems. What we hope to create with this page is a shared space — bringing together the different voices thinking about, discussing, framing and challenging the opportunities of ‘ecosystems for systems change.’

 This is a living page: we welcome comments, suggestions, input or additional resources as we learn the dance of systems change and slowly grow ecosystems for systems change.

//Thinking//

Reports and Papers on Ecosystems for Systems Change

During the session, patterns of ideas and action emerged among the panel and participants

At the heart of the conversation was a deep reflection on systems change. Of critical concern was why it matters, what are the dangers, and how can we work together to intentionally nourish a supportive ecosystem for social innovations to thrive and, over time, change systems.

This report is about sharing the convergence of invaluable contributions by the panel, participants and festival hosts to this discussion. It is a reflection – a prompt to ignite further discussion.

It is published as a call to react – via twitter, facebook or blogs. Already, so much more has been gained from Adelaide Adade, of Collaborate, in her reaction blog here.

Join the discussion. To take on our systemic problems — we need to shift the systems holding a problem in place. How do we collaborate to create ecosystems that support innovation for systems change?

DOWNLOAD THE REPORT

Connecting fragmented players in a given area of work (weaving networks) to create an organized industry around an issue or challenge. 

So that…The field can operate more effectively & efficiently, tease out best practices, and improve outcomes. Fields and networks are what hold systems together. 

Download the two-pager to share with your community.

The Said School of Business at Oxford University and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) convened a workshop on ‘Keywords: building a language of systems change,’ in association with The Point People.

The workshop and summary report look at keywords as ‘signposts of deep cultural change.’

Is the environment conducive to the generation and spread of social innovations? 

It is this question that provides the focus for this TEPSIE report: Building the Social Innovation Ecosystem in Europe.

The SiG Knowledge Hub Introduction to Systems Thinking: ‘Systems thinking’ is a term used to describe a perspective and a set of methods and tools that make it possible to look at the full extent of a system, rather than at fragments or parts. At its best, systems thinking encourages efforts to address the root causes of big problems.

//Canadian SI Ecosystem//

SiG has created a map to shed light on the broad ecosystem for social innovation in Canada. We have done our best to find and post organizations engaged in this work, especially those organizations that do not always get the kudos they deserve for thinking and acting systemically. If we’ve missed you or we don’t know about you yet, please let us know. We would love to have the very richest map of Canadian social innovation. Tweet @sigeneration or email karen@sigeneration.ca to let us know about you.

Mapping Social Innovation Activity in Canada

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//Dialogue and Ideas Jam//

2015 series on Systems Change

Hamoon Ekhtiari ||  January 22, 2015

 Don’t build a start-up, become a systems entrepreneur

Adelaide Adade (cross-post Collaborate Blog) || January 12, 2015

Systems as people, not structures

 

//#SIecosystem//

How do we collaborate to create ecosystems that support innovation for systems change?

Tweet your views to #SIecosystem w/ @sigeneration @CollaborateIns @SI_exchange

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#SIecosystem Tweets

//Projects+Projects to Follow//