“As we hurtle towards a human community of 9.7 billion people by the year 2050, coupled with new technologies and the growing challenges of our planet’s carrying capacity, there is more and more discussion of systems and how they change or are created. The post-war era has witnessed an unprecedented growth of global, national and regional systems but systemic challenges like climate change and inequality are undermining the viability and resilience of our 20th century systems.
It’s against this backdrop that a movement is starting to gain traction. A community of practitioners trying to shift incumbent systems no longer fit for purpose and build new ones that work for our current reality.
But this field is nascent and largely unsupported. In this publication we have created two maps designed to shine a light on the work of this group of pioneers. We offer these with the hypothesis that the field will be better able to organize itself if it can see itself more clearly. Our theory of change? A clearer picture leads to greater connectivity, connectivity leads to stronger networks, and accelerates the best initiatives we so badly need if we are to effectively shift systems.”
Excerpt courtesy of Rachel Sinha & Tim Draimin’s Mapping momentum : a snapshot of the emerging field of systems change.
The manifesto that Rachel Sinha and Tim Draimin open the report with, feels like it resonates through the Social Labs community, so we thought we would share this report with you all.
It’s a useful yet quite short report which names some key parts of Systems Change – starting with Roles and moving into Challenges, and ending with reflections. It seeks to build a common mental model for people working in the field, as well as share some insights for people who may be on the fringes.
Get the free PDF download at the SI Generation website.
If you want to dive deeper, we heartily recommend having a read of more of Rachel’s excellent work, such as over at SystemsChangers.com
We also suggest having a read of the recent Forum of the Future post about Systems Change capability, and our own post about Systems Mapping.