Creating System Transformation Together

In late August and early September I spent a week in Dundee, Scotland, at the Transformations 2017 conference, where a group of 350 dedicated people gathered to think about how best to create a socio-ecological system for the future that can meet the many challenges we face today. Top priorities for systemic change include dealing with climate change and sustainability issues, as well as growing inequality. The goal is to create a flourishing world in the future, where all, including other living beings and ecosystems as well as people, can thrive. The conference was an intense gathering that incorporated art—a folk singer, a sculptor, a poet, among others—as well as numerous discussions of change initiatives at the local, regional, and even national levels, plenary sessions that provided guidance and a framework for thinking about the depth of change that is needed—as well as ways of getting there.

Among key insights that were shared in some of the plenary sessions and working groups were the idea that we all need to work together to create the future that we want, particularly focusing on what gives life to different systems and initiatives. One key to accomplishing such change, which was repeatedly stressed by different speakers, was the need to shift and even transcend current mindsets, a point made by Donella Meadows some years ago.

Meadows argued that such mindset shift is perhaps the most power source of leverage point for change—with transcending the current mindset even more powerful as a lever. Part of the needed mindset change is that we humans, particularly in Western cultures, need to, in a sense, ‘reenchant’ the world by recognizing that we are inherently and inextricably linked to and dependent upon Nature and her many gifts.

This point is particularly important because human impacts on the planet have created a new era that is being called the Anthropocene in recognition of the reality that we humans are affecting the very climate of the Earth. But making such shifts is, as one of the speakers, argued work that requires ‘hard hats.’ It is work for the disciplined and strong-willed, hard work that means collaborating across many boundaries, engaging new ideas, starting new initiatives. Some efforts will succeed and, possibly more often, other fail. Then you have to be willing to pick yourself up and start over if need be. System change means sometimes working from the ground up, sometimes from the top down, and sometimes somewhere starting in the middle of the system. It means working with people who are like you—and whom you like—and people and systems unlike you, and whom you may like less. It means working the stories and narratives that shape our world, shifting policies and practices, changing technologies, and changing our relationships with ourselves, each other, and the planet itself to recognize, respect, and dignify all.

Most critically for many of us, achieving system change means beginning to think in systems, holistically and with an eye for the long-term consequences of actions and decisions on the whole, not just short-term and with an eye towards immediate consequences for me or mine. In one sense, system transformation towards flourishing, wellbeing, and dignity for all, goals that I would articulate in line with another group aiming at transformation called Leading for Wellbeing, means moving from considerations about me towards considerations of the totality of ‘we,’ i.e., all of humanity, and, indeed, all of life’s creations. It also means understanding that transformation itself is a process—and one that is not likely to end once it truly begins.

Thinking about the nature of large system change needed for transformations, we need to recognize that such change necessarily takes place on multiple fronts with multiple different actors, institutions, and initiatives each playing a role. The context is one of what scholars call ‘wickedness’ and complexity, where problems are all interdependent, dynamic, connected, and where it is difficult if not impossible to determine where a problem or issue begins or ends. Further, in such contexts, there are likely to be many different stakeholders—all of whom have different perspectives on the nature of the problem how it might be addressed, and what might resolve it. In that type of context, what is needed? To me it seems that a guiding framework, something that shapes the vision, goals, and even the stories that are told about why change is needed, is what is needed. In our divisive and divided world today, though, what can provide such guidance?

One important framework, widely recognized in much of the world but less so in the United States, is the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the SDGs. These 17 goals, agreed to by all the nations of the world, provide a kind of roadmap towards a flourishing world. They are not perfect, of course, but they do articulate important guides to action that, if achieved, could well accomplish the UN’s overarching vision of ending poverty, protecting the planet, and ensuring prospering for all. The SDGs, for example, aim to end poverty and hunger, assure good health and wellbeing, a quality education, gender equality, clean water and sanitation, affordable and clean energy, and decent work for all. They also emphasize reduced inequalities, industry innovation and infrastructure, sustainable communities, responsible consumption and production, and climate action, with health marine and land life, as well as peace and justice. The last of the SDGs, partnerships for the goals, recognizes the need for collaboration across institutions, political parties, sectors, and communities to achieve the goals.

Working together on a set of goals like the SDGs could help us all to work towards what another speaker at Transformations 2017 called a ‘wow world,’ a world that we all want to live in.