WEBINAR: Network Mindset and Systems Mapping: Promising Approaches for Advancing Collective Impact on Sustainable Consumption and Production
The pre-workshop webinar took place on Monday 30 September 2013. It was recorded and can be viewed here:
http://johnsonfdn.adobeconnect.com/p3gglomfk1s/ (password: mindset)
Moderated by Vanessa Timmer, Executive Director, One Earth
Our workshop at the Johnson Foundation at Wingspread was about gaining a better understanding of a complex issue and amplifying our collective impact on the sustainable consumption and production system. This webinar shared two approaches that have helped others take action on such challenges.
Ruth Rominger shared her experience catalyzing large scale systems change through a network mindset, including with the REAMP Midwest Energy Project.[1] She identified how a network mindset enables participants in a collective movement to activate and incorporate feedback loops and to identify latent and emergent connections among different parts to make a greater whole. She explored the role of coordinated action and decentralized leadership for transformative results.
Joe Hsueh and Linda Booth Sweeney provided an overview of systems mapping as another key approach to advancing collective solutions to complex challenges. A systems approach helped identify relationships among elements in order to build a shared understanding and move from addressing symptoms to creating transformational change. Drawing on their deep experience using systems approaches, Joe and Linda find that taking a wider view and adopting a long-term perspective greatly increases the potential to collectively identify interconnections and breakthrough solutions.
http://johnsonfdn.adobeconnect.com/p3gglomfk1s/ (password: mindset)
Moderated by Vanessa Timmer, Executive Director, One Earth
Our workshop at the Johnson Foundation at Wingspread was about gaining a better understanding of a complex issue and amplifying our collective impact on the sustainable consumption and production system. This webinar shared two approaches that have helped others take action on such challenges.
Ruth Rominger shared her experience catalyzing large scale systems change through a network mindset, including with the REAMP Midwest Energy Project.[1] She identified how a network mindset enables participants in a collective movement to activate and incorporate feedback loops and to identify latent and emergent connections among different parts to make a greater whole. She explored the role of coordinated action and decentralized leadership for transformative results.
Joe Hsueh and Linda Booth Sweeney provided an overview of systems mapping as another key approach to advancing collective solutions to complex challenges. A systems approach helped identify relationships among elements in order to build a shared understanding and move from addressing symptoms to creating transformational change. Drawing on their deep experience using systems approaches, Joe and Linda find that taking a wider view and adopting a long-term perspective greatly increases the potential to collectively identify interconnections and breakthrough solutions.
[1] The RE-AMP Network is focused on reducing regional global warming emissions and connects 160 non-profit organizations (including 14 foundations) across eight states in the basUS’s upper Midwest, and is still growing. It has helped legislators pass energy-efficiency policies in six states, halted the development of 28 new coal plants, created shared resources, developed stronger relationships among its members, and increased funding for its cause.
Ruth Rominger is an organizational designer and strategist with a life-long passion for collaborating to catalyze large-scale social change. She has held positions as co-founder, leader, manager and advisor in the nonprofit sector and educational publishing industry.
Joe Hsueh is a lecturer, consultant and researcher in system dynamics, learning organization and large systems change. He teaches systems thinking at MIT Sloan School’s IDEAS Program and co-founded the Academy for Systemic Change. He uses participatory systems maps to help multi-stakeholder groups see the larger system and identify leverage points for collective impact. Joe’s past projects include sustainable fisheries, toxics reduction and equitable manufacturing in apparel supply chains, and K-12 education reform.
Linda Booth Sweeney is a systems educator, researcher, expert and author of several books including The Systems Thinking Playbook (co-authored with Dennis Meadows) and Connected Wisdom: Living Stories about Living Systems (Chelsea Green, 2009). She supports systemic change, including on complex issues related to childhood obesity and food systems, production and consumption patterns through systems dynamics visualizations, stories and interactive engagement.