Our First Steps
INSPIRATION: EVIDENCE THAT THIS APPROACH CAN WORK
We are motivated by other initiatives that demonstrate transformational success resulting from taking a systems approach and networking.
RE-AMP Midwest Energy Project – www.reamp.org
For six years, the RE-AMP network—comprising 125 nonprofits and funders across eight states in the U.S.’s upper Midwest—has been focused on just one audacious goal: reducing regional global warming emissions 80 percent (from 2005 levels) by 2050. And it’s working. In just the past few years, the network has helped legislators pass energy efficiency policies in six states; promoted one of the most rigorous cap-and-trade programs in the nation; and halted the development of 28 new coal plants. The network has also built the capacity of regional activists, increased funding for its cause, created a number of shared resources, and developed stronger relationships between funders and nonprofits.
Sustainable Food Lab – www.sustainablefoodlab.org
A consortium of business, non-profit and public organizations working together to accelerate a shift toward sustainable food by incubating partnership projects, sometimes managing those projects, and always collecting and sharing learning.
Urban Sustainability Directors Network – www.usdn.org
Municipal government sustainability professionals from across North America using networking to easily exchange information peer-to-peer, collaborate to advance their practice and create win-win solutions.
For six years, the RE-AMP network—comprising 125 nonprofits and funders across eight states in the U.S.’s upper Midwest—has been focused on just one audacious goal: reducing regional global warming emissions 80 percent (from 2005 levels) by 2050. And it’s working. In just the past few years, the network has helped legislators pass energy efficiency policies in six states; promoted one of the most rigorous cap-and-trade programs in the nation; and halted the development of 28 new coal plants. The network has also built the capacity of regional activists, increased funding for its cause, created a number of shared resources, and developed stronger relationships between funders and nonprofits.
Sustainable Food Lab – www.sustainablefoodlab.org
A consortium of business, non-profit and public organizations working together to accelerate a shift toward sustainable food by incubating partnership projects, sometimes managing those projects, and always collecting and sharing learning.
Urban Sustainability Directors Network – www.usdn.org
Municipal government sustainability professionals from across North America using networking to easily exchange information peer-to-peer, collaborate to advance their practice and create win-win solutions.
MARCH 2011 – SYSTEMS MAPPING EXPERIMENT
This initial workshop in Berkeley, California, included:
- 20 participants from NGOs, funders, business and academia engaged in work to transform systems of production and consumption.
- Guidance of an experienced systems analyst / facilitator
- Initial mapping of the system
Studying the map revealed connections between seemingly disparate issues of toxic chemical use in production, increased work hours, disengagement in civic activities, and design of corporate structure, opening up the possibility of previously unrealized collaborations and synergies. The process introduced systems thinking and the participants confirmed their interest in continuing with this approach. Since this first meeting, we have been engaging stakeholders, securing resources and designing the process.
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“The initial meeting expanded my awareness of biodiversity work and networks, and also made me more thoughtful about how little my work was connected to economic development. In drafting the 2013 Global Chemicals Outlook Report for the United Nations Environment Programme, I paid much more attention to the connection between chemicals and the economy.” |
OCTOBER 2013 – Wingspread Workshop: Accelerating and Amplifying Change
The Convening workshop brought together 40 participants from across sectors. This meeting was part of the evolving process aimed at aligning our efforts in order to create tangible strategic changes in consumption and production systems.
Workshop objectives:
Workshop objectives:
- Experiment with systems mapping – This workshop was an experiment in a new way of interrelating across our diverse areas of work through the approach of systems mapping. The co-creation of the map helped us to identify elements of common vision and develop common understandings of the consumption and production system;
- Build alignment and connections among participants;
- Explore the identification of high leverage intervention points aimed at transforming consumption and production patterns toward sustainability – This could be 2-3 solutions spaces for experimentation with smaller working groups supported by systems approaches in 2014.
AUGUST 2014 - JULY 2015: Systems Thinking and Sustainable Consumption and Production Practicum Pilot
Participants in the October 2013 Convening Workshop expressed great interest in gaining applied systems thinking capacity for sustainable consumption and production changemakers, organizations and networks. From August 2014 - July 2015, we are engaged in a systems thinking pilot practicum that is immediately useful and impact focused, and that supports repeated practice and habits. Linda Booth Sweeney (systems educator, researcher, expert and author) and Vanessa Timmer (Executive Director, One Earth; Cities for People) with Joe Hsueh (Second Muse) and others are leading this practicum. More information can be found here.
Participants in the October 2013 Convening Workshop expressed great interest in gaining applied systems thinking capacity for sustainable consumption and production changemakers, organizations and networks. From August 2014 - July 2015, we are engaged in a systems thinking pilot practicum that is immediately useful and impact focused, and that supports repeated practice and habits. Linda Booth Sweeney (systems educator, researcher, expert and author) and Vanessa Timmer (Executive Director, One Earth; Cities for People) with Joe Hsueh (Second Muse) and others are leading this practicum. More information can be found here.