We are an open, welcoming and evolving group led by One Earth, The Story of Stuff Project, The Sustainability Funders, the Lowell Center for Sustainable Production at the University of Massachusetts – Lowell, and Clean Production Action. We are active across the entire spectrum from extraction through to production, consumption and waste. Our activities span issues such as industrial ecology, wellbeing, toxics, and sustainable lifestyles. We have been working on these issues for many years and are enthusiastic about taking our efforts and collaboration to the next level of impact.
The Issue
Our individual successes are not getting to the scale and pace of change necessary. We are stressing the Earth’s ability to sustain life. We see evidence of this everywhere—from climate change, deforestation, overfishing, and pollution to soil degradation, bulging landfills, and expanding poverty. Toxic chemicals have permeated our environment and bodies. Inequity is increasing so that some people are burdened by too much stuff while others do not have enough for even basic survival.
We believe our progress is hampered by an approach that is often single-issue, fragmented, incremental, and narrow. We are coming together to collaborate and accelerate a large-scale transformation of our production and consumption systems that prioritizes the wellbeing of people and the living systems we depend on.
We believe our progress is hampered by an approach that is often single-issue, fragmented, incremental, and narrow. We are coming together to collaborate and accelerate a large-scale transformation of our production and consumption systems that prioritizes the wellbeing of people and the living systems we depend on.
Our Approach
We are experimenting with a systems approach to foster collaborative networking opportunities. We are eager to explore if this leads us to high-impact actions that scale up systemic change in sustainable consumption and production.
Our desired outcomes include tangible impacts in consumption and production systems and greater alignment in achieving big, bold, lasting transformative change. |
"Less stuff, less toxic stuff, |
What Does it Take?
Accelerating healthy and just consumption and production patterns means…
Getting serious about the numbers
Over the past 50 years, we’ve made progress on many fronts, but overall the reality is that we are losing. We are too many people, consuming too much of the Earth’s resources, producing too much waste, and not equitably sharing these resources. Our current patterns of consumption and production are no longer serving us well—ecologically, socially, or financially. They don’t necessarily make us happier either. There is a great urgency to create systemic change at the scale and pace necessary to sustain life. |
"Development is getting better; |
Moving solutions from niche to mainstream
There are thousands of inspiring responses to this challenge including those focused on
Collaborating and seeing the big picture in order to act boldly
Working separately does not accelerate change at the speed or scale we need. Complex problems require a unique form of collaboration, one based on a systems approach. Inspired by existing networks using a systems approach to act on complex problems, we are taking a wider and longer view so we can catch undermining effects – such as increasing efficiency in cars and then polluting the same amount by driving more – and focus on implementing transformative long-lasting solutions – such as designing walkable cities.
There are thousands of inspiring responses to this challenge including those focused on
- new measures of progress that focus on wellbeing
- new economy: transformation of business and economic models to ones that, for example, rely on renewable energy, eliminate toxins, design for disassembly, reuse and durability, and encourage sharing and access to services over ownership
- higher levels of consumer awareness
- shifts toward sustainable purchasing and supply chains
- supportive policies such as full-cost pricing, subsidies and tax reform, choice editing, and extended producer responsibility
- redesign of products for zero waste and safe chemicals use
- renewable and efficient energy use
- environmental and social justice for impacted communities
- innovative ways of building communities, connection and belonging
Collaborating and seeing the big picture in order to act boldly
Working separately does not accelerate change at the speed or scale we need. Complex problems require a unique form of collaboration, one based on a systems approach. Inspired by existing networks using a systems approach to act on complex problems, we are taking a wider and longer view so we can catch undermining effects – such as increasing efficiency in cars and then polluting the same amount by driving more – and focus on implementing transformative long-lasting solutions – such as designing walkable cities.
"Faith is taking the first step even though you don’t see the whole staircase." |
Learning by doing
This is uncharted territory. We are taking innovative actions and experimenting together with curiosity, bravery and optimism in order to find those illusive breakthrough actions to transform how we consume and produce. We join many others in catalyzing a big shift to living well equitably within the limits of living systems. |
What is a Systems Approach?
A systems approach helps us identify relationships among elements in a complex system in order to build a shared understanding and move from addressing symptoms to creating transformational change. By taking a wider view of systems elements and their interconnections and by adopting a long-term perspective, there is the potential to collectively identify breakthrough solutions for action.
We believe the issue of transforming consumption and production patterns could benefit from a systems approach because it is complex in at least three ways:
- Dynamic complexity – There are lots of interconnected parts to the consumption and production system. Cause and effect are distant in time and space and subject to surprise and unexpected interactions. Problems need to be addressed ‘systemically’ as opposed to one issue at a time.
- Social complexity – No one person can dictate the best action because there are too many interconnected parts. We need the perspectives and participation of many people in order to co-create and implement solutions.
- Generative complexity – This is foreign terrain. There are no ready-made solutions to this challenge that can be used as a guide. The future is unpredictable and unfamiliar, and solutions need to emerge through experimentation as the situation unfolds.
Our change strategy involves
- moving from a single-issue and incremental approach to applying a systems approach
- moving from fragmentation to connected, open, smart and evolving networking
- moving from addressing symptoms to acting on opportunities with greater leverage for big, bold, lasting, transformative change
The following are some distinctions between conventional strategic planning and systems approach:
How Will This Work?
As we develop our initiative, we are inspired by different approaches to effective collaboration that support collective impact. We will work with cutting-edge visual mapping, foresight tools, rigorous research, and ‘social technologies’ that enable collaborative problem-solving and creativity to address complex challenges.
Building a shared understanding of the system involves the following activities:
Acting: prototyping high-leverage pilot activities to inform our process and create tangible impacts
Collective learning involves the following activities:
- Defining the problem and seeing an outline of the system we are working on including through evidence-based research (materials, interviews, literature searches, dialogue)
- Agreeing on a shared vision in terms of what we hope to learn, do and our intended impact
- Co-developing systems maps (key issues across levels, important players, drivers) to understand each other’s mental models, visualize current reality, and create shared visions of desired future systems
- Engaging a multi-stakeholder group in dialogue to collectively review and refine the model and act
- Identifying high-leverage points of collaboration and innovation for catalyzing systems transformation
Acting: prototyping high-leverage pilot activities to inform our process and create tangible impacts
Collective learning involves the following activities:
- Supporting a culture of collaborative learning, inquiry and sense-making
- Developing shared networking resources, funding, facilitation, connections and relationships
- Creating a knowledge platform and shared measurement system
- Building capacities in systems analysis, innovation methods, and ‘change-maker’ skills and strategies
- Engaging in continuous communication, reporting and story sharing among partners and externally