Alive & Learning: Conversations about Impact Networks, Living Systems, Foresight & Futures

This final episode is a poignant reflection on the interconnectedness of people and ideas in the pursuit of meaningful change. Carri, Elsa, and Nzwaki lift up common threads arising across the conversations in this series, especially how our relationships allow us to navigate during times of uncertainty and change. They highlight the importance of activating our collective imagination and advocate for storytelling as a tool for shifting mindsets and connecting global ideas to local action. They speak to how joyful approaches to change, undertaken with humility and trust, can become contagious interactions that scale out into movements that ultimately reshape larger systems. They wrap up the series with gratitude for the relationships that have brought these stories to life and make the podcast possible. 

In this episode, we highlight three stories from foresight practitioners from Africa, New Zealand and Canada about convening diverse people to imagine and shape better futures together. Their stories touch on climate, youth, indigenous cultures, and our relationship to grief.   

The first story features young climate Leaders Iman Bashir and Fisayo Oyewale from Next Generation Foresight Practitioner’s Climate Futures Hub. They share experiences organizing intergenerational spaces that center youth inclusion in global forums, and speak to how the network has played a key role in their success and friendship.  

Next, we hear from Alice Dimond about an indigenous approach to creating a more equitable future for the Māori people of New Zealand. Tokona te Raki means to prop up the skies to create a world of light, life and potential - the aim of the organisation is to create a world where everyone can share in this light and potential for generations to come. 

Our last story is about using art to engage the complex emotions that arise as we navigate the complex challenges of our time. We hear from Method Collective, Toronto-based consultants and multimedia artists. Ziyan Hossain, Fran Quintero Rawlings, and Calla Lee speak about their immersive public art installation called Space for Grief as a model for public engagement with the emotions that accompany change. They shed light on the many ways in which our society fails to address grief and why engaging grief may help us navigate social change.  

In this episode, we talk to Cat Zuzarte Tully and Abi Nokes of School of International Futures (SOIF) about the practice of foresight and what distinguishes SOIF’s approach from other futurists. We explore intersections with network practice and what it looks like to convene people to deliberately shape futures together. 

Cat and Abi share what it takes to host interactive foresight sessions that promote psychological safety conducive to collectively imagining futures. They talk about challenging dominant patterns of thinking and navigating power dynamics to envision alternative pathways that put intergenerational fairness at the forefront. They shine a light on how responsible leaders can democratize the ways in which we engage with signals of the future that are here with us now.

In part two, our third story is about The Social Employment Fund based in South Africa. This government initiative creates part-time jobs that build people’s skills while benefiting communities. An essential part of their successful model is The Social Employment Network, that convenes community partners to promote collaboration, learning, and shared commitment to creating  and filling  community-based jobs that directly contribute to community welfare.  Our guests are Margo Paterson and Sivu Siwisa. 

Our last story is about making place-based systems change a reality. We explore with Regen Melbourne what it takes to work across silos to support collaboration. They are a platform working with 200 organizations across sectors to restore a river ecosystem. This is a story about how to engage many people in contributing to a community vision, and how money can flow differently to address social issues and bring big visions into reality.

Our guests are Kaj Löfgren, CEO of Regen Melbourne, and Ivanna Gazibara from the TransCap Initiative, a nonprofit focused on utilizing sustainable finance as a key lever for systems change so that money can become a transformative force in society.  

In this episode, released in two parts, we highlight four stories of people around the world engaged in shifting systems in agriculture, housing, employment, finance, and place-based ecosystem regeneration. We’ll hear about what these practitioners are learning and how their work is unfolding in real time. You won’t hear our hosts, only the voice of the person sharing their story.

In part one, we begin with the African Food Fellowship, a dynamic network of leaders working to radically change food systems for better health, sustainability, and inclusivity on the African Continent. The fellowship is an ambitious initiative co-created by Wasafiri and Wageningen University. The fellowship is supported by Ikea Foundation and Small Foundation. Sharing this story is Claudia Piacenza, Food System lead at Wasafiri Consulting. 

The second story is about Roof Over Our Heads, an on the ground, do it yourself, initiative that is transforming housing and habitat in many cities in the global south. Roof Over Our Heads is an example of everyday leadership that creates impact through local partnerships. We hear from Sheela Patel the founder of Roof Over Our Heads and SPARC, an NGO based in Mumbai that mobilizes large numbers of the urban poor to enable them to become an important part of their city’s systems. 

In this episode, we talk to Anna Birney and Sean Andrew from the School of Systems Change about using a living systems paradigm to understand social systems and complexity.  

They explore the work of changemaking through deep inquiry into relational dynamics and the prospect of shaping systemic change by addressing power dynamics. They emphasize embracing change at a granular level, recognizing the transformative  potential in mundane actions becoming everyday practices that ultimately become the larger systemic shifts. 

Together, they advocate for intentional relational practices and structural clarity to foster healthy organizations and networks that honor diverse voices and histories.

In this first episode of the Alive & Learning series, co-hosts Carri Munn & Elsa Henderson explore the ways that impact networks bring many people together to learn from diverse perspectives. They also discuss how networks strategically coordinate actions to support collective transformation.

They reveal why working relationally and working through relationships is essential in our complex and dynamic world, and what it takes to cultivate the capacities of network leaders to convene diverse people and facilitate collaborations that invite healing and learning that fosters justice.