About
System Shift
System Shift wants to accelerate our transition to systems that are markedly better for people and the planet. To do that we bring together people who are changing systems in practice so they can share their insights, accelerate their progress and achieve greater impact together.
Our work over the past five years as the System Innovation Initiative, developing the practical knowledge needed for system innovation, revealed huge demand for change, to create systems which are just and inclusive, circular and regenerative, participatory and cooperative.
Yet people also told us they lacked the practical skills, methods and tools to make real progress to create these new systems. There’s a lot of talk but not enough “walk.” The field of system change does not lack for models and frameworks. What is lacking are practices to apply these models in action. That is not just a question of providing people with the right skills and knowledge. It also involves shifting mindsets and mental models, culture and norms and challenging assumptions about the role organisations play in perpetuating dysfunctional systems and changing them.
Starting 2024: The International Collaborative
In 2024 we start to address the shortfall in practical approaches through a platform for shared learning and action: the International System Shift Collaborative. We will bring together pioneering practitioners from around the world – civic innovators, social entrepreneurs, impact investors, community leaders, philanthropists, movement builders – who are creating practical solutions to our most pressing social challenges. By bringing them together not only will we help to deepen and accelerate their work we will distil the lessons they have learned to create open source guides to systems change, which many others can then draw upon.
The field of systems change is already crowded with a models and frameworks. We want the Collaborative to help people coalesce around something different: common questions and principles for how the work should be done. We want to provide people with a map to navigate systems change’s challenges and opportunities.