Living Change: Lessons from innovative changemakers

Over recent months, we have seen individuals, communities and organisations embracing uncertainty as an opportunity for innovation, experimentation and renewal.

Last year gave us all the signals we need to actively question whether the old normal is healthy and sustainable for the long term, as pandemic shock exposed deep fault-lines in our social and economic systems.

The energy released in emergency response is creating the foundations for change at different levels of the system, from policymakers to funders, and from professionals to citizens. Across communities, within workplaces, and at the frontlines of public services, we witnessed the emergence of new relationships, new approaches and new mindsets characterised by a spirit of agile, adaptive and entrepreneurial problem-solving and innovation. This is what the RSA describes as Living Change in action: an approach to change that recognises that living systems are dynamic, complex and interconnected; that identifying root causes and interdependencies is the first step in tackling the challenges that we face today.

And finding where there might be energy for change and acting entrepreneurially is the second step – innovating, testing and iterating in a way that meaningfully changes our living system for the better. We also know that for any social change to be lasting, effective and just, it must engage and involve actors at all levels of the system.

Opening the RSA Living Change season, a panel of innovators and changemakers gather to share experiences, insights and lessons learned from the last year. Joining us to tell their stories of community collaboration, frontline innovation, and system re-design are: Ruth Ibegbuna founder of RECLAIM, The Roots Programme and Rekindle school; Cassie Robinson, Deputy Director of Funding Strategy at The National Lottery Community Fund; and Kaisa Heino, Deputy Mayor of Imatra, Finland. These are stories of crisis response, recovery and renewal, of thinking systemically and acting entrepreneurially. Stories of Living Change. The RSA has been at the forefront of societal change for over 250 years – our proven approach to change, and global network of 30,000 problem-solvers enables us to unite people and ideas to understand the challenges of our time and realise lasting change.

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