Navigating emergence and system reflexivity as key transformative capacities: experiences from a Global Fellowship program

Abstract

The distinction between adaptive and transformative capacities is still not well understood, and in this study we aimed to build a transformative learning space to strengthen transformative capacities. We proposed that two capacities will be essential to transformation: the capacity to navigate emergence and cross-scale systems reflexivity. We outline our efforts to design and deliver a Global Fellowship program in social innovation, intended to strengthen these two capacities among practitioners already engaged in socially innovative work. Results indicated that the concepts, frameworks, and experiences introduced through the Fellowship led to four key insights about these capacities. Firstly, individual Fellows and their organizations were able to see some complex system dynamics that were previously invisible, which in turn, allowed Fellows to see the distribution of resources and agency across the system in new ways. Secondly, engaging with diversity is essential in social innovation and transformative change processes, and system reflexivity aided in doing this. Additionally, Fellows indicated they were able to identify different kinds of opportunities and the generative potential that can lie within social-ecological systems. Lastly, the findings demonstrate the challenging nature of crossing scales and how a transformative space, such as a Fellowship, helps to practice the experience of contestation, unpredictability, and the uncontrollable dynamics of transformation and social innovation.

Transformative spaces in the making: key lessons from nine cases in the Global South

“…However, through this synthesis we have aimed to engage in a different way of working together to integrate perspectives from all parts of the world, without one dominating over the other. (Hebinck et al 2018) Eindhoven (Netherlands), Tuscany (Italy), Burkina Faso, Tanzania Good anthropocenes (Pereira et al 2018a) Southern Africa Stories for co-creation (Galafassi et al 2018) Mombasa (Southern coast of Kenya), Cabo Delgado (Northern coast of Mozambique) Transdisciplinary research Peri-urban South Asia Southern Africa Food lab (Drimie et al 2018) South Africa, particularly Mopani District in Limpopo and the site of the agro-ecology and leadership training facility in Soweto Global fellowship (Moore et al 2018) Global, with strong emphasis on Africa, South and Southeast Asia, and South America Gender meetings (Dyer 2018) Western Province, Solomon Islands Each of the nine case studies are published in a special issue on Designing Transformative Spaces (Table 1). The Special Issue aimed to collect examples of cutting-edge, actionoriented research on transformations from the Global South.…”

Just Transformations to Sustainability

“…Third, transformation thinkers are exploring how to enhance the transformative capacity of marginalized groups, whose voices have often been excluded from decision-making processes. Building transformational capacity can include actions such as accounting for the uneven distribution of transformative agency [166] or enlarging the capacity of marginalized groups to change or transform entrenched injustices [167].…”

Urban transformative capacity: From concept to practice

“…Motivated by various symptoms of the (urban) sustainability crisis, similar propositions have also emerged in other scientific fields, offering diverse ideas of what characterizes TC, and how it differs from adaptive capacity (Healey 1998;Coleman and Chiasson 2002;Innes and Booher 2003;Moulaert et al 2005;Halpin and Daugbjerg 2008;Olsson et al 2010;Dolata 2013;Griffith 2014;Ardoin et al 2015;Rauschmayer et al 2015). While encompassing all adaptation requirements, these propositions commonly identify two additional capabilities that are critical for transformations: To be able to actively disrupt and dismantle existing systems, and to simultaneously create and build up viable alternatives (Moore et al 2018).…”

“…This perspective implies that, while institutions have both enabling and constraining effects on actors, they also remain shapeable through institutional work performed by actors that manage to realign rules, knowledge, and resources (Sewell 1992;Lawrence et al 2009). As illustrated by frequent accounts for particular forms of agency that effectively achieve institutional change, such as transformative leadership, institutional entrepreneurship, or shadow networks (Westley et al 2013;Moore et al 2018), these involve actors who occupy multiple positions, change positions, and/or develop boundary-spanning relations (Grillitsch 2017). Inversely, where all principal stakeholders fail to develop such forms of agency and interaction, urban TC and actual change remain necessarily limited (Newton et al 2017).…”

“…However, despite such multi-level actions, it remains far from clear what kind of capacity can actually deliver urban change towards sustainability that is transformative, i.e., disrupting current pathways by deeply and radically altering existing urban structures, cultures, and practices Frantzeskaki et al 2018). The scientific debate about transformative capacity and its constituents has so far remained fragmented, and often also lacks reference to urban contexts and their particularities Marshall et al 2012;Moore et al 2018). Correspondingly, also funding agencies that already offer dedicated support for research and capacity development aimed specifically at urban transformations do not provide comprehensive orientation yet, even though they appear to converge over some criteria (cf.…”