3 Insights on Systems Change, upcoming events and more!

by Trathen Heckman, Executive Director

Happy Spring Daily Actors!

It is the way of our times that beauty and hurt, inspiration and urgency abound. It’s hotter and dryer than it should be, already bringing up conversations of possible drought and an early fire season, while national politics and coronavirus have many deeply concerned. In this rapidly changing, unsettling world, how do we face reality, claim leadership and more rapidly build the better world we all have been working on for so long? It comes back to the world-changing power of small: small daily acts, small groups of people, and even small gardens. So, come on out and supercharge your small acts! Get inspired, get skilled and get connected.

Three key lessons in systems change for transformative action

With over 1,390 municipalities across the planet having declared a climate emergency, now what? For Daily Acts, helping our communities face reality, claim leadership and create a better world comes down to three things in our theory of change:

1. Rapidly spreading solutions and models locally and through regional, state and national partnerships;
2. Building community leadership and collective power through our Leadership Institute as well as fostering coalitions and networks; and
3. Growing the public and political will to respond to this climate moment.

This means rapidly moving towards zero emissions, prioritizing carbon draw down and adapting to the extreme weather and related disruptions already happening. It’s doing these three things while centering on equity and addressing the mental and emotional health aspects of dealing with an existential planet-wide crisis on top of life’s day-to-day difficulties.

In our complex interconnected world, simple single-issue fixes won’t do. We need systemic change. The most accessible whole system we can change, is starting with ourselves. Here’s where YOU come in. It’s time to uplevel how we take heart, take part and take action. To help you do so, here are three strategies for affecting systems change: foster community and cultivate networks; work at multiple scales; and embrace emergence.

Foster community and cultivate networks. As Fritjof Capra writes, nature sustains life by creating and nurturing communities. This happens through a network pattern that creates a critical mass of interrelationships. It includes creating and strengthening issue-focused networks (food, water, health, housing etc.) and diverse sectors (non-profit, government, business). It’s about bridging differences to connect networks and see who’s missing from the table and why. This helps us think and act from the wisdom of the whole. When we center on this as an operating principle of life, we can develop the emotional intelligence and the needed skills and strategies to take right action in our lives, organizations and communities.

Work at multiple scales. Life is made up of nested systems.  Think of a cell in an organ, in a body, in a community, in an ecosystem.  Changing a system affects the smaller systems nested within it, and it also affects the larger system its in.  This makes the “be the change” approach so incredibly powerful.  Facing climate reality can change our mind, emotions and values and thus our daily actions, our homes and families.  There is an urgent need for transformative action at all scales from self to home, work, community and beyond.  An approach that nurtures community and leverages network power helps us work at multiple scales more effectively.  A key challenge is to bridge the gaps between scales when working with insufficient resources, overstretched people and groups, and a lot of complexity.  What are the right scales for you to work at for the change you are deeply called to create?

Embrace emergence. In addition to the above two approaches from the Center for Ecoliteracy’s top seven systems change strategies, a few others can be summed up as embracing emergence. Emergence is defined as the process of coming into view or being. Embracing emergence includes supporting self-organizing behavior, seizing opportunities as they arise, and being prepared to be surprised. This also means working to catalyze and facilitate change, but giving up the illusion of control. The better world being born is richly messy and emergent, but these are some of the lessons we can apply to thrive amidst the difficulty. We do the best we can to live and lead well, and forgive the imperfect process.

This comes back to the power of small. It’s starting with the only power we truly have, our daily actions. We need time to reflect, make sense and reconnect to the best version of ourselves. It’s aligning with where our passion and purpose can be of best service to healing some part of this beauteous broken world.

Back in the garden it’s simple – it’s all connected, it’s all alive.  Life is emergent and works at a range of scales, all at once.  A flower or bee doesn’t lose who it is or what it does.  You don’t have to overthink how systems change happens, because an ecological garden reconnects us to nature’s operating instructions…while growing food, medicine, habitat, beauty and wonder.  Oh and cleaning the air, providing resilience to drought and deluge, and did we mention sequestering carbon and atmospheric inspiration out of strangers and thin air?

Lately, my weeks range from kids’ birthday parties to pruning, transplanting and grafting fruit trees, and working at a range of scales to influence bolder climate policy and climate emergency action plans by unleashing the power of community. We’re making the time to help our staff find and be the best version of ourselves, ready to face the climate challenges that come, so we can support you in this. Last Friday, this meant a few hours in the garden together meditating, checking in, and leaning into who and how we need to be to rise up to this big planetary moment.

We are required to uplevel our personal practices and communities of practice to effectively juggle the need to work at a range of scales, nurture networks, and dance with all the emergent change. We need more and better self-care to stay clear enough on our priorities, organized enough to follow through, courageous enough for difficult conversations, and kind enough for when we fall short. We look forward to supporting each other in this journey of rising to this challenge, together. Thank YOU for believing in a better world, and for taking action in community, at many scales, and in a world of emergence!