Group items tagged

The Los Angeles Regional Collaborative for Climate Action and Sustainability (LARC) is a network of local and regional decision-makers ensuring a sustainable Los Angeles County prepared for the impacts of climate change. It is one of seven regional collaboratives in California supporting climate change science, policy and planning efforts across sectors. LARC's climate mitigation and adaptation work is driven by cutting edge research on local climate impacts and information management systems. As LA's sole climate collaborative, LARC's network includes climate practitioners from city and county government, regional agencies, non-profits, businesses, and academia. 

We work with leading organizations across the private, public and social sectors. Our scale, scope, and knowledge allow us to address problems that no one else can. We have deep functional and industry expertise as well as breadth of geographical reach. We are passionate about taking on immense challenges that matter to our clients and, often, to the world.

The Harwood Institute is a national not-for-profit organization that teaches and coaches people and organizations to solve pressing problems and change how communities work together. Based on 25 years of innovating with communities, The Harwood Institute has developed a proven practice that is used in thousands of communities nationally and worldwide.

Our Philosophy & Guiding Principles Social systems work as they do because of how we work - how we think and interact. Our habitual ways of thinking and acting typically lead to change efforts shaped by mechanical problem solving and unproductive competition, often among otherwise well-intentioned interveners. In effect, we try to control complex processes that cannot be controlled, and in so doing miss the real opportunities for deeper and more long-lasting change. By contrast, natural systems demonstrate harmony, balance, integration, and ongoing evolution. The new knowledge we see emerging in the world shapes organic processes of change that result in social systems that are more resilient, sustainable, and adaptive. These "integral" learning and change processes knit "inner" and "outer" change, and are both deeply personal and inherently collective.

As our politics and public life have become increasingly divisive and toxic, too many Americans no longer see their realities reflected and no longer believe that they can make a difference. Real progress in communities can be hard to come by. And yet, across the country, people yearn to believe that we can get things done together and make hope real for everyone. It is this belief in people's innate ability to come together and create authentic hope, that sparked a then 27-year-old Richard C. Harwood to found The Harwood Institute for Public Innovation and dedicate himself to making the case for a different kind of public life and politics. For more than 20 years, through innovation, on-the-ground efforts, and ground-breaking research, we know what it takes to get things done in communities and strengthen our civic culture. We help people develop into Public Innovators, build Boundary Spanning Organizations, grow common spaces for innovation and learning, and cultivate the conditions, norms, and productive narratives that help their communities move forward. Today, our approach is being used by tens of thousands of individuals in communities across the U.S. and around the globe. But more is needed. We have an audacious strategy to make a case for a different kind of public life and politics and to spread these ideas, insights, and approaches so that people can make them their own. Of course, no single organization or individual can make these changes on their own; but, together, we can.

This organization has been developed to fully recognize and expand research, education, and resource development activities for community "quality of life" agencies. The work of GP RED supports and provides opportunities for health, recreation and land management agencies, along with the associations and universities that support them, working collaboratively and proactively to identify and fill gaps.

Over the past 30 years, the Main Street movement has transformed the way communities think about the revitalization and management of their downtowns and neighborhood commercial districts. Cities and towns across the nation have come to see that a prosperous, sustainable community is only as healthy as its core.

The purpose of sol is to discover, integrate and implement theories and practices for the interdependent development of people and their institutions.

This is a living story of the process arts. Processes can relate to the individual (such as meditation), interpersonal dynamics (for example Nonviolent Communication), group processes (e.g. Open Space, World Cafe, unconference and wiki), on up to very large scale systems, such as economic, legal and political structures (e.g. Threebles, Restorative Circles, or Citizen Deliberative Councils). Even more than a list of particular processes though, the process arts are about an awareness that however we are doing something, that is simply one particular way, and we can and often do experiment with doing it any number of other ways.

"About Donella Meadows founded our Institute in 1996 to apply systems thinking and organizational learning to economic, environmental and social challenges. Mission Shift mindsets - values, attitudes, and beliefs - when they are out of step with the realities of a finite planet and a globally powerful human race. Restructure systems when the rewards and incentives of the system are inconsistent with long term social, environmental, and economic goals. Build the capability to manage and learn in complex environmental, social, and economic systems."

WE THINQ was born from the need to create a space to explore innovation. The creator, Christian Kreutz has been working as an innovation advisor since 2006. When working with clients he found that the small things were getting in the way of meaningful work. Gathering people together for a workshop or conference devoured organisational resources. Instead of developing great ideas, change makers were spending their time to find creative minds. He found a few online collaboration tools, but these were overloaded with features and complicated to use that they didn't help his clients at all. And so, WE THINQ was born.

This book is about effective change. It describes methods for changing "whole systems,"that is, change based on two powerful foundation assumptions: high involvement and a systemic approach to improvement. High involvement means engaging the people in changing their own system.It is systemic because there is a conscious choice to include the people,functions,and ideas that can affect or be affected by the work.Whole system change methods help you initiate high-leverage, sustainable improvements in organizations or communities. "High-leverage" is emphasized because in any improvement effort,we want the highest possible value for the effort invested. We believe that involving people in a systematic way is a key to high leverage and that the methods in this book can provide this leverage for you.You'll need to determine the one(s) best suited to moving your organization or community to the culture you want.We wrote this book to support your efforts. 

In his third lecture for Saïd Business School, Clayton Christensen looks at the process of research and explores the complexities involved in developing a theory. He draws particular attention to the importance of finding anomalies in research and the potential of anomalies to shed light and give greater insight into phenomena.

"We activists need to become better "reflectivists", taking the time to understand the system before (and while) engaging with it. We need to better understand the stop-start rhythm of change exhibited by complex systems and adapt our efforts accordingly. And we need to become less arrogant, more willing to learn from accidents, from failures, and from other people. Finally, we have to make friends with ambiguity and uncertainty, while maintaining the energy and determination so essential to changing the world."

EmcArts Inc. is a social enterprise for learning and innovation in the arts. We serve as a nonprofit intermediary for many arts funders, and as a service organization for the arts field around innovation. We exist to strengthen the capacities and effectiveness of nonprofit arts and cultural organizations, serving their needs in the design and management of innovative change, and assisting them in building their adaptive capacity.

Deloitte's Center for the Edge develops original research and substantive perspectives on new corporate growth. Based in the Silicon Valley, with teams in Europe and Australia, we help senior executives make sense of and profit from emerging opportunities on the edge of business and technology.

"Everyone in Berkana is actively engaged in the world, working in many different cultures with people of all ages and in many roles. These people are working to make significant changes that benefit their communities, the planet, and the future."