Episode 2 – Relating Through Change
Episode 2
In this episode, we talk to Anna Birney and Sean Andrew from the School of Systems Change about using a living systems paradigm to understand social systems and complexity.
They explore the work of changemaking through deep inquiry into relational dynamics and the prospect of shaping systemic change by addressing power dynamics. They emphasize embracing change at a granular level, recognizing the transformative potential in mundane actions becoming everyday practices that ultimately become the larger systemic shifts.
Together, they advocate for intentional relational practices and structural clarity to foster healthy organizations and networks that honor diverse voices and histories.
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This Episode Features…
Sean Andrew – Learning and Practice Partner Lead at the School of Systems Change
Sean is brought into his work through the potential of dialogue to unearth ways of being together that support connection, learning, and action. His practice focuses on designing, hosting, and facilitating transformative conflict, action inquiry, nature-based culture regeneration, and collaborative governance processes that are in service of people working on their most complex insidious questions.
His experiences range from working with community-based groups to organize, being a collaborative intermediary across and between spheres of government to develop learning and action networks, and accompanying people and organizations in civil society and business to cultivate new ways of thinking, acting, relating that embrace and embody complex living systems.
Sean takes a relationship and principles-based approach to change that helps us cultivate the capacity to work with polarities. He does this by exploring different perspectives and possibilities that might guide us into deepening and expanding our worldviews, supporting folk to generate questions that bring about action, and guiding groups through collective decision-making processes to determine what next graceful step might be an expression and seed for the future they yearn to work, play and live into.
Acknowledging some of the communities that have shaped Sean the most: 8 Shields; The Art of Hosting; Organization Unbound; The Presencing Institute; Deep Democracy; Human Systems Dynamics Institute; and all those they were built on.
Resources:
Anna Birney – CEO (Chief Enabling/Evolving Officer) at the School of System Change
Anna is passionate about designing and facilitating systems change programmes that support people, communities, and organisations to transform their practice.
Anna started facilitating multi-stakeholder processes around the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002. At WWF-UK she ran a six-year education programme on system change which included setting up 56 communities of practice to knit together innovative practices. This experience supported her to develop practical system change frameworks for WWF-UK and Forum for the Future as well as organisations including Unilever, Nike, Shell Foundation, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Innovate UK and the NHS, through the System Innovation Lab - experimenting and learning how to develop different practices.
Anna has worked on and coached a wide number of systems change projects and initiatives across sectors and systems – for example the Scottish Climate Assembly, Oxfam’s System Innovation in Woman’s Economic Empowerment, Boundless Roots Community and Bosch Foundation Strategy. As well as being a collaborative director on Marine CoLab and #Oneless.
Anna seeded and set up the School of System Change in 2016, where she designs the curriculum, supports and works with the facilitators, and continues to weave learning together about the field of systems change. She is the author of Cultivating System Change: A practitioner’s companion which is based on her PhD.
At the core of her work are action inquiries that are based on a living systems perspectives - exploring what it means to live the change at all levels of practice - from how we organise, the power and relationships to paradigm shifting questions about love and the meaning of life.
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And your co-hosts, Elsa Henderson & Carri Munn.