The Systems Change Research Lab

If you are new to the topic of systems change, and want to get a first glimpse at the tools we are using with our social entrepreneurs, have a look at this short animated online course on systems change.

If you are already on your changemaker journey and you are curious how you can increase the positive impact of your work, we invite you to take a deep dive into the following topics:

Systems Change - how to identify root causes of social and environmental problems, how to see systems behind root causes, how to map systems, define targeted systems changes and leverage points to achieve them.

• Online course: Systems Change Masterclass
• Podcast Season 1
• 5 Ecosystem Reports

Mindset Shift as a pre-requisite for a long-lasting systems change

• Online Course: How to influence the way people think to change how society works
• Podcast Season 3
• Real life case studies

Working with Government as one of the most frequented pathways to achieve systems change among social entrepreneurs

• Online Course: Working with government as a pathway to systems change
• Podcast Season 2
• Real life case studies

If you are a funder or a support organization for changemakers interested in increasing the social impact of the organizations you support, you might be interested in:

Our report on how to fund systems change "Embracing complexity"

Taking our online courses to your communities. All our materials are freely accessible. You can take them to your audiences and be the one who initiates and facilitates learning for them. If you need help with that, reach out to us!

Peer community and learning opportunities for yourselve. Have a look at "Investors in Change", a digital peer-learning seminar for donors who are interested in systems change which we co-initiated.

If you are part of a government entity and are curious to explore how social entrepreneurs can be of help to you in addressing social and environmental problems, we invite you to explore:

Our report "New Allies" showing how social entrepreneurs can become eye-level partners in addressing social and environmental problems

Another report “From Small to Systemic” which helps governments understand the scale of resources that could be saved to societies if approaches of social entrepreneurs were adopted.

Our online course on working with government as a pathway to systems change with excellent case studies on precedents of successful cooperations between governments and social entrepreneurs across the world.

Our first online course is "The Systems Change Masterclass". It will help you reflect on the foundations of your strategy. We start by analyzing systemic roots of the problem of your concern and then develop a detailed journey to systems change with specified milestones. ​

The course is based on the methodology of our Systems Change Strategy Accelerator, which has been developed, tested and refined since 2011. ​

This Masterclass has emerged as the most profound version of the course. But you might be curious to know that the course also exists in an animated introductory format for very beginners and a crash course for mid-stage social entrepreneurs. Thousands of people in Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia have already used these materials to improve their strategies.

Our second online course is “Working With Government As A Pathway To Systems Change”. It was born out of recognition that changemakers willing to achieve systems change sooner or later recognize own limitations in reaching the “full market” of constituencies who need support. Providing direct service to 500 or even 5000 people is impressive but often seems like a drop in the ocean when millions are still waiting for help in line. ​

Government is often a stakeholder which does have the infrastructure sufficient to reach large numbers of people but it might lack the innovation drive and risk appetite to develop and test new solutions and rules for the system. Changemakers and government can thus become mutually complementary partners in addressing problems.​

The course offers 8 case studies of social entrepreneurs working with government in a mode ranging from constructive cooperation to confrontation in court,  tactics to increase government counterpart’s awareness, willingness and capacity to work with you, and a sequence of prompts that will help you formulate your strategy of working with government.​

Our third and most recent online course explores “How to Influence the Way People Think to Change How Society Works”. It builds on the understanding that behind every social or environmental problem there is a certain mindset spread across large numbers of people. Achieving structural and legislative changes will not suffice if people don’t embrace the new way of thinking.​

The course helps identify existing mental models which fuel the problem of your concern, trace back how these mental models got to people’s psyche and offer tools to bring other, "more helpful", mental models to the forefront.  ​

We documented four case studies of social entrepreneurs who led the efforts to change how people perceive smoking, food waste, domestic workers, and education, and offer you a sequence of prompts that help design a strategy to influence the way people think.​