Evolutionary Futures Lab

06/12/2023

Together with The Buckminster Fuller Institute, CrowdDoing, and supermetahumanfutures we are supporting AIME's Night of Imagi-Nation on Monday, June 19 and their lecture at the California Academy of Sciences on Tuesday, June 20. If you are in the Bay Area, we hope to see you there! For more information and to register:

June 19: https://www.canva.com/design/DAFlNQP1ZZo/9z2RwN5OcxRd8IVbaf_Rew/view?utm_content=DAFlNQP1ZZo&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link&utm_source=publishsharelink

June 20:
https://www.canva.com/design/DAFlUg33Pnc/OA7SSNeAPHpklyOw_y9-6w/view?utm_content=DAFlUg33Pnc&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link&utm_source=publishsharelink

12/31/2022

If transformation is to come,
It begins with relationships.
For change to occur,
We must be willing to be confused.
Let us listen, not just with our minds,
But with our hearts, our spirits, and our souls;
And let us honor the beauty of uncertainty,
As we ensconce ourselves in interdependence;

We shake off the chains of the iniquitous
With generative conversations and restorative action;
We are humbled but emboldened
With a passion to grow hope.
Though we may not see success,
Keen is every thought, intent, and gesture:
The care for our collective future
Will take root, to bear its fruit.

Let us heed Indigenous teachings and pleas,
Let us follow Indigenous ways and honor
The timeless knowledge that heals
And brings about collective liberation;
Let us recognize our complicity
And embrace decolonial love;
Let us practice self-compassion
And be ancestors who care deeply.

Let us look to Raven’s wisdom
Of courage, resilience, and kindness;
This change can only be ushered,
Through gentle, powerful actions:
From systems, complex and strong,
To beacons of love and hope—
It takes a gentle whisper
To quiet the power of wrong.

Let the words of our new songs
Echo in chambers of chance
As we open the door to a new world,
Standing in relation with trust.
With cultural humility and grace,
Observing, learning, taking the long view,
In compassionate inquiry, in community,
Let us find our way, with love.

________
*AI-assisted harvest of the 12th Session of the Thought Leadership for Systems Transformation Program with Chris Corrigan and Kelly Foxcroft-Poirier hosted by Julius Khamati Kuya.

08/07/2022

We usually post links to TLST recordings with some quotes but there is really no quote that would encompass the complexity and beauty of this session with Kelly Foxcroft-Poirier and Chris Corrigan moderated by Julius Khamati Kuya. So the only way to find out what's in it is to watch!

This session is based on self-study and peer learning reflected in this collective narrative: https://www.evolutionaryfutures.com/post/group-reflections-on-t...

07/09/2022

"All of the concerns we are facing now—I didn't know exactly what they would look like or feel like, I didn't really know how real it would be in my lifetime, but all the writing was on the wall when I was 12 years old, and I knew it. I have been asking these questions all of my adult life. And here we are. And I ask them, in all humility, in the practice of knowing that I believe that our work together is to learn how to become together."

From our recent session with Mich Levy moderated by Julius Khamati Kuya.

The session is based on the group's reflections on the work of Mich Levy summarized in this collective narrative: https://www.evolutionaryfutures.com/post/group-reflections-on-the-work-and-teachings-of-mich-levy-a-collective-narrative

07/03/2022

06/11/2022

"We think of it as a growing, evolving toolkit that will continue to grow and adapt to the needs and the problems that occur or we have hence. So we expect it to methodologically become more sophisticated, but it's the first step, it's a door into the practice of systems transformation that would inspire and empower young people to continue their practice and keep learning from different other approaches."

From our recent session with Dr. Levy Odera.

The session is based on the group's reflections on the work of Dr. Odera summarized in this collective narrative: https://www.evolutionaryfutures.com/post/group-reflections-on-the-work-and-teachings-of-dr-levy-odera-a-collective-narrative

06/04/2022

"For any changemaker out there in the world, I think it is our time now, so let us start from where we are and design a new beginning for this planet (...) Whatever you think should be done: put your hands on it! But I want you to keep in mind: it should be sustainable, it should be regenerative. We should be making this world a better place, because if we destroy this world, our sons, our daughters, our grandchildren will blame us when that time comes, because the steps we take today will inform the world of tomorrow."

From our recent session with Alinaitwe Cleofash and Prince Ahumuza Ignatius.

The session is based on the group's reflections on the work of Cleo and Ignatius summarized in this collective narrative: https://www.evolutionaryfutures.com/post/group-reflections-on-the-work-and-teachings-of-cleofash-alinaitwe-and-ignatius-ahumuza-1

05/15/2022

"How can systems practices be applicable in this kind of situation where there is no interest whatsoever from the side of a stakeholder who has massive power in the system to have any sort of collaboration?"

From our recent session with Alyona Yuzefovich & Anastasia Laukkanen

The session is based on group's reflections summarized in this collective narrative: https://www.evolutionaryfutures.com/post/group-reflections-on-the-work-and-teachings-of-alyona-yuzefovich-and-anastasia-laukkanen

This session was planned before Russia’s full-scale invasion
of Ukraine. The war had a dramatic influence on the content
of this session, but it is not its main focus. In these trying times, all of us at Evolutionary Futures Lab stand in solidarity with Ukraine, encourage everyone to look for and to listen to Ukrainian voices, but we also hope that this session will be useful for those who are interested in systems transformation work in the Russian context and its relevance for trans-contextual learning.

04/30/2022

"We are in a world that is actually about to suffer catastrophic failure and major change. The good news is: that will get people's attention. (...) We need to stop having preachy meetings and talk about what everybody else should do and we need to do some things ourselves to make a difference, but we also need to start to create a system that can respond when the catastrophe starts to make other people aware of the need."

From our recent session with Dave Snowden.

This session is based on participants' reflections on Dave's work summarized in this collective narrative: https://www.evolutionaryfutures.com/post/group-reflections-on-the-work-and-teachings-of-dave-snowden-a-collective-narrative-1

04/15/2022

"The world is stickier, more nuanced, and more complicated than our social analytics, and we need to move from a haul of "villains", from proliferating a haul of "isms" that we want to get rid of to sterilize the world so it fits our visions of the new, and we need to sit in the cracks, in the generativity of failure."

From our recent session with Bayo Akomolafe.

This session is based on participants' reflections on Bayo's work summarized in this collective narrative: https://www.evolutionaryfutures.com/post/group-reflections-on-the-work-and-teachings-of-dr-bayo-akomolafe-a-collective-narrative

04/02/2022

"This idea of "What's the story, how do we change the story?" ... I want on my part to just be rebellious and say that that's the wrong question. It's super trendy, it's super captivating... forget it! It's the wrong question. (...) If you want to change the story, don't change the story, change the tensions, change the questions."

From our recent session with Nora Bateson.

This session is based on participants' reflections on Nora's work summarized in this collective narrative: https://www.evolutionaryfutures.com/post/group-reflections-on-the-work-and-teachings-of-nora-bateson-a-collective-narrative-1