Ecosystem Mapping of Contemplative Approaches to Transformative Social Change

Over the past six months, Rufus Pollock and Jamie Bristow at Life Itself have been collaborating with Karen Grossman, Executive Director at the Garrison Institute, to develop a proposal for "mapping the ecosystem of contemplative approaches to transformative social change". This work builds on our own interest and experience in ecosystem mapping for inner-led social change, as well as Garrison’s long-standing expertise in contemplative-led approaches. We are sharing this now in order to invite interest and potential engagement from others who might wish to be involved. It builds on discussions we have been having with Diana Rose and colleagues at Garrison since 2021, when we launched Life Itself’s initial ecosystem mapping of paradigmatic, integrated, pragmatic (PIP) change-makers.

UPDATE: Dec 2023 whilst this proposal remains unfunded we have been working together to talk to potential partners as well as to develop a prototype mapping.

Ecosystem Mapping of Contemplative Approaches to Transformative Social Change

Project Outline

This project seeks to map the emerging ecosystem of actors who are applying contemplative insights and practices in pursuit of transformative social change and who include cultural and/or systems perspectives in their efforts. Put more formally, these are actors who are applying contemplative insights and practices in pursuit of transformative social change and are including collective inner¹ and/or collective outer² approaches and perspectives in their efforts.

We will provide an overview of the organizations, programs and landmark publications in the space in order to develop better understanding of the field and provide a powerful resource for change agents and funders to build networks, find collaborators, and develop more informed strategy.

Background

There is a long history of contemplative teachers pointing to the potential for meditative, reflective and ethical practices to support transformative social change, from the engaged Buddhism espoused by Thich Nhat Han to the secular mindfulness-powered “global renaissance” envisaged by Jon Kabat-Zinn. Some approaches that explicitly address culture and systems transition, such as Joanna Macy’s The Work That Reconnects, have been around for decades and, more recently, a new generation of innovators is taking up the mantle and building a thriving new sector with enormous latent power to transform individual lives, culture and systems.

This emerging ecosystem of pioneering teachers and change agents, while still far from the mainstream, contains a range of approaches, methodologies and tools which can be of significant use at multiple levels of society, from youth leaders to politicians. Currently, however, their potential impact is diminished due to being part of a relatively unknown field without accessible pathways for their approaches to reach mainstream contexts. Most innovators are also unaware of each other, limiting the potential for mutual support, knowledge sharing and synergies. In many cases at present, efforts are often duplicated, initiatives remain isolated, and strategies are not aligned as effectively as they could be. A mapping and data mirroring process, featuring key organizations, programs and publications in the area can help to change this.

Opportunity

As we have seen with a number of recent social movements, from veganism to effective altruism, the right conditions can facilitate rapid shifts from fringe activity to mainstream influence. With appropriate support, contemplative approaches that address culture and/or systems in order to bring about transformative social change could become mainstream interventions in just a few years.

At this particular juncture, one of the main conditions for rapid development is for the ‘field to become aware of itself’, enabling greater coherence and collaboration, and for the field to be recognised and named by external stakeholders, enabling greater influence and investment. Greater coherence and visibility will particularly boost the credibility of the ecosystem with external actors such as funders, academics, and policy-makers.

More specifically, mapping will help innovators, funders and practitioners to:

1. Understand the landscape: change agents will gain a better understanding of the different actors and elements that make up the ecosystem. This will help to inform their strategy, innovations, theories and evidence-building.

2. Build networks: change agents will more easily build relationships with other key players, and their own work will be more visible to external stakeholders.

3. Identify opportunities for collaboration: change agents will be able to identify new opportunities for collaboration, partnerships, and innovation.

4. Prioritize: closer connections and awareness of specialisms within the ecosystem supports greater focus and efficiency of individual organizations.

5. Share resources: new connections amongst similar organizations opens the possibility for collaboration around certain areas to replace formerly “in-house” activities.

Vision

An ‘evergreen’ database and map of organizations, programs and key publications in the field enables rapid innovation, scaling and mainstreaming of contemplative approaches to culture and systems transformation. The database is widely accessed, actively managed and constantly evolving.

Project Details

The work would engage our existing network of collaborators and partners to ensure as expansive a scope as possible. In general, our approach will be iterative, experimental and user-driven.

Scope

Organizations, programs or key publications will be considered for inclusion in the mapping if they are:

• A. concerned primarily with contemplative approaches AND
• B. aiming to bring about social change with at least one of:
  • systems change approaches
  • cultural evolution/change approaches

Activities

• The initial phase of the project (Research and Analysis) will focus on identifying actors, gathering data and creating an open-source repository of the major organizations, programs and key publications in the ecosystem, outlining the types and areas of focus and other key differentiators.
• The second phase of the project (Mapping and Visualisation) will involve making the data more easily searchable and digestible. Over time we will conduct more in depth analysis to map the ecosystem and chart how actors relate to one another across a number of dimensions, allowing us to represent them in more visually illuminating ways. Optional content extras include:
  • Introduction papers giving accessible outline of key ideas
  • Insight papers using ideas to develop actionable inputs into major challenges
• A third phase of the project (Education and Engagement) would involve sharing learning from the ecosystem and facilitating engagement, collaboration, and cooperation among actors both within and outside of the ecosystem in order to support field-building. It would also include more mainstream communications efforts to share insights from the ecosystem with a broader public. Optional extras include:
  • Reports identifying of key features of the ecosystem, and its connections to related/contiguous areas
  • A series of podcasts and journalistic publications
  • Convening (for field building), i.e. one or more more events bringing together stakeholders across the ecosystem to further crystallize the field
• The fourth and final phase (Maintenance) will involve setting up the processes and governance that will keep the data fresh and clean, and the map relevant and effective so that the resource can create impact well into the future. Optional extras include:
  • Database is “wiki-fied” so that it can be contributed to by the community and there is such contribution
• Future directions may include using the map and network for research for thought-leadership publications in the vein of Reconnection: Meeting the Climate Crisis Inside Out that take a wider view of contemplative practice and the issues being responded to.Nice to have

Timeline

Rough timeline for phases (though NB: phases may continue throughout the project, eg. we continue to add to the directory and iterate the map …)

• Phase I: 0-1y
• Phase II: 6m-18m
• Phase III: 12m-3y
• Phase IV: 2.5y - ongoing

Key Outcomes

• The map (used here to refer to the central site containing the directory, maps and analysis) becomes a central touchstone of the ecosystem - a “who’s who” that’s widely used.
• The identity of the ecosystem, including its name, becomes more unified and coherent - it solidifies as an entity in its own right.
• Awareness of the ecosystem (and that specific actors are part of it) begins to grow in those outside it.
• The relevance of ecosystem to tackling humanity’s challenges becomes more widely known
• Increased capacity for collaboration, and greater division of labor, within the ecosystem

Footnotes

1. e.g. mindsets worldviews, values that underpin our collective meaning making and experience of the world ↩

2. e.g. institutions, policies, laws etc. As the astute reader will note, this terminology derives from the Integral quadrants. ↩