In wilderness we find ourselves (Part 1) and recover our sense of community (Part 2), to care for our Planet and all the life in it.

There is a third thing wilderness gives back to us, and it may be the one we need most today: the will to act, and the knowledge of how.

Walk into a forest after a storm and look closely. A fallen tree is already turning into soil. Fungi and beetles work inside the bark, moss covers what was broken, and in the gap of light the old tree left, young plants race toward the sun. Nobody planned it, and nobody is in charge. Life is doing what it always does, making room for more life.

COVID was a great example of this. As the world slowed down, nature woke up and showed us its capacity to restore vitality in all its systems. The only thing it needed was the space, the silence, to activate its regenerative capacity. I saw this happen in my city, and I also saw it happen in nature, where humans had been pressing insistently. Deer and foxes started to appear on paved roads; even in Bogotá, we saw foxes coming down from the mountains into the city, the awakening of the wildness around us.

Then the world sped up again, and what reaches us, mostly through our screens, is the opposite story. We have now crossed seven of the nine planetary boundaries, the limits that keep the Earth a safe place for humanity; ocean acidification was the latest, in 2025 (Planetary Health Check 2026). The news arrives every day, and with it a quiet question many of us carry: What can I possibly do?

I feel this question is where many of us get stuck. The problems are so large, and our lives so small next to them, that we either look away or fall into despair. Both leave the Planet exactly where it was.

Wilderness answers the question in its own way. In nature, nothing repairs the whole system at once. Each fungus, each root, each bird carrying a seed in its belly does its small part, and the forest comes back. Regeneration is not a place we will arrive at one day. It is a direction we choose to move in, every day, together with everything that lives around us.

Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstone say the same about hope:

“Active Hope is a practice. Like tai chi or gardening, it is something we do rather than have.” Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstone, Active Hope (2012)

Caring for our Planet is that kind of practice. It starts with the relationships we explored in the first two parts, with ourselves and with others, and it widens to the whole Earth community. For a long time, we have lived from nature, taking what we needed and much more. Wilderness invites us to live in nature, with nature, for nature, in its service, and finally to remember that we are nature.

That last step matters most. In Part 1, I wrote about reclaiming our role as stewards of the Planet. A steward still stands a little apart from what they look after. In the wilderness, that distance disappears. When we restore a stream, protect a forest, or bring life back to the soil that grows our food, we are nature caring for itself. Caring for our environment is caring for ourselves.

This is also why action that grows from connection lasts longer than action that grows from fear or anger. Pushing against things wears us out and creates more resistance. Acting from love for a place, a river, a mountain, a neighborhood, gives us the energy to keep going for years.

So where do we begin? Where we are. We can give ourselves a space of silence each day, to connect deeply and to awaken our capacity to bring vitality to everything around us. Get to know the water, the soil, the birds, and the trees of the place we live. Spend time in the wilderness, alone and with the people we love, and bring our children along. Choose food that gives life back to the land. Join the people who are already restoring something nearby. None of this will heal the Planet alone, and none of it has to. Like the forest, we move together.

We need wilderness to learn again how to care for our Planet, and to find the courage to act.

Luis Camargo is the Founder and Director of OpEPA.

The Need for Wilderness? (3/3) was originally published in WeavingLab on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

This session focused on the role of universities in addressing planetary challenges by becoming intentional weavers in society to reduce or solve global problems. Pavel Luksha and Francois Taddei, authors of a manifesto for the planetary mission of universities hosted the conversation.

Breakout groups discussed
a) What universities need to do to be more intentional and
b) What support could help them move in this direction over the next 3–6 months

KEY LEARNING POINTS

• Universities must transition from competition to cooperation and integrating diverse perspectives.
• Universities are uniquely well placed to co-design ethical futures thanks to the combination of large student populations with access to experts across disciplines

BLOCKERS

• Egocentric pressure on academics to publish for citations and funding eg. research incentives for individual achievement with legal restrictions on sharing that reduce collaboration
• Siloed thinking and behaviours create disconnects between communities within universities and the places they are located in.
• Corporate privatization and bureaucratic resistance
• Colonial-era systems (universities in the Global South) that don’t meet current needs.

ENABLING CONDITIONS

• Need community-based learning focus to connect students and local communities — codesign with wider stakeholders
• Strong/consistent leadership in driving transformative change within universities
• Focus on core values rather than peripheral aspects
• student organizing
• community-based learning
• teacher involvement

EXAMPLES

• Universidad del Medio Ambiente (UMA, Mexico) — a corporation with independence from government that offers only courses in ‘weaving’
• Jeannine’s Cafe (Santa Barbara) and the Fielding Grad Community IKIGAI process

ACTION POINTS

• Create modules to redesign universities under an international umbrella with reference to UNESCO’s co-design of learning systems with young people.

Knowledge Bank Categories:
1) Future of Weaving
2) Regen And Wellbeing

What if Universities Learned to Weave Intentionally? was originally published in WeavingLab on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Summary

This session explored a fundamental shift in how we relate to land and assets: moving from the traditional model of “ownership” (focused on individual control and extraction) to “guardianship” (focused on collective responsibility, ecological health, and intergenerational legacy).

Key Learnings

• The Concept of “Wu Wei” (Doing Without Doing): A willingness to surrender — making oneself available so that the universe can work through you, rather than trying to force outcomes through sheer will.
• The Limitations of Ownership: Ownership is inherently temporary and often leads to the degradation of common goods (like clean water and soil). Guardianship, by contrast, is a perpetual commitment to the health of a system.
• The “Strategic Asset” Model: Through the Terra Agora foundation, land is taken out of the market and held in perpetuity. It can never be sold, ensuring it remains a resource for the community rather than a speculative asset.
• Five Forms of Capital: True value is measured across multiple dimensions, not just financial:
  1. Natural Capital: Biodiversity, water retention, and soil fertility.
  2. Social Capital: Networks of trust and community relationships.
  3. Human Capital: The skills and training of the individuals involved.
  4. Cultural Capital: Traditions, heritage, and local knowledge.
  5. Economic Capital: Sustainable financial models that support the other four capitals.
• The 20-Year Horizon: Meaningful systemic change and ecological restoration require long-term thinking. Significant impact often takes 20+ years to manifest, requiring a “handover” mindset between generations.

Key Actions

• Identify Your Guardianship Roles: Reflect on where you already act as a guardian (e.g., as a parent or a mentor) and explore how that mindset can be applied to your work or community.
• Separate Use from Ownership: Explore legal structures (like “surface rights” or long-term leases) that allow people to steward and live on land without needing to personally “own” the underlying asset.
• Engage in Inner Work: Recognize that external guardianship requires internal “weeding.” Address personal fears around security and control to make space for radical trust and collaboration.
• Foster Collective Governance: Avoid single-person decision-making. In the Terra Agora model, a “guardian” is always a collective of at least three people to ensure balanced perspectives and continuity.
• Communicate Value Beyond Wealth: Start measuring the success of projects by the health of the pollinators, the strength of the social fabric, and the growth of local wisdom, rather than just ROI.

— — -

References

Reading

• Pablo d’Ors: ‘Biography of Silence (referenced for the concept of surrender).

Foundations & Organizations:

• Terra Agora: A Portuguese foundation for land guardianship.
• Edith Maryon Foundation (Switzerland): model for removing land from the market.
• Triebes Foundation (Germany): model for perpetual land protection.
• Commonland: the “4 Returns” framework for landscape restoration.

Concepts:

• Surface Rights (Direito de Superfície): The legal mechanism used in Portugal to grant perpetual use of land.
• Distributed Autonomous Organizations (DAOs): potential future technology for commons-based governance.
• Ostrom’s Principles: Elinor Ostrom on governing the commons.

Knowledge Base Categories:
1) Regen and Wellbeing
2) Diversity and Inclusion

From Ownership to Guardianship was originally published in WeavingLab on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Summary

This session centred on evidence as the “litmus test” for whether a weaving project is actually working. Dr. Muñoz Piña argued that weavers have a social responsibility to test their hypotheses against reality, ensuring that time and resources are truly delivering well-being.

Key Learnings

• The Tyranny of KPIs: Key Performance Indicators often become the objective themselves, distracting from the actual goal. For example, in micro-credits, a “90% repayment rate” was seen as a success (KPI), but evidence later showed it didn’t actually lift people out of poverty (the real goal).
• The “Counterfactual”: To know if your weaving made a difference, you must compare your group with a “with and without” group (a control group). Without this, you might take credit for changes that would have happened anyway (e.g., city-wide drops in energy use).
• Mixed Methods: While quantitative data (numbers) tells you what happened, qualitative data (interviews/stories) tells you why. In a smart-billing study, numbers showed energy savings, but interviews revealed that simple “tips” were more effective than “neighbor comparisons.”
• Internal vs. External Validity: What works in one context (e.g., Bangalore) might not work in another (e.g., Mexico City). Weaving requires constant “pointillism” — gathering data from many locations to see the full systemic picture.
• Social Responsibility: Gathering evidence is an act of accountability. It ensures that the trust, funding, and time invested by a community are not being wasted on ineffective processes.

Key Actions

• Identify the “Deep Purpose”: Before choosing metrics, ask all stakeholders (including the “silent voices” like farmers’ families) what they actually want to achieve, rather than just what can be easily counted.
• Look for Natural Experiments: If you can’t run a formal trial, find a “mirror” or comparison group — another region or organization that isn’t using your methods — to see if your weaving is the true cause of change.
• Embrace “Permanent Skepticism”: Always ask, “What else could explain this result?” and “What would have happened if we did nothing?”
• Listen to Emergent Results: Don’t just look for what you planned to happen. Pay attention to unexpected side effects, both positive and negative (e.g., a project intended for education might actually boost the local furniture economy).
• Communicate Failures for Redesign: Use evidence of “non-success” not as a reason to cancel projects, but as a map for how to redesign them (e.g., shifting micro-credits toward those with demonstrated entrepreneurial skills).

References

Key Figures:

• Dr. Carlos Muñoz Piña (Speaker): Universidad del Medio Ambiente and Director of Global Research at the World Resources Institute (WRI).
• Esther Duflo: Nobel Prize winner in Economics (referenced for her work on Randomized Control Trials and micro-finance).
• Abhijit Banerjee: Co-recipient of the Nobel Prize (referenced alongside Duflo).

Concepts & Methodologies:

• Randomized Control Trials (RCTs): The scientific method of testing policy effectiveness.
• Counterfactual: The “parallel world” scenario used for comparison.
• Internal/External Validity:** Concepts from research design regarding the applicability of results.

Case Studies:

• Micro-finance in Hyderabad: How repayment didn’t equal poverty reduction.
• Smart Billing in Bangalore: How city-wide data revealed the true impact of energy-saving tips.
• Watershed Restoration in Brazil: How coaching vs. training affected funding success rates.

Knowledge Base Categories:
1) Funding & Strategy
2) Weaving Methods

Gathering Evidence for Better Weaving was originally published in WeavingLab on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Summary

This session introduces a pan-African dialogic approach that shifts group communication from rigid, fear-based structures of control into love-based systems of care, trust, and authentic belonging. Moving away from academic elite lectures, the co-founders share AVD’s history and core frameworks and test how ancestral concepts like Ubuntu and intentional listening function as tools for systems change.

Key Learning Points

• The Essence of Nia: Nia is an Arabic and Kiswahili term representing the deepest intention of one’s being directed toward a higher, collective purpose
• The Reality of Ubuntu: Rooted in pan-African philosophy, Ubuntu mirrors the interconnected truth that “I am because you are; you are because I am,” making community care a biological requirement
• The Three Ps Framework: Systemic organizational health relies on balancing three foundational dimensions:
  i) People First: Prioritizing the human being over titles, ensuring individuals belong before they prove value
  ii) Process: Honoring cyclical, un-rushed timeframes, understanding that true development cannot be rushed or instant
  iii) Potential: Actively centering the future by focusing heavily on marginalized and youth perspectives
• The Four Cs of Generative Dialogue: True relational weaving flows sequentially through four evolutionary phases:
  Connecting a space
  Conversing comfortably
  Co-creating solutions without an expert, and
  Committing to shared humanity
• Presence over Performance: Mainstream professional conferences reward performative expertise and academic models while systematically silencing raw, authentic stories of lived human experience
• The Metronome Effect: Building a resilient meta-network relies on the absolute continuity of intent and a steady rhythm of regular gatherings rather than sporadic events

Key Action Points

• Transition to Love-Based Systems: Consciously replace institutional structures that default to fear, command, and false certainty with practices of curiosity, compassion, and open wills
• Foreground Relationship Before Action: Prioritize and secure deep baseline conditions of trust among diverse stakeholders before attempting to launch specific project actions
• Deconstruct the Elite Academic Gate: Open up organizational dialogue spaces to incorporate non-traditional leaders, refugee camp builders, and youth instead of relying strictly on credentialed experts
• Practice Exquisite Quality Attention: Train facilitators to suspend personal judgments, hold immediate assumptions, and listen with extreme emotional generosity
• Adopt the Vulnerable Cold-Call Method: Introduce low-threat verbal passes during online sessions to ensure all hidden, quiet voices are brought into the circle.
• Execute the 10-Minute Relational Segment: Structure rapid breakout circles of 5–6 people specifically instructed to bypass abstract theory and share visceral, real-world stories of personal care
• Enforce Strict Equality of Thought Passing: Require participants in a circle to explicitly hand off speech blocks to one another (e.g., “Hi, I’m Robin; Andrew, what do you think?”) to secure equal time

References

• The Presencing Institute (referenced regarding the core methodologies of opening the mind, heart, and will)
• O’Donohue, J. For the Senses (the opening lyrical invocation poetry text)
• The Ubuntu Lab Organization (the allied continental network platform practicing decolonized systemic frameworks)
• The IXY 2020 Conference Proceedings (the Marrakech foundational baseline event out of which the network was co-founded)

Knowledge Base Categories:
1) Diversity And Inclusion
2) Weaving Methods

Weaving in Voices: An African Dialogic Practice was originally published in WeavingLab on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Summary

This session looked at ‘Social System Mapping’ as a way of synthesising social network analysis, asset mapping, and system mapping. The focus was visual representations of a network to accelerate relational and cognitive shifts within a community.

Key Learnings

• The “Vortex” Theory of Change: Mapping is not a one-time product but a recurring cycle of “acting, mapping, and reflecting.” This process creates a converging momentum that shifts both how we relate to each other and how we understand complex systems.
• The Two Essential Shifts:
  1. Relational Shift: Moving from a “separate self” to an “interdependent self” by fostering trust and belonging.
  2. Cognitive Shift: Moving from “linear/mechanistic thinking” to “complexity thinking,” becoming wise agents of systemic change.
• The Four “Character Carriers”: For a map to become a living support tool, four distinct perspectives are needed:
  i) Visionary: Sees the potential for a map and makes it happen
  ii) Technician: Handles the data gathering and visualization (using tools like sumApp and Kumu)
  iii) Sensemaker: Facilitates groups to navigate the complexity of the map and see emergent patterns
  iv) Storyteller: Creates a “through-line” to explain *why* the network is mapping and what is being learned.
• Visual vs. Textual Learning: Visual maps enter the mind through different pathways than linear text, fostering a more “embodied” understanding of a community’s web of relationships.
• Mapping “Energy”: While maps show dots and lines, they can reflect “energy” by visualizing where people cluster, where they collaborate, or where “appreciations” are densely concentrated.

Key Actions

• Move Beyond the “Directory” Phase: Don’t just use a map as a list of people. Use it to find “islands of coherence” and clusters of shared interest that can be leveraged for action.
• Start Simple and Layer Complexity: Begin mapping individuals and their basic connections. Only add organizational layers or complex resource mapping once the community feels comfortable with the basic tool.
• Engage in “Adaptive Action”: Use the “What? So what? Now what?” cycle to assess map data and take small, experimental steps to strengthen the network.
• Use the Map as an “Oracle”: Use it for interpersonal inquiry — randomly exploring profiles to spark unexpected connections and “quantum entanglement” between members.
• Develop “Discerning” Skills: Help network members move past the initial “overwhelm” of a map by teaching them to filter out noise and focus on the specific signals (questions) they need to answer.

— — -

References

Speaker:
Christine Capra: Co-founder of *Greater Than the Sum* and lead developer of the Social System Mapping methodology.
Denise Challenger & Ben Roberts: Leads of the Weaving Lab mapping team.

Software & Technology:
sumApp: A tool for gathering complex relational data for networks.
Kumu: A data visualization platform used to render the final interactive map.

Methodologies & Frameworks:
The Vortex: A theory of transformation for social system mapping.
SNA (Social Network Analysis): The technical foundation of network mapping.
Adaptive Action Cycle: (Human Systems Dynamics) “What? So what? Now what?”

Knowledge Base Categories:
1) Weaving Methods
2) Diversity And Inclusion

Social System Mapping for Network Weaving was originally published in WeavingLab on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Summary

This session explored the ancient craft of physical weaving as a mirror for the contemporary practice of “network weaving.” By engaging in a hands-on cordage exercise, participants explored the relationship between the material, the maker, and the emergent form, finding parallels in how we build human connections and systemic change.

Key Learnings

• Thinking with the Hands: When the technical process of weaving moves into the “hands,” the “head” becomes free. This shift allows for deeper reflection and more authentic conversation to emerge within a group.
• The Nature of Chaos Weaving: Unlike traditional, highly structured weaving, “chaos weaving” (or bird/random weaving) starts with a simple foundation (three interlocking circles) but allows the final form to be a discussion between the weaver and the material.
• Tension as Strength: Just as physical cordage relies on the tension of two strands twisting together to create strength, human relationships require a healthy balance of tension and patience to become resilient.
• Material as the Authority: In weaving (and networking), the “material” has its own limits and nature. Forcing a specific idea onto the material leads to kinks and breaks; successful weaving requires listening and responding to what is actually present.
• The “Third Object” in Community: Engaging in a shared physical activity (the “third thing”) acts as a catalyst for communication. People often share more deeply when their primary focus is on a shared craft rather than direct therapeutic or strategic questioning.

Key Actions

• Practice “Connecting Before Content”: Use simple, tactile exercises like making cordage to ground a group and build “relationality” before tackling complex strategic tasks.
• Embrace “Scaling Deep”: Focus on the quality and strength of relationships (the “braiding”) rather than just accumulating a high volume of thin, extractive connections.
• Value Silence in Weaving: Recognize that much of the work of building a network happens in the “silence between words” — the quiet, steady work of being present with others.
• Work with “What Is”: Practice humility by acknowledging the reality of the present moment. Instead of imposing an abstract plan, ask “What does the material (the current situation) want to do?”
• Integrate “Words and Weaves”: Combine physical craft or embodied practices with writing or dialogue to create a “container of perception” that can be felt, carried, and used.

— — -

References & Tools

Speakers:

Dr. Gina Mafi: Researcher and basket-weaving apprentice; author of reflections on “autoethnographic weaving.”
Dave Pendle: Serial weaver and founder of Phenomenal Conversations.
Donald & Mari Winnicott: the concept of the “third object” in relationship building.
Tim Ingold: Anthropologist on the “process” vs. the “product” of a basket.

Methodologies & Concepts:

• Chaos Weaving (Bird/Random Weave): A technique starting from three circles that allows for emergent forms.
• Cordage Making: The fundamental skill of twisting fibers into a strong, unified strand.
• OD for Life (Organizational Development for Life): The network where the presenters met.

Literary References:

• The Journey: An opening poem
• Co-sensed with Radical Tenderness: A poem/concept from the *Gesturing Towards Decolonial Futures* collective.

Knowledge Bank Categories:
1) Inner Work
2) Weaving Methods

Chaos Weaving was originally published in WeavingLab on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Summary

This session focussed on the “Polica model,” a systemic framework that transforms marginal territories into living labs for sustainable innovation, rooted in the values of the Mediterranean diet, regenerative agriculture, and interconnected human-environmental health. Operating from an Italian campus established in 2020, the project manages over 90 diverse initiatives and aims to replicate this model across at least 500 global territories, with ongoing expansions in Florence and Japan.

The concept of “slow weaving,” community empowerment, and the vital role of storytelling over rigid methodologies were all discussed, concluding that frameworks must be held lightly to encourage co-creation and restore intergenerational trust.

Key Learning Points

• The Power of Territory and Place: Connecting global food and sustainability challenges to ancestral roots, hyper-local identity, and living regional heritage acts as a powerful ecosystem baseline.
• Integral Ecology and Core Balance Pillars: True sustainable transformation requires maintaining balance across six strictly interconnected areas:
  i) Political vision
  ii) Care for the earth
  iii) Human health
  iv) Societal interaction (co-creation/cooperating)
  v) Cultural heritage preservation
  vi) Stable economic pillar.
• The “Living Lab” Concept over Traditional Classrooms: Offices and environments should function as open living labs embedded directly inside communities. These labs foster challenge-based co-learning, engaging diverse generations, public stakeholders, and private actors.
• Systemic Ecosystem Solutions vs. Isolated Silos: Traditional incubators often look for narrow, siloed technical answers (e.g., alternative proteins or plastic fixes). To succeed long-term, initiatives must approach complex environmental issues via systemic frameworks rather than throwing isolated investments at individual issues.
• The True Mediterranean Diet Framework: Beyond nutrition, the Mediterranean diet historically acts as a complete cultural structure and way of living (“dieta”), focused heavily on regenerative agricultural practices, community time sharing, biodiversity, and soil preservation.
• The Limitations of Playbooks and Methodologies: A rigid framework or playbook is a crystallization of a single point in time. If a framework doesn’t keep a community dynamically alive and shifting with real context, it should be discarded or adapted heavily.

Key Action Points

• Abstract and Replicate via Playbooks (Not Scale Up): Rather than blindly copying or imposing top-down blueprints into a geography like “aliens,” weavers should abstract successful localized models (such as the Polica model prototype) to co-create, adapt, and reshape frameworks to suit unique local community dynamics.
• Incorporate Social Arts and Playful Formats: Utilize social arts, folklore, theater, music, and performance to engage citizens dynamically. Playful and intuitive reconnection forms make it easier for diverse age groups to attach to the land and community compared to static academic conferences.
• Hold Methodologies Lightly: Ensure structured models are held loosely to protect the overall flow and avoid shutting down the “field of possibility.” Structures should inspire reflective conversations and emergence rather than serving as rigid boundaries.
• Practice “Slow Weaving”: Avoid compressing time and fast-thinking patterns. Allow shared understanding to grow at natural intervals, embracing relational, community-driven pacing reminiscent of the “slow food” movement.
• Rebuild Deep Institutional & Generational Trust: Intentionally design spaces that breach cultural boundaries, creating explicit, long-term feedback bridges among groups historically lacking trust (e.g., youth and elders, public sectors and private startups, farmers and politicians).
• Leverage Local Storytelling / “Song Lines”: Move global collaboration forward by combining gentle environmental maps or “song lines” with powerful storytelling, as stories serve as the primary fuel for spreading systemic inspiration.

References

1. Pope Francis. (2015). Laudato si’: On care for our common home (Encyclical letter framing the 6 pillars of integral ecology referenced in the session).
2. UNESCO. Emblematic Communities of the Mediterranean Diet (Cultural heritage frameworks utilized to map out the foundational project).
3. UN United Nations. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) & COP21 Paris Agreement (The macro-level metrics utilized within the global foundation tracking framework).

Knowledge Base Categories:
1) Regen And Wellbeing
2) Weaving Methods

Future Lands: Weaving a Sustainable Future Through Integral Ecology was originally published in WeavingLab on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Summary

This session used associative and somatic exercises to unpack collective, often conflicted, preconceptions of power. Drawing on shamanic perspectives and her own physical healing journey, Conte redefined power not as a monolithic tool for domination, but as a fluid capacity to move energy through nested systems. A framework of 36 distinct types of power was presented in two categories:

1) “power that serves the whole”- generating flow, connection, and regeneration

2) “shadow power,” — dominance over others or (self-sabotaging) power surrendered

Key Learnings

• Redefining Power as a Capacity: Power is defined not as a static resource or monolithic force, but as the capacity to move energy through systems. Because it is a capacity, it is fluid; it can be actively tended, expanded, or ignored and left to atrophy. It is electrical in nature, encompassing both illuminating/exhilarating forms and searing/numbing elements.
• The Two Forms of Conducted Power: Every individual acts as a conductor for two overarching expressions of power:
• Shadow Power: Rooted in the illusion of separation and the belief that we are inherently better or worse than others. Its markers include blockages, confusion, disconnection, exhaustion, and systemic degeneration.
• Power that Serves the Whole: Rooted in the truth of absolute interdependence, interconnection, and sovereignty. Its markers are flow, clarity, aliveness, belonging, and systemic regeneration.
• The Anatomy of Shadow Power: Shadow power operates through a pendulum that traps leaders in a continuous cycle:
• Power Over: Dominance, control, judgment, aggression, and treating others as “less than”.
• Power Given Away: Feeling like a helpless victim or artificially shrinking one’s own capabilities. For heart-centered leaders and network weavers, dimming or sabotaging their own “shine” due to a fear of becoming a power abuser is a hidden, inward form of violence that is just as detrimental to the systemic web as outward dominance.
• Shadow Power as a Sensei: Instead of being demonized, shadow power should be embraced as an internal teacher or “sensei”. It naturally manifests whenever individuals approach their growth edges, highlighting exactly where they still perceive themselves as small or flawed.
• The 36 Types of Power: There are 36 core types of power (or “base codes”) that express across five nested scales of existence. For instance, caretaking power in its whole form uplifts others while maintaining healthy personal boundaries, whereas its shadow form manifests as over-giving to the point of exhaustion and eventual resentment.

Key Action Points

• Track Internal Puppeteers: Shift the focus from strictly identifying and fighting external power abuses (e.g., in capitalism, white supremacy, or oppressive structures) to tracking how your own internal shadow power holds you back or controls your center.
• Deploy Upfront Power Literacy: Rather than waiting for conflicts to arise and focusing on reactive repair work, introduce power definitions, baseline dynamics, and self-awareness tools at the very beginning of organizational changes, coaching engagements, or community programs.
• Practice Staying Located in Your Center: Train yourself to remain firmly centered in the face of both internal anxieties and external resistance (such as encountering individuals operating from closed, non-sharing, or dominant mindsets).
• Build Capacity for the “Muchness”: Treat network weaving as active capacity building. Commit to regular self-reflection to expand your energetic threshold, enabling you to sit comfortably with the overwhelming complexity and “muchness” of systemic transformation.
• Skip the Lose-Win Trap: Consciously bypass the retaliatory “win-lose to lose-win” societal pendulum. Actively design network spaces to move immediately toward unifying, relational “win-win” structures by recognizing that the whole ocean of biodiversity and potential resides within each participant.

References

1. Mary Parker Follett (Early 20th-century management theorist who pioneered the distinctions of Power-Over versus Power-With).
2. José Luis Stevens (Shamanic definition of power as the process of taking ever-increasing responsibility for oneself).
3. Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī (The Orchard and the Orchard Keeper metaphor regarding internal consciousness).

Knowledge Base Categories:
1) Diversity And Inclusion
2) Inner Work

Reimagining Power as a Force for Interconnection and Innovation was originally published in WeavingLab on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Summary

Mette Boell introduced the Centre for Systems Awareness and the Compassionate Systems Framework, focussed mainly on Compassionate Systems education.

Key Learning Points

• Systemic Compassion: Compassion is viewed as a “systemic property of mind,” where individuals learn to appreciate the systemic forces influencing their own and others’ actions. See Compassionate Systems Framework
• Interdependence: A core realization is that we are in a continual cause-and-effect relationship with the systems around us — local, organizational, and societal. See Spheres of Systems Change
• Inner Work for Outer Change: Real systems change requires a shift in “showing up,” thinking, and feeling, rather than just changing external structures. See Fostering Hope for our Future Lecture
• Empathy vs. Compassion: Empathy is the innate capacity to sense emotions, while compassion adds the cognitive understanding of systemic forces and the active intention to alleviate suffering.

Key Action Points

• Grounding Practices: Initiate sessions with grounding exercises, such as quiet breathing, to help participants reflect on their own state before connecting with others.
• Reflective Journaling: Use journals to give language to current mindsets and to extend the quiet space created during grounding.
• Systems Mapping: Utilize tools to identify and link factors relevant to a problem, helping to visualize how one change can have widespread, often unexpected, impacts.
• Applying Framework Tools: Use specific models like the Iceberg Model (to see underlying structures) and the Ladder of Inference (to reflect on decision-making processes). [1, 2]

Key References

• Peter Senge: The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization.
• Anthony Damasio: The Feeling of What Happens: Body and Emotions in the Making of Consciousness.
• Riane Eisler & Douglas Fry: Nurturing Our Humanity: How Domination and Partnership Shape Our Brains, Lives, and Future.
• The Center for Systems Awareness: Founded by Peter Senge and Mette Boëll, this center is the primary source for Compassionate Systems methodology.
• What is Compassionate Education by Jacob Martin

Knowledge Base Categories:
1) Inner Work
2) Weaving Methods

Compassionate Systems Change was originally published in WeavingLab on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.