Sea Change

In this season we have explored how organisations are designing collaborative approaches to address different kinds of social problems and in different sectors. All the organisations we have spoken to talk about understanding the needs of their users, about co-creating solutions with them, and about humility. In this episode we exploring how to build the ecosystems necessary for social change. What can we learn from the many new and interesting initiatives that are bringing the citizen, the state and private sector together? How can we build networks and what are the best ways to govern these systems? For more information go to www.societalplatform.org

When you think of the word disruption, you would think of something unexpected, that came in and completely changed the way you lived. But disruption in the development sector looks very different. In this episode we explore design. The organisations we speak to have different approaches, operate in different domains, and are at different points in their journey. But equally, they are all asking the same questions: How do you share the ability to solve a problem? How do you design to share control with others, so that they can act in their own best interests and improve their well being? Are there any fundamental principles they can share from their experiences so far? We get a glimpse into the process of actively designing for societal change.

We are now less than ten years away from 2030, that’s the year we are meant to have achieved the Sustainable Development Goals. How close are we to achieving these goals ? The crises we face today in the world do not change the problems we’ve committed to solving like ending poverty and eradicating hunger, ensuring access to clean water and ensuring the good health and wellbeing of all the people on this planet. And we have to wonder, do we have the right systems and structures to harness on the power of our collective ingenuity, and do it in a way that reflects the diversity of the world we live in? In this episode we look at social purpose organizations that are experimenting or transitioning to new ways of working, and we find out what their journeys have taught them about sustainable inclusive systems. And in the cases you will hear, we will find out how crucial networks can be; how simple solutions can build empathy, and how much of an impact it can have on users, when organisations constantly course-correct to put their stakeholders at the centre. For more information, go to www.societalplatform.org/podcast

Sea Change is back. In season 2, join us as we catch up with the curators of the societal platform approach and meet new organisations as they apply the principles of collaborative thinking and network effects to their work. We learn about what happens when organizations working in agriculture, education, finance and health transform their processes so that they can create more opportunities for agency and diversity to thrive within their systems. Sea Change is co-produced by Societal Platform and Vaaka Media. For more information, go to www.societalplatform.org

In our final episode, we try and understand what it takes to ensure that ‘collaboration’ happens in an equitable way, in a mutually beneficial way, and in a way that respects diversity. We also explore what it means for different groups – governments, markets, citizens and society to truly envision a sea change in the way they think and practice development. And finally, change requires specific types of investment and time, where will all this come from?

In episode two of Sea Change, "Not for the few, but for the many", we hit the road to see what societal platform thinking looks like in real life, learn from experts about how grassroots organisations scale up, and then meet a group of doctors and researchers who have re-imagined how to bring medical expertise and skills to remote regions and communities. And finally we meet the people building the infrastructure necessary to make systemic advancements in education.

In this first episode of Sea Change, “Another way of seeing”, we speak to a group of people who set audacious goals, like transforming how children learn, how people access capital, or healthcare - but they don’t believe in focusing only on solutions. They believe that societal problems can also be addressed through approaches that seek a sea change, a systemic change in the way we do things. Technology has become an undeniable fact of our lives, and as it simultaneously transforms how we live, work, and what we aspire towards, it has a huge role to play in providing a foundation for organizing and amplifying state, market, and civil society responses to societal issues. The group of people you will hear from collaborate to build technology that does just that, but are also interested in how we shape thinking and our understanding of societal issues so that we can co-create inclusive, empowering and most importantly, powerful responses that can reach populations at a time.

Welcome to Sea Change, a show about societal change in the digital age and how to make a bigger, faster and more inclusive impact in the world we live in. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher or whereever you get your podcasts! Do it today so you don't miss a single episode.