The call of our times

Dialogue with a virusSystems Thinking
Written By collaboratio helvetica

It’s strange to be consciously witnessing history unfolding. The complexity and amount of information can at times be overwhelming. So many different perspectives to consider, so many unknowns, and so many questions. Much has been written about the topic, from Otto Scharmer’s Eight Emerging Lessons to Sandrine Dixson-Declève, Kate Rawort et. al’s Green Reboot and Charles Eisenstein’s Coronation. In this blog, we would like to share what collaboratio helvetica’s immediate response has been and what we are now exploring. 

Responsibility

For us, the priority has been to be aware of how we react as a system. Can we come from a place of care, rather than scarcity and fear? Can we show solidarity, to the individuals within our system, and to those outside of it? As we risk our health systems becoming overwhelmed and losing even more lives, there is a strong call for solidarity to flatten the curve. Even though it’s not mandatory in Switzerland, our government is urging the population to practice social distancing. This is why, true to our commitment to embody our principles, we decided to all practice social distancing and work from home until further notice. We had long check-ins, listening to how the team was coping with the situation, and tried to secure everyone’s livelihoods. Then, on the level of our activities and output as a team, we took a conscious decision to pause, re-evaluate our priorities and shift our plans accordingly. We recognise the possibility to work flexibly from home, having a supportive community and being able to quickly adjust to new situations is a privilege not to be taken for granted.

Regeneration

In this situation, we, the collaboratio helvetica team, hear a call to slow down, pause, and reflect. On all of our choices, individual and collective, that have led us right up to this moment. On the root causes of this situation, and the many other challenges and inequities of our own making we are facing as a species. Never before have there been more people unexpectedly plugged out of their jobs and left to wonder what this life is all about. We hope this time of physical distancing and focus on basic necessities will help us see more clearly and re-align our lives with the values we hold. As all of us increasingly rely on each other rather than externalising our needs through money, we hope it will help strengthen the social fabric again. As human activity decreases and nature begins to regenerate, we hope this both shows us what’s possible and reminds us how life on this planet can be. We hope this time will remind many of us what truly matters in our own lives and that it will contribute to bringing about the systemic change that we desperately need for a societal transformation towards more ecological responsibility and common good. Without downplaying the scale of the crisis and extent of suffering it is causing, we focus on what is under our sphere of influence and are asking ourselves how we are now called to respond and serve. Could this be a nudge towards societal renewal and planetary healing?

Systemic change

Will we find ways to transition to ways to meet humanities’ needs that leave the air pure, or will the smog return once the lockdown is over? Will it get more difficult to breathe as the machine picks up speed again? All of us can contribute to defining which direction we should now move in. There’s a massive focus on fighting the symptoms such as research on vaccines and measures to contain the spread of the virus, which is understandable given the urgency, and yet we hope that the conversation soon shifts to the root causes of not just this pandemic but also future ones. For example, let’s talk about how factory farms are breeding grounds for influenza and how human assault on wildlife habitat is creating pathways for new illnesses. Whilst we tend to focus on what is immediate and present in the media, we need not forget about lasting threats to humanity, such as climate change and hunger, that are stemming from these same or related root causes: our lifestyles and the unsustainable systems we have built and still partake in. The very systems and industries that we can now choose to renew and reinvent, or scramble to maintain. Who will be funded with our taxes and why? Who is too big to fail and who is too small to be considered? This is really a call to clarify what is important to us, what is deserving of our time, energy and financial investment, on an individual and collective level.

Emergence

What collaboratio helvetica stands for and the messages we share on occasions such as this guest lecture at ETH a few weeks back thus seem more relevant than ever. As we face this situation collectively, it’s imperative we take time to pause and make space to inquire into the root causes and explore the possibilities of a fundamental shift. Staying in a state of busyness and jumping to (re)action may be comforting but if that’s what we focus on, we will fail to address what got us into this situation in the first place. From there, it is bound to repeat itself. Collaboratio helvetica, the Presencing Institute and other initiatives are creating spaces to support all of us in choosing a different path. There are few things we know, and we can adjust our actions accordingly: choosing to stay home if this is available to us, offering help to the vulnerable people in our communities and being grateful to all those upholding key roles for the public health. There are other things, many, many more, which we don’t know. COVID-19, if anything, is an invitation to accept what we do not have control over and stay with the questions that arise. An invitation to grow our capacity to be at ease with uncertainty and complexity, and become curious about what emerges, so that we may work with it rather than resist or remain frozen.

Prototyping

With this blog, we are kicking off a series of explorations around what these times are calling us to be and do. By tuning into the perspective of a variety of authors, we will shed light on the different experiences, challenges and opportunities this crisis opens. We will weave the insights and questions shared in those blogs into deep virtual spaces we will open, such as the bi-weekly space for the Swiss community as part of GAIA we are initiating. GAIA is an impromptu global infrastructure for sensemaking, for leaning into our current moment of disruption and letting this moment move us toward civilizational renewal. Every Friday morning, we will host the Swiss GAIA exhales, a virtual space of 1.5h to get creative, take action on collective needs and explore synergies. These calls will serve the needs of the swiss community, hence we will prototype what the best format is as we go.

Ecosystem awareness

Further, considering the importance of online spaces and community at the moment, we are opening up the platform, to everyone under the gift scheme. Giving access to this online infrastructure seems like a key step for us to contribute to stronger networks and increased collaboration. Practising our principle of ecosystem awareness, we will keep exploring what collaboratio helvetica is meant to contribute and are inviting everyone to sense into this as well. What is the call of our times? What is the call that you hear, right where you are? We are already seeing many new explorations, connections and collaborations emerge and can’t wait to see what will unfold over the next months. It is more than ever time to pull together and make use of the many synergies that lie dormant. It is on us to change what we would like to see change and co-create the world that we want to live in. We hope to see you there!

Call to action:

  • Join the collaboratio community to connect with others, find mutual support and inspiration

  • Sign up to our newsletter to receive updates

  • Join the GAIA journey and Swiss exhales if you’d like to connect with a larger group of people exploring these questions

  • Spend some time reflecting on the following question: 

    • how do you feel? 

    • What are your values and how can you live them today? 

    • What do you feel called to let go off? 

    • What does this situation teach you?

  • Bring a cup of your favourite beverages, and join the Zoom call for our weekly community check-in at 19.30 each Thursday  - see the Events list on the platform for more information

  • Join the virtual dialogue evenings each Tuesday at 18.30-20.00 - see the Events list on the platform for more information

Sources and links for further information: 

Nora Wilhelm is the Co-Founder and Catalyst of collaboratio helvetica. She has a background in youth engagement and active citizenship (European Youth Parliament) and specialised in collaboration, self-organisation, ecosystem leadership, systemic change and social innovation. Beyond facilitating multi-stakeholder processes and social innovation labs as well as promoting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), she is a renowned young leader, advocate and speaker, recognised for her work by the Swiss government, UNESCO, Forbes 30 under 30 and other institutions.

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