Systemic change is needed to successfully implement the 2030 Agenda and achieve the SDGs in Switzerland as well as to tackle the deeper laying root causes that are driving today's polycrises. In collaboratio helvetica’s understanding, this can only happen with inclusive and participatory approaches and partnerships across sectors and topics. We are convinced that Switzerland has a unique potential to build on its history of collaboration and dialogue across language, religions and other barriers to enable societal transformation.

How to prepare, design and hold space for emerging and transformative collective action. Read here our findings and learnings of the Nova Helvetia journey.

Our vision is that organisations in Geneva and beyond leverage their full potential to use innovation to respond to societal needs by transforming their employees into intrapreneurial leaders, connected to a wider community of changemakers and disruptors that are paving the way for the new economy.

Beim Blick auf die Catalyst Lab Cohort Edition 2 von Collaboratio Helvetica ist mir Celia sofort ins Auge gefallen. Zum einen, weil mich der Satz «Suche Fern. Finde Nah.» gleich in den Bann gezogen hat. Als Reisevogel bin ich viel umhergekommen – und je länger ich unterwegs war und je mehr fremde Kulturen ich gesehen habe, desto stärker wuchs bei mir das Bewusstsein für die Schönheit unserer Breitengrade, den Reichtum unserer Traditionen und meine eigenen (deutschen) Wurzeln.

Having never founded my own NGO or worked in anything other than a commercially oriented company, I’m somewhat an outlier in this year’s Catalyst Lab. As collaboratio helvetica’s mission is to fundamentally change how we work together I was often asked what the difference is between working my day job and supporting the Catalyst Lab team in my communications role. Well then, let’s try to find out.

Hanna und Nils Landolt haben vier Kinder. Und bald eine eigene Schule. Im Glarner Dorf Mollis wollen sie das Schweizer Bildungssystem auf den Kopf stellen – und damit die Volksschule inspirieren.

More and more people agree that we need to work towards systemic change. But how can we define it, and where to begin? Systemic change can be understood as a change in how a system operates from the inside out. Besides deep shifts in the underlying paradigm(s), this includes changes in the Rules, Roles, Relationships and Resources that govern a given system (USAID, 2016).

Systemic thinking is “like a language for describing and understanding, the forces and interrelationships that shape the behaviour of systems” (see more here: Fifth Discipline Fieldbook). With this approach it is possible to get away from the - often only short-term effective - treatment of symptoms and to concentrate on the deeper causes, which are mostly inherent to a system (see also the chapter on Root Causes and the Iceberg Model).

Along my participation in the Catalyst Lab, I have experienced an inner shift in the past months. The Catalyst Lab journey has provided me with valuable insights, a new understanding of my role in my system and deep connections with the most inspiring people. In one of the last modules one of the Catalysts mirrored back to me how he perceived me at the start of the journey and now. It resonated a lot and his correct assumption that I became more open towards other views and in some way more vulnerable allowed me to get into action and activate my ecosystem.

What we usually say is that Radical Collaboration is both a toolset and a mindset. We can practice being together, in relationships with one another and the collective both on a practical level as well as on a more energetic and emotional level. To practice collaboration takes a lifetime to master. In this lifelong practice, we see the Catalyst Lab as a boot camp. In order to bring upon systemic change in the world, improving and deepening your relationships is a key skill and is, unfortunately, often underestimated and practised insufficiently.

Prototyping refers to building or creating a small but essential part of a larger project in order to see if it works as envisioned. It is rooted in ‘doing’ - development, testing, evaluating, reiterating. In the original framework of Theory U, it is the definitive step into concrete action, while staying closely connected to the deep mindset shift that happened in the previous steps of the Catalyst Lab journey and to the source of our intention.

In multi-stakeholder workshops relevant stakeholders from a specific system (for example stakeholders linked to the healthcare system) come together around a specific calling question and topic to explore it in depth together, learn more about different perspectives and experiences, get a deeper understanding of the topic and identify leverage points for change. Ideally multi-stakeholder workshops take place as a series of events, where the same group comes together several times to explore relevant questions.

At collaboratio helvetica we believe in catalysing change by bringing people together and sharing an inner and outer exploratory journey, as a necessary preparation for collective action. What happens in such a collective space, like a Social Innovation Lab?

What takes place in such spaces, including the Catalyst Lab itself, is individual and collective learning. But what is learning, and how can we create and cultivate an environment where it can take place?

"Wir brauchen einen Wandel - aber wie geht das?". Viktoria Waldhäusl im Gespräch mit Nora Wilhelm, Young Leader. Wenn es heißt, in der Jugend läge die Hoffnung, dann ist die 28-jährige Schweizerin Nora Wilhelm der Beweis dafür, dass das stimmt. Inmitten der Hoffnungslosigkeit, bestehend aus Klimawandel und wachsenden ökonomischen Ungleichheiten, zeigt sie neue Wege auf, um sich den komplexen Problemen stellen zu können.

Premier rendez-vous: Pour la première fois, Nina "Naatya" Graifemberg, active dans l'esports suisse et gameuse, rencontre Nora Wilhelm, co-fondatrice de collaboratio helvetica.

During module 5 of the Catalyst Lab, the collaboratio helvetica’s team organised a one-day virtual prototyping workshop. The goal of the prototyping day was to support further the catalysts towards convening their systems and tap into the resources and knowledge of the community. The invitation was to get into a prototyping mindset and discover the benefits of experimenting with rapid prototyping tools, crowdsourcing, and co-creating with other changemakers working on diverse challenges, all while having fun. This workshop took place online due to restrictions linked to covid-19.

Unser Engagement und unsere Intention für eine andere Welt ist oft nicht messbar und doch deutlich spürbar. Dies erschwert die Kommunikation darüber und erfordert noch mehr Selbstvertrauen in unser Wirken. Mich interessieren mittlerweile genau solche, langsamere Prozesse für die noch kein Messgerät erfunden wurde und unsere innersten Werte, Menschlichkeit, Herzens-Intelligenz und Intuition die Richtungen angeben. Das Catalyst Lab hat mich in dieser Demut und Geduld bestärkt, um das Grössere, Verbindende schätzen zu lernen, systemische und strukturelle Verbindungen zu sehen.

„Ich denke an die Zukunft. Ich weiss, dass wir so längerfristig nicht weiter machen können. Wir brauchen einen Wandel. Unsere Zukunft und die der zukünftigen Generationen liegt mir unglaublich am Herzen. Irgendwie habe ich mir das alles besser vorgestellt, als ständig an diese nicht so vielversprechenden Aussichten zu denken. Ich habe dieses Gefühl in mir, dass das alles nicht gerecht ist, und wir das doch ändern können, auch wenn es nur kleine Erfolgsschritte sind...”

Any collaboration has its ups and downs and, if we are paying attention, offers an abundance of learning opportunities for all involved. Even when all are trained in collaboration tools, such as Sociocracy 3.0, and have developed key skills, such as self-awareness and listening, things are bound to go awry at some point.

This toolbox entry describes the dialogue principles we are using in the Catalyst Lab and in other formats like Social Innovation Labs or dialogue evenings. They will give you an idea of the kind of conversation we are inviting when practising dialogue. The dialogue principles serve as a basis for facilitating different dialogue methods, for example, triads, dialogue walks, or fishbowl.