Our approach
“I used to think that the top environmental problems were biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse and climate change. I thought that 30 years of good science could address these problems.
I was wrong.
The top environmental problems are selfishness, greed and apathy. To deal with these, we need a cultural and spiritual transformation. And we scientists don’t know how to do that.”
- Gus Speth (former US Advisor on Climate)
The North Star Transition approach:
Create a Transition Lab to accelerate systemic change
The aim of a Transition Lab is to bring together unlikely allies from different disciplines and cultures to reframe problems, identify obstacles of change, co-learn and create novel co-creative solutions, all with the aim of transitioning towards a regenerative system.
We are not yet sure what a regenerative system will look like. What we do know is that it is the opposite of our current degenerative system and that we need to find out what it looks like fast.
A Transition Lab cannot succeed without these essential ingredients:
Acknowledging that there isn’t a single policy answer that exists for the problems we face. A multi-faceted, evolving approach is required.
Requiring that all projects be done at scale – we are not interested in one-acre model farms, no matter how regenerative.
Recognising the hurdles and obstacles that prevent systemic change, particularly powerful interests who simply want the status quo to remain unchanged.
Mapping the Transition Lab approach
While each system is unique, we take a similar approach for all of our Transition Labs:
First, we bring system participants together to map out the system’s failures and disconnects.
Next, we aim to understand how the system is resourced to enable the participants to understand system performance, enhance the adoption of new practices, and engage with those responsible for legislative and regulatory frameworks to facilitate and enable these new practices.
Then we put plans into action. We are not content with just mapping out the system, we participate in change by helping to re-imagine the structure and providing system participants with new resources to drive forward this change.
Finally, we rinse, repeat and keep going, always with the goal of creating a system which enables life to thrive and humanity to flourish.
But there are already plenty of talking shops…
Yes – there are innumerable multi-stakeholder dialogues addressing all our current crises.
The North Star Transition approach is different. We seek action and so we want to connect unconnected stakeholders, left out of the talking shops. We think they can be unlikely allies. Plus, we help them resource their best plans at scale - we aren’t thinking interventions, we seek transformation.
The North Star Transition approach is different
Check out how we apply Transition Lab thinking to our work.