Transitioning away from fossil fuels, treating psychosis and the power of awe
A monthly digest of inspiring projects, useful resources and opportunities to create systemic change.
Hello! For anyone new here, this is my monthly digest. Each month I look out for interesting things to share with you from my travels around the internet and conversations with clients and collaborators.
We’re talking culture-shifting campaigns, rallying calls to action, breakthrough technologies, impactful learning experiences, powerful collaborations, exciting jobs... These digests provide you with a monthly dose of inspiration and support for all the brilliant work you do. They’ll also encourage you to look after yourself and everything you need to thrive whilst you do it.
Curating these resources is one of my favourite things to do. I hope you find something here to fuel your growth and feed your soul! I’d love to include what you’re working on. Please reach out if you’ve got something to share with us.
Transitioning away from fossil fuels
I know I’m not alone in feeling a complex mix of emotions in response to COP28. I started to spiral a bit towards the end of the negotiations. Frustrated and confused by the lack of coverage in mainstream news outlets, I turned to individual climate leaders I trust for their assessment. Here’s the analysis that helped me to take stock and get perspective.
David Shukman led the BBC’s coverage of climate change and other environmental issues for nearly 20 years, broadcasting live from as far afield as the Arctic and the Amazon. Since leaving the BBC his goal has been to use every opportunity - whether it’s small groups of business leaders or large audience events - to help explain what’s at stake and to highlight the solutions that are most likely to make a difference. Read his post on the final package being accepted and watch his video explaining a cautiously optimistic sense of things beginning to shift.
Clover Hogan is a 24-year-old climate activist and the founding Executive Director of Force of Nature, the youth non-profit turning climate anxiety into action. She’s worked alongside the world’s leading authorities on sustainability, consulted within the boardrooms of Fortune 50 companies, and counselled heads of state. Her TED talk, 'What to do when climate change feels unstoppable', has been viewed 2 million times. Read the powerful rallying cry she wrote in the final hours of COP28.
Paul Polman is a business leader, climate and equalities campaigner and co-author of of the book ‘Net Positive: how courageous companies thrive by giving more than they take’. He’s best known for his 10 year stint as CEO at Unilever where his personal mission was to galvanise the company to be an effective force for good, an endeavour that consistently placed the organisation first in the world for sustainability and one of the best places to work. I appreciated the frankness of his summary here, not least for his nod to “the true leaders of our time.”
COP28 is a great example of the complexity we have to hold as system changers. We need to remember that it’s possible for two seemingly opposing ideas to be true; that the final agreement has not gone far enough to address the severity of our climate crisis, and that it represents a significant shift by being the first to explicitly call for a transition away from fossil fuels. Many aspects of the COP28 leadership, process and outcome show the lasting presence of dominant systems, but we know that these dominant systems are in decline. We’re seeing the death of these old systems and momentum building around the new, and this always happens in tandem. I like to use the Berkana Institute’s Two-Loops Model below when discussing the work of systems change with my clients.
Whilst I share the deep concern and disappointment of climate scientists and activists this week, I feel encouraged by all the positive signals we’re seeing from emergent systems, the leadership, collaboration and creativity we need to keep 1.5C within reach. I look forward to supporting this momentum and sharing more about it with you here.
If you’re looking for a sobering and inspiring (there’s that complexity again) guide to the climate crisis and what you can do about it, I highly recommend ‘The Future We Choose: Surviving the Climate Crisis’, by Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac.
If you’re working on climate and burning out, you might want to check out this masterclass, ‘Build Your Resilience to Drive Better Change’ hosted by Climate Change Coaches next February.
Mustafa Suleyman is the co-founder and CEO of Inflection AI. Previously he co-founded DeepMind, one of the world's leading artificial intelligence companies. After a decade at DeepMind, Suleyman became vice president of AI product management and AI policy at Google. Michael Bhaskar is a writer and publisher based in the UK, author of The Content Machine, Curation and Human Frontiers. Together they’ve written The Coming Wave, a groundbreaking new guide to the technological revolution just starting, and the transformed world it will create. In it Suleyman establishes “the containment problem”—the task of maintaining control over powerful technologies—as the essential challenge of our age. On the topic of AI, I appreciated this recent piece from
on The AI revolution as an opportunity for writers (the human kind).My former client Pregnant Then Screwed is a charity dedicated to ending the motherhood penalty, supporting tens of thousands of women each year, and successfully campaigning for change. They’ve just launched their State of the Nation Survey. They’re gathering information about experiences of childcare, flexible working, parental leave and pregnancy and maternity discrimination in the UK. The data will be used to influence political party manifestos next year in the run up to the general election. Make sure your experiences are counted here.
Sarah Drinkwater is a solo GP investing in early-stage products with community at their core across Europe and the US. She’s been building communities in tech for over 15 years. Her previous roles include Head of Campus London, Google’s seven storey space for startups designed to democratise access into tech and power collective genius, and leader of Omidyar Network’s Tech and Society Solutions Lab. She has an angel investing portfolio of 36 startups. I loved her recent piece The best communities build worlds.
Developed with hundreds of medical and mental health experts, Reframe is a revolutionary alcohol-related habit change app. Their platform brings together an evidence-based behaviour change program, tools and a supportive community. One for the holiday season/January!
is an experimental newsletter to map, connect and illuminate the fragmented regenerative movement into a symbiotic and synergistic network. Author trained as an earth scientist, interdisciplinary systems thinker and sustainability strategist. He works on bioregional regeneration, systems innovation and nature-based solutions. Every month he shares a regenerative project, practice or paradigm together with a call to action — and connection. I really enjoyed his piece Myceliating Platforms which asks: “what might a mycelial platform look like, one that weaves together individuals, communities and projects, within, between and across networks, in order to catalyse planetary regeneration?”After watching hundreds of startups waste investors’ money on bad marketing hires and expensive, non-scalable tactics, Matt Lerner founded SYSTM to help startups find and pull their big growth levers. Matt spent 15 years as a marketer and G.M. in Silicon Valley, including 10 years at PayPal. Later, as a VC at 500 Startups, he helped startups achieve average growth of 250% in 12 months. His book ‘Growth Levers and How to Find Them’ comes out in January. Join the waitlist and read an excerpt here now.
We Are Feminist Leaders supports individuals and organisations to embed feminist leadership principles into the way they lead and work. Their clients include Oxfam, Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children and UNICEF. Their end-of-year gift is a free reflective practice resource encouraging us to explore practices of silence and speech from a feminist perspective.
Tara Brach’s teachings blend Western psychology and Eastern spiritual practices, mindful attention to our inner life, and a full, compassionate engagement with our world. She has a distinctive voice in Western Buddhism, one that offers a wise and caring approach to freeing ourselves and society from suffering. I’m a big fan of her books and her podcast, and I loved her recent conversation with Dacher Keltner on basic goodness and awe.
While most of the news overwhelms people with negative narratives, Positive News offers a lens on the world that helps give people a fuller picture of reality, supports their wellbeing and empowers them to make a positive difference. They report socially relevant and uplifting stories of progress - ranging from the global boom in renewable energy to cities that are solving homelessness – joining the dots between how people, communities and organisations are changing the world for the better. I found this piece on ‘open dialogue’, a new approach to treating mental illness really interesting.
is a consultant, change leader and author of the book ‘Museums as Agents of Change’. He also writes a great Substack called to provide resources and support for a growing community of changemakers dedicated to building a better future for museums, nonprofits, and beyond. In a recent piece packed with great resources he asks ‘Can museums play a crucial role in bringing people together amidst growing divides?’.Thanks for reading! Please introduce yourself, what you’re working on, and how this resource can be helpful to you on our introductions thread. With subscribers leading systemic change in human rights, venture capital, climate and sustainability, education, psychotherapy, healthcare, media, politics, art, farming, finance, housing and philanthropy and more, System Changers is a diverse community packed full of opportunities to connect and collaborate with others. Let’s get to know each other 🧡
Thank you so much for this! I'm couldn't find however where you talk about treating psychosis....? It was in your post title and I was intrigued as a family member recently experienced a psychotic break.
Tara Brach episode queued, positive news followed, Berkana Institute and We are Feminist leaders noted! Thanks Gen x