- I was glad to be able to attend the European Evaluation Society conference in Rimini last week. I was particularly pleased to hear Zenda Ofir, Bagele Chilisa and Yvonne Pinto share their reflections on the importance of crossing borders, respecting differences, and building bridges to enhance the diversity and inclusion of evaluation practices.

- For those who weren’t able to be in Italy – including colleagues for whom visa challenges and costs presented insurmountable barriers – here is my AI-supported summary of the discussion. It also includes my notes from two of the three books that Zenda mentioned, by Tyson Yunkaporta (Sand Talk) and Richard E Nisbett (The Geography of Thought). I have notes on Jeremy Lent’s The Web of Meaning, if you’re interested, but not on The Patterning Instinct (cos I’ve not read it!).

- For those who wish to dig deeper, the audio file of the recording I made can be found here

- If the European Evaluation Society recorded the presentation and make it available, I’ll be sure to link to that from this post.

- Oh, and here is my recent piece on systems, innovation, diversity and inclusion

- I’m in Rimini, Italy, this week for the European Evaluation Society conference – say hello if you’re here and fancy a chat! Looking forward to meeting friends old and new and exploring the landscape of evaluation and learning to support efforts to address complex social challenges.

- Long day of travel yesterday, with lots of time for catching up on podcasts and videos, and limping around on my ruptured calf :-(

- I loved this podcast on "Relating with Change" with Anna Birney and Sean Andrew, which got me thinking about what my ecological niche is in the landscape of people and organizations trying to understand and address complex social challenges.

- The podcast also reminded me of this upcoming course, facilitated by the School of Systems Change, on MEL learning and practice.

- I also really appreciated Bec Davison on transformational leadership in complex systems – full of deep, authentic and stimulating insights informed by many years of rich experience at the sharp end of supporting people, organisations and communities grappling with complex and challenging circumstances. For more, see rippleshift.co.uk

- I also watched and listened to Thomas Hubl on attunement, sensemaking, integration, healing and emergence and to Jennifer Macklin on Behavioural Systems Mapping, bringing together a focus on individual/organisational behaviours, and the systems/contexts/environments that they are part of and help to create.

- Oh, and to Aidan Eyakuze interviewing President Ruto of Kenya about his commitment to open governance, with the recent youth-led protests and associated violence in Kenya an important part of the picture. I was pleased to see the (uncomfortable looking) representative from the British High Commission raise those aspects, and the challenges of implementing commitments, explicitly, if diplomatically.

- A rich day of learning and limping!

- My reflections on conversations about systems innovation, and the importance of both unpacking the diversity of approaches, and intentionally including a greater diversity of traditions.

- With thanks to Joss Colchester, Kecia Bertermann, Irene Guijt, Arbie Baguios, Suzane Muhereza and all the organizers, presenters and participants at the 2024 Systems Innovation conference in London.

- My reflections on the second get together of the Sussex Seaside Systems Socials crew, with a gentle prompt of “what sorts of systems are you interested in, and why?”

- I’m looking forward to two days of rich, warm and insightful connections at the Systems Innovation conference in London over the next couple of days.

- I’m especially looking forward to hearing Karima Kadaoui and Louis Klein talking about the Tamkeen Community Foundation for Human Development (thanks to Marcus Jenal for making me aware of this), and to exploring the question – to quote Karima – of "How can societies be an expression of humanity and love?"

- My notes from an excellent May 2024 discussion on "governance systems for a humanising society", with Michael Lerner too, are here.

- If you are going to the conference, and fancy a chat, please do say hello!

- “The more connected we are today, the more change we can make tomorrow.”

- I LOVE the Roddenberry Foundation’s +1 Global Fund.

- Radically inclusive grant-making to support frontline organisations that are best placed to tackle development challenges..

- “Charting a path towards a more inclusive, resilient and connected world.”

- Putting an ecosystems and emergence approach to social change into practice, and then some.

- One of my most substantive pieces, informed by engagement over the last several months with Kecia Bertermann, and discussions with other funders. Bringing together various strands of my explorations of ecosystems, emergence and social change, with a particular focus on implications for funders

- My reflections on a stimulating post by Marcus Jenal about "two meta-problems that should inform learning and evaluation" (anticipation and salience/focus), and about meaning, fulfillment, purpose and connection.

- Discussion on Linked-In here

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- Thanks for sharing these reflections Marcus. Two sets of thoughts were stimulated for me:

- First, about the blend of effort one might give to learning from the past, and anticipating the future, in order to respond well to one’s experience in the present.

- This – being aware of patterns in the past, present and emerging future – is a theme that came up strongly for me in the Complexity Inside and Out course I did earlier this year with Chris Corrigan and Caitlin Frost. It was also touched on by Jean Boulton in her wonderful comments on the work of Yuen Yuen Ang (at 49:30)

- Two, the merging of and emphasis on connectedness and mattering in your write up of Vervaeke’s thinking about meaning, and – given that two of his three ingredients are about connection – in McGilchrist. This resonates very much for me, having spent quite a bit of time in the last month or so considering my purpose, values, meaning, interests, and ways of being, with making more, new and richer my (natural) response to those explorations. It also reminds me strongly of Jeremy Lent’s excellent book on the web of meaning.