Design for Systemic Change
Systemic change means a total transformation of a society’s values and structures. By thinking about systemic change in our civic processes, we are thinking beyond ourselves and our time, to the legacies that we will leave for generations to come.
It’s no secret that the world we live in isn’t a perfect place. We’ve often ignored recurring problems and injustices, and they’ve deeply rooted themselves in our societies over time. These are issues that unless addressed and tackled at their source will always continue to grow.
When we design public processes, we must remember we’re operating and working in a specific context, loaded with cultures, histories, structures, values, and failures. Given our unique context, when we think about individual civic process or engagements, we need to think about how that one event or engagement fits into the broader system. For instance, is it reinforcing the same unhealthy power relationships? And individual public engagement efforts should be thought of at a larger scale. How can these, in combination with other projects and events, lead to a change that addresses society’s problems at their source?
So when a planning team engages the public to tackle a deep-rooted issue head on, they’re joining together with the public to define the issues that need to be addressed. These can range from unfair power dynamics to racial inequalities to restricted freedoms of expression. And while planners have the role of helping the public understand society’s system at large, its structures, values, and the mental models that put it into place, the public offers valuable insights and knowledge from having lived within them.
At the same time, when we design civic engagement efforts by asking the public what our critical challenge is, we’re also empowering the public to define the change that’s needed. When the public proposes the solutions, the planner’s role is to lead the public in thinking about the possible consequences of those solutions, and the underlying values we want to plant and grow.
When we think contextually and systematically, and consider the role of a single engagement campaign within our broader system, we’re saying we want want to empower communities to never be disenfranchised again. We want to empower people and communities to have a voice and but also ensure that their voice is heard. We want lasting change to come through real listening and action. We want lasting change to start from the voices of those who have been ignored, and listen to their thoughts about the issues that continue to plague us.
Systematic change means transformation — it’s a total transformation of a society’s values and structures — a holistic look at all its components. By thinking about systematic change in our civic processes, we are thinking beyond ourselves and our time, to the legacies that we will leave for generations to come.
Originally published at themove.mit.edu on July 11, 2018.
