Thank you for joining us for October’s C4FE!
OCTOBER 15, 2024 11:00 – 3:00 ET
We were excited to see so many new faces on October 15th for a special C4FE featured as part of the Relating Systems Thinking and Design Symposium (RSD13). This year was the 13th year the Systemic Design Association (SDA) has organized RSD, and they invited us to lead a mini-symposium focused on flourishing enterprises. The SDA partnered with the Oslo School of Architecture and Design (AHO), OsloMet, and Halogen to bring us RSD13, which took place online from October 12 to 21 and in person from October 19 to 26, 2024.
The FEI-led mini-symposium was guided by Lyn McDonell, an active member of our FEI community and contributor to several of our core projects. These sessions featured thought leaders such as John Ehrenfeld, originator of the “flourishing” concept in our field. John developed this concept through years of new thinking since leaving MIT as a founder of industrial ecology. Alongside John, FEI’s own Peter Jones, an expert in systemic design, led an engaging session that dove into the history, progress, and challenges of flourishing enterprises over the past few decades while also looking to the future. Our second session explored the FEI’s mission, the emerging field of Systemic Management Innovations (SMIs) organizational transformation strategies, case studies, and opportunities for involvement in our project-based workstreams. To conclude, we presented on the Context-Based Sustainability method (CBS), including several projects we have been working on through our partner r3.0 to support the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) in transforming how the SDGs are applied in practice and with REFOCUS, which recently completed a groundbreaking implementation with the City of Nanaimo. Thank you for joining us to learn about enabling transitions toward systemic, strategic management practices and their impact on organizations and communities.
If you were unable to make it to the C4FE event on October 15th, 2024, don’t worry! We’ve captured the key takeaways from the sessions for you below.
Session 1: Ehrenfeld & Jones Fireside Chat
Event Summary
Summary
This fireside chat featured John Ehrenfeld and FEI’s Peter Jones, who traced the concept of flourishing enterprises from its roots in systems thinking to a broader sustainability framework, reflecting on its evolution and future potential. The conversation covered the history, challenges, and future of flourishing enterprises.
Resources from the Community Chat
RSD6: Flourishing Lives in Another World (rsdsymposium.org)
John’s Recent Article: To Reach Flourishing, Turn Right Sharply at the Next Corner: Ingenta Connect
John’s Books – The Right Way to Flourish (johnehrenfeld.com)
Session 2: Enabling a Future of Flourishing Enterprises: Introducing the Flourishing Enterprise Institute
Event Summary
Presentation
Summary
In this session, FEI’s Randy Sa’d, Tim Posselt, and Bernd Herbert discussed systemic management innovations aimed at fostering flourishing enterprises. The session introduced FEI’s mission, explored organizational transformation strategies, and shared case studies on applying new management practices for systemic impact. Randy highlighted upcoming opportunities within the FEI community.
Resources from the Community Chat
Download Flourishing Business Canvas | Flourishing Business
The Human Flourishing Program (harvard.edu)
https://www.futureofflourishing.com/about-us
Program Overview – enterprise-evolution
City of Kitchener—Enterprise Evolution Concept Paper (flourishingenterpriseinstitute.org)
Strategic plan – City of Kitchener
Session 3: Context-Based Sustainability: Toward Authentic, Science- & Ethics-Based Performance Management Practices
Event Summary
Presentation
Summary
This session introduced Context-Based Sustainability (CBS) with Bill Baue and Randy Sa’d. Bill discussed CBS’s role in authentic, science-based performance management and shared pioneering examples, including the City of Nanaimo’s implementation and UN collaboration. The session explored how CBS helps organizations align with sustainable development goals.
Resources from the Community Chat
r3.0 | Redesign for Resilience & Regeneration for a green, inclusive and open economie (r3-0.org)
My Blog – My WordPress Blog (refocussustainability.com)
Thresholds and allocations — Impact Management Platform
RE22_Water-Conflicts.pdf (sfu.ca)
Compared to What? A Three-Tiered Typology of Sustainable Development Performance Indicators (otrasvoceseneducacion.org)
City Plan (nanaimo.ca)
manual-sdpi-2022.pdf (unrisd.org)
Homepage – SDPI Online Platform (unrisd.org)
enterprise-evolution
https://www.r3-0.org/un-sdpi-training/
Context-based sustainability (CBS) | Welcome To Sustainable Organizations