This was the topic covered in the second of the webinars offered this fall at The Circle. Like the rest of this series, the webinar was structured in three parts: a tool presentation, an inspirational talk, and an opportunity for peer-to-peer conversation.
The objective of the webinar has been to take The Circle participants and their projects to another phase: we already have plenty of tools, but what really matters is to have a real impact. That requires us to return to see the project not as a sum of tools, but as a a living whole. It is in this handling of the project as a living entity that it really connects with the people and receives its support, and this is increasingly the case as we are immersed into complex environments, in which the relational and human element is decisive.
So we presented in this webinar the framework of living systems principles developed by Carol Sanford, which you can download in the version we have prepared for The Circle here. Why is this framework important for Impact? Because when we develop projects from this perspective, it is much easier for them to be born in true connection with their audiences, and therefore their possibility of gaining engagement is greater and with it, the success of the project. But in addition, this framework of principles means that projects are already born with social and environmental sustainability at their core.
The inspirational talk was given by Angela Ruiz, Phd in architecture, professor at different universities and business schools, and impactful creative entrepreneur (AR Atelier). Recently awarded for accelerating her creative projects in the initiative together with Impact Hub Madrid Moonwalkers. His presentation amazed us in the level of the innovations applied (they build houses in the desert by solidifying sand through a bacterium) and impact (the expeditions of groups of architecture students to the desert have become true programs of personal and professional transformation). The key to unlock her projects to great impact, for Angela, has been her personal transformation process: it is what has made projects flow more and more with life, offering new opportunities.
The third part of the webinar was dedicated to peer to peer dialogue and sharing. The facilitator from Impact Hub Madrid proposed different design principles of living systems (regenerative design) and the task of the participants was to discuss in pairs how they would apply them to their specific projects. This exercise was difficult at first: perhaps we are too used to think mainly with the left side of the brain, the one that divides life into fragments and categorizes, but when it comes to entrepreneurial and creative life projects, it is essential to also work from the right side of the brain, and here these principles give us an excellent framework for a real and human impact.
This webinar therefore helped us to close the Circle, from tools to entrepreneurial (person), creative (project) and (social) impact wellbeing, in which a good use of digital, and our participation with the natural environment and (sustainability) are also key.
