How does change happen?

So, now we have a better sense of the challenges, and what we are up against, how should we go about saving the city? Or put it another way: how do we think change happens? This is an important question. We live in a complex, vast and messy world, where billions of people are simply trying to get by, improve their lot, and make sense of it all. All of us, to different degrees, have a sense of how we think the world works and how change happens. This is built up from our own experience, from what we have read, and from what others tell us. Most people, then, are in the change game. There is, of course, the influence of lobbying, manipulation, disinformation, evasion, corruption and deception. This is why engaging with how change works is so important.

The reason I start with strategy, is that if we are going to influence and change our cities positively, there needs to be some time dedicated to think about how and why change happens, and importantly how we link our aims and outcomes. What interventions do we need to undertake to get from where we are to where we want to be? Are we basing our work on causal links between evidence, action and outcomes? This kind of method is called a theory of change (UN Development Group 2017). In reality, there is no one-size-fits-all approach. There are multiple and competing theories of change. It takes a while to build up a clear sense of how and why change happens. Groups can be more or less open on the topic of whether they have a theory and how they see change happening. But anyone who wants to influence the future needs to adopt some kind of approach to change. There are no guaranteed formulas. What works in one time and place might not work so well in others. Some of this depends on luck and circumstance, as well as hard work and perseverance. Success also might only become clearer with the passing of time, after a group or initiative has ceased. Much of our change work, then, is about contributing to the flow of ideas and energy passed down over the years rather than immediate wins in the here and now.