We’re a small new team, based out of Collaborative Future, working with a network of partners to make a practical contribution to fundamentally more equitable practice in research and design. Despite a move towards more participatory practices in research and design across civil society, academia and government, most of this…

Patterns for Change is a simple contribution, made for and by those working within civil society, to help individuals, groups and organisations work better together in times of change. The 7 behaviours that it surfaces, drawn from existing and emerging practice, aren’t rocket science. Know your why, Set directions together…

As the Open OD network tries to push forward organisational development practice within civil society, big questions are emerging that challenge some fundamental assumptions. The Open OD project has been working with a network of over 200 people from across civil society to learn about and contribute to organisational development…

The Foundation Design Lab is launching an open enquiry to find opportunities for greater collective awareness, interdependence and action amongst those investing in better youth mental health outcomes in the UK. In short The Foundation Design Lab, working closely with the Funders’ Collaborative Hub, will work intensively over the next 4 months…

Generous leadership and collaboration are powerful values for civil society, especially in these times, when the impact of the Covid-19 crisis has been felt so unequally. But these intentions are only as good as the shared infrastructure they need to thrive. In the first part of this short series of…

Collaboration, even amongst well-intended organisations that share the same values and purpose, can feel way too hard. — The Digital Fund sets out not just to help transform the capabilities of individual grantees, but also wider ecosystems and collaborative efforts. This concept of 'generous leadership’ flows through the intentions and design of the fund. But we should acknowledge that collaboration is really hard and that the conditions for…

Are you a network of charities in need of digital support? Catalyst Digital Teams offer expertise to help you respond and adapt. — Every charity across the UK is trying to deal with the enormous implications of the COVID-19 crisis. Many critical face-to-face services need urgently redesigning. Staff and volunteers everywhere are going through rapid operational changes to the way they work together.

Most of the challenges and opportunities facing individual grantees can better be explored and resolved with more partners involved and we must find more ways for these partners to be brought meaningfully into a shared journey. All of the grantees that Shift is supporting as part of the Digital Fund…

The Catalyst is a big opportunity to build digital capabilities as networks, fields and ecosystems, not just as individual organisations. — Where organisations — as well as groups and individuals — share ambitions to work with the same people, address the same challenges and transform the same systems (which is most of the time), we should be doing everything we can to build greater collective strength and responsiveness.