The Living We - An Ecology for Transformative Action

Helene Finidori
In our dreams we see a Living WE, a matrix, a womb... where WE, each of us and all of us, inspired, empowered and enabled, give birth to a caring, meaningful and purposeful future. Where WE coalesce to co-construct new rules, reproducible ventures, and concrete positive outcomes. Where WE converse, tell stories, exchange experience, examine possibilities, learn, research, evaluate, create, invent, modelize, experiment, adopt, practice… Where WE initiate and LIVE the change we want to see…


The Living WE is a global laboratory of thought and actions, taking multiple paths. Where WE, each of us and all of us, have a role to play, each with our diverse talents, sensitivities, passions and energies to achieve better futures... It gives us a voice, stimulates our choice and transforms our activity into achievements…

The Living WE is purpose centered and allows the purpose of each of us to be a center of organization and action, while converging towards an overarching purpose. It creates an appreciative connection between each of us and our environment, between all of us and our ecosystem…

The Living WE is based on our shared idea of why change must occur, on a shared direction towards our converging purposes with a compass to guide us along the way, a few virtues and philosophical principles as the stars and planets of our expanded horizon that we use to navigate…

The Living WE gathers human trust and harnesses commitment. It absorbs, channels, aggregates, debates, integrates, enriches, acts upon and renews an ever-evolving flow of tacit knowledge and experience. It provides the substance, tools, and practical examples that enable us to bridge our macro and our micro perspectives and dynamics, to transform our big ideas into small local actions and combine our small actions into large outcomes. It inserts our local independence in a global interdependence, and bridges our virtual and physical worlds…

The Living WE encourages self-organization and evolves organically. It grows by contagion, through interaction and influence, P2P. It snowballs ideas, innovations and practices and expands consciousness. All in ways that enable us to see evolution in the making and the transformative impact of each of us and all of us…

The Living WE adds up the small power and influence of each of us to move mountains. It is a legitimate counter and balancing power against any new world or national order or superpower. It keeps us safe from accelerating pace of life and protects us against collapse & singularity…

The Living WE is humanity as custodian of our ecosystem…
Poster created by Helene Finidori on 11:09 PM 15 October 2011 GMT
More Information

More Information

The approach and background
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See the Map as a Semantic Field

See the Map as a Semantic Field

See the map as a semantic field.
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Designing an Ecology for Transformative Action

Designing an Ecology for Transformative Action

An ecology can be defined by the following applied to living communities within a global action space:
  • Life processes and adaptations
  • The abundance and distribution of organisms
  • The abundance and distribution of diversity
  • The movement of materials, knowledge and energy
  • The successional development of ecosystems

The design process gives birth to a handbook that serves as a blueprint for the development of processes, methodologies, tools, courseware to nurture the emergence of a thrivable future

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Leveraging the Geometry of Action

Leveraging the Geometry of Action

Each part of the greater whole holds a position within the action space from where it can influence the whole. Each common has an optimal level at which it is best dealt with and governed. Understanding and leveraging the action space, the wholeness and partness of each element and their interactions is critical to enable transformative action...
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Channeling the Dynamics of Emergence

Channeling the Dynamics of Emergence

Emergence is accelerated through tapping into the pockets of change, getting into the cracks were new things happen, by amplifying, spreading possibilities and matching them with needs... by bootstrapping our effectiveness, by accelerating diffusion, adoption and tipping points...
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Unleashing Human Agency

Unleashing Human Agency

Many at all levels are calling for change but don't know where, how to start. People need to be able to understand and access possibilities and resources, be inspired enough to intent action, feel empowered enough to carry it out, and enabled enough to be the change they want to see, individually and collectively...
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Intentional & Principled

Intentional & Principled

The approach is intentional and principled, with intentions wide enough to attract various sensitivities and focused enough to give a sense of direction, and with principles as the planets that guide us along the way.
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Nurturing & (re)Generative

Nurturing & (re)Generative

The outcome and approach are nurturing and regenerative, shifting from a mechanical paradigm to a living system paradigm, from a finite game to an infinite game, from a linear approach to a cycle approach, from survival and sustainability to nurturing and thrivability...
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Collectively Intelligent & Creative

Collectively Intelligent & Creative

Communities become collectively intelligent and creative, understanding each other's language, capturing the knowledge flow, discerning patterns for courses of action, sharing experience, learning along the way, collaborating, co-creating and deliberating...
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