Transform, Don’t Optimise: How Can A History Based Theory Of Change Power Radical Reinvention Of Investment Philosophy & Practice?

In 2021 the Deep Transitions project set up the Deep Transitions Futures project and convened a global panel of influential investors. The panel and research team sought to formulate a new investment philosophy, informed by the Deep Transitions’ Theory of Change, that challenged investors to commit to worldbuilding through transformative investment, not system optimisation. A new approach to investment that accelerated the disruptive, fundamental and systemic changes required to avoid ecological, societal and planetary disaster. The resulting Transformative Investment philosophy and action-oriented principles are designed to catalyse fresh thinking, dialogue and decision making that aids investors in achieving systems change. While the principles focus primarily on the role of investors, they are also relevant to other public actors, who can benefit from embedding these 12 principles in their research, analytical and decision-making processes. Dr Wendy Schultz & Victoria Ward from Jigsaw Foresight were asked to design and facilitate the year long global Investor Panel process, contribute to the generation of the philosophy, and now continue as partners in the Deep Transitions Lab, the next phase of the project. In this webinar they will share extracts from the Transformative Investment Philosophy, provide insights into the huge importance, relevance and future of this project, and observations about the challenges and opportunities in such a ground-breaking collaborative process.