Weaving the Roots of Systemic Change: Reflections from Oxford, UK

In Oxford this week, I joined a remarkable gathering of network leaders - people who build bridges across systems, disciplines, and geographies. While the thematic focus centred on regenerative agri-food systems and brought together dynamic individuals and organisations working in this field, the conversation reached beyond the sector itself. We gathered not only to exchange ideas from the field, but to explore a deeper question: How can networks be more deeply cultivated and sustainably resourced to drive systemic change? Led by Foresta, and hosted by The Skoll Centre and Atlantic Institute, the gathering embodied the very principles it was seeking to explore - cultivating connection through dialogue, reflection, and learning.

The conversation was closely linked to another gathering I attended recently, A Creativity Revival 2025 in Milan, hosted by the Moleskine Foundation, which explored how creativity can drive equity, repair, and systems change. In many ways, Oxford felt like the next chapter of that exploration: if Milan focused on creativity as the spark for transformation, Oxford was about sustaining that spark through relationships, networks, and the human infrastructure that holds change together. By “human infrastructure,” I mean the people, relationships, and social networks that enable systemic change to take root and endure, the ‘glue’ that holds projects, communities, and collaborations together. For me, this also connected to the broader learning journey of the Wasan Network, of which the Atlantic Institute is also a part; a global network of social impact and philanthropy practitioners who believe that relationships sit at the centre of social change.

What made the Oxford gathering so powerful was not the question itself, but who was asking it. Around the room were people already practising collective leadership and ecosystem building. The conversation wasn’t about convincing anyone that networks matter; it was about exploring how we can nurture them intentionally and ensure the people and relationships that sustain them are properly supported.

Against that backdrop, our gathering - held across Saïd Business School and Kopanong, the Atlantic Fellows Residence in Oxford and a vibrant local–global hub for dialogue - felt like a continuation of a living tradition: networks convening to reimagine the world together. Oxford itself, a centre of learning since the 11th century, offered a resonant setting for this shared inquiry. It’s a place where movements have sparked and ideas have collided for centuries. Oxfam, for example, was founded here in the 1940s by a coalition of academics, church leaders, and activists responding to famine in Greece, a powerful example of networked action long before the term existed.

We shared stories from across sectors, from regenerative agri‑food systems to community weaving, and explored frameworks such as the brilliant Community Weaving, which included:

• The Spiral – How do we journey together?
• The Fire – What brings us together?
• The Web – What holds us together?
• The Rhythm – How do we connect regularly?
• The Circles – What roles can we play?

‍

Across the conversations, one idea kept resurfacing: the work of systemic change is, at its core, relational work.

And yet, it is rarely resourced that way.

Building trust takes time. Holding complexity requires care. Coordinating across silos demands patience and empathy. These are all essential capacities, yet they often fall between the cracks of funding models, job descriptions, and performance metrics.

As one participant put it, “It’s nobody’s day job to build the relationships that make change possible.”

There’s a growing recognition that if we want to move from collaboration to collective impact, we need to invest not only in projects, but in the human infrastructure that holds systems together - the connectors, conveners, and sense-makers. This ethos lies at the heart of the Atlantic Fellowship: not simply a leadership programme, but a living network of changemakers who understand that lasting transformation emerges through relationships grounded in equity, care, and collective learning. Its design intentionally nurtures this “human infrastructure” of change -  creating the time, space, and trust for Fellows to collaborate across geographies, disciplines, and lived experiences. In many ways, the Fellowship itself embodies the very ideas we explored in Oxford: that systems change is sustained not by institutions alone, but by the quality of the relationships that connect us.

The tone of the gathering was beautifully captured in our evening “Feast” at Kopanong - a name meaning “a meeting place for diverse languages” in Sesotho. Imagine a friend’s kitchen, a table full of ingredients, and no fixed recipe. We cooked together, improvised, and created something far richer than any one of us could have planned. It perfectly reflected the work ahead: networks as living systems, always emergent, shaped by trust, curiosity, and collective care.

As we wrapped up, what stayed with me most was that transformation is powered above all by the connections we nurture. If we want to shift systems, whether in food, finance, or social impact - we must fund connection as seriously as we fund innovation.

Our next step is clear: sustain the networks, invest in the relational work, and keep nurturing the connections that make systemic change possible. Because ultimately, the resilience of any system depends on the care we give to its relationships.