Our Guiding Ideas
Our work is grounded in the evidence of what works to empower communities to identify and impact long-term change.
Our guiding ideas enable us to support communities to thrive:
Systems
thinking
Systems thinking is a way of approaching complex problems by looking at the whole system. It looks at the different parts that make up a bigger whole, how they influence each other and how they could be shifted to work better for people.
Systems thinking acknowledges that there are multiple perspectives within any system, and that problems persist because of ongoing relationships and structures. Ongoing adaptation is needed to fix systemic problems, rather than one single fix.
Systems thinking looks at how systems interact and focuses on changing the wider conditions that affect people’s lives.
Place-based
approaches
Place-based approaches are ways of working that focus on a specific community or location, using local knowledge, relationships and resources to address a shared problem or opportunity. They also emphasise the need for communities to lead and be involved in solutions to challenges in their local areas.
Place-based approaches recognise that places aren’t just locations but are comprised of people, relationships, services, opportunities and geography. They recognise the need to tailor solutions to these conditions in order for them to be successful in the long term.
Capabilities
approach
The capabilities approach is a way of thinking about people’s wellbeing based on what they want and are able to be and do in their lives. It values people’s capabilities and the resources, relationships, and real opportunities they have to pursue what matters to them. It focuses on growing the agency and capabilities of people, services and systems in ways that build conditions for equitable economic and social participation.
Advantaged Thinking is one way of operationalising a capabilities approach.