Compassionate Systems

We work closely with leaders and organizations who are deeply committed to change at the systems level. We define this shared commitment to systems change as those who:

  • Understand the intricate relationship between inner cultivation and outer aspects of profound change
  • Sensitive and truthful about the critical importance of contextual sensitivity and the limitation of standardized programmatic interventions
  • Appreciate the importance of local, on-the-ground contextual leadership
  • Focus on capacity building and shifting how each of us listens, perceives and ‘shows up’
  • Focus on "the whole”: the whole person; the person in relationship with community; the person in relationship with the world
 

Identifying these criteria for meaningful partnership helps us better define this work in compassionate systems within the broader fields of systems change and education in which we are operating.

One of our key collaborators is the Center for Systems Awareness, a 501(c)(3) organization that is leading innovative work in this area through the development of the “Compassionate Systems Framework.”

The Compassionate Systems Framework was developed out of decades of research and practice in social emotional learning, organizational learning, and systems change, offers perspectives and practices for addressing the roles we each play in co-creating the structures, systems, and institutions around us. 

Featured Resources

Below are a selection of resources to learn about the “Compassionate Systems Framework.”  For more on the framework and related programs, visit the Center for Systems Awareness. 

Introduction to Compassionate Systems Framework in Schools (2019)

How We Show Up: Compassionate Systems in California K-12 Education (2021)

Equity as a Way of Life: Introducing a Compassionate Systems Approach (2023) 

Cultivating Generative Social Fields: Emerge podcast interview with Dr. Mette Boell

About Compassionate Systems

6 Videos

 

“To cultivate compassion is to be able to understand and appreciate the systemic forces and lived experiences that influence people’s feelings and actions.  The word compassion literally means ‘standing with the experience (and especially the suffering) of the other.'”

– Dr. Mette Miriam Boell

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MIT Systems Awareness Lab

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systemsawareness@mit.edu

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