“Systems Change 101” by Swan 🔸, Lin BL, Karen Singleton, Ulf Graf 🔹, Ben R Smith

In alphabetical order: Ben Smith, @Karen Singleton, @Lin BL, Rebecca Zanini,, @Swan 🔸 , @Ulf Graf 🔹

Acknowledgements: Rosanna Zimdahl, Ruben Dieleman, Samuel Hilton and Simon Holm.

Preface/TL;DR 

We believe systems thinking offers valuable tools for identifying more impactful interventions.

This post aims to help you:

• Understand systems thinking and systems change and advocate for their value to EA.
• Apply systems thinking to your cause area to identify more impactful interventions.
• Find relevant resources to deepen your knowledge in areas that interest you.

The most up-to-date version of this post can be found on this website.

Introduction 

Advocates push for improved conditions in factory farms, yet industrial animal agriculture persists. Direct cash transfers are distributed to alleviate poverty, yet billions remain ensnared in its grip. Life-saving malaria nets are funded to protect children from deadly disease, yet preventable illnesses still claim millions of lives [...]

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Outline:

(00:28) Preface/TL;DR

(01:01) Introduction

(04:09) What is systems change?

(04:13) Understanding systems

(07:27) Why Systems Change Matters

(09:23) Common System Behaviours

(11:12) Common System Archetypes

(12:02) Finding Leverage Points

(13:53) How do you apply systems change?

(14:06) Principles for Effective Systems Change

(15:49) Applying Systems Change to Different Cause Areas

(16:06) Concrete examples in a typical EA cause area (alphabetically)

(16:13) AI safety & governance

(17:27) Animal Welfare: Factory farming

(20:41) Biosecurity

(23:41) Climate Change

(25:18) Global Health and Development (GHD)

(27:16) Great power conflict

(28:06) Other

(28:41) Causes not in scope

(28:56) Solutions and learnings from one area can maybe be used in another

(30:55) Failures in one area don't necessarily mean failure in another

(33:16) Next Steps & Call To Action

(34:05) If You Only Have 30 Minutes

(35:08) If You Have a Few Hours

(35:12) Systems Thinking for EA Foundations

(36:34) Thinking Systemically: Books on Complexity, Change and Resilience

(38:52) Systems Change for Animal, Health and Ecological Welfare

(42:00) Complexity, Risk, and Uncertainty

(43:06) EA-Specific Reflections on Systems Change

(44:08) Ongoing Learning, Blogs, Podcasts & Communities: Deepen Your Practice

(46:32) Bonus: Depth / Fringe / Niche

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First published:
June 23rd, 2025

Source:
https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/bwZ6HqRSjYh5DS99r/systems-change-101

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.