Model
The model draws on and expands another model, Bronfenbrenner’s socio-ecological systems model (below), which describes the ways that different systems interact on a child’s life to influence their development.
This version has five levels, but other versions simplify this to three:
- Micro level: individual and family
- Meso level: local community and institutions
- Macro level: wider society and culture
(In Bronfenbrenner’s original model, ‘exosystem’ refers to culture, mass media, societal behaviours, and the ‘macrosystem’ refers to policies. Other versions of the model combine this exosystem dimension with the macrosystem, which we have also done in the interests of simplicity.)
Framework
- Target sphere: Start by identifying the sphere you are/were primarily targeting. It’s likely your process is seeking change in multiple spheres. Select which sphere you think is the most critical one. For example, you might be seeking a policy reform. Although this would involve change within the infrastructural sphere (institutions and regulatory systems), this is likely to be directed by macro level policy change, so that’s your primary target. Alternatively, you might select the sphere that represents your point of entry to the system. For example, in the scenario above, the point of entry for the leader was the partnership– the collective When you have selected it, write your target/ primary/ entry sphere in the central circle on the canvas.
- Target change: You can then use the box underneath to write the target change.
- Connected spheres – required: Next, think about what other spheres are/ were connected, and what changes will be/ were required in those spheres for your desired change to happen. In our previous example, for change to happen in the political sphere mindset changes were required at the internal and organisational sphere, as well as relational changes such as increased trust. You can use this level to think through the connections of changes between the spheres a bit like a Theory of Change.
- Connected spheres – actual: As explored in our complexity tools, the chain-reactions of cause and effect are continual and unpredictable– and rarely go to plan. This box provides a space to think about how change interacted between the spheres in reality. If yours is a current example, you may not be able to complete all the spheres but could come back to the canvas later to reflect on some of the ‘change reactions’ you observed. If your example is in the past, you can think through what changes led to other changes, and how all these connected changes influenced your target outcome. In our example above, the desired change didn’t take place because of the consequences cascading from the internal and behavioural spheres, but we can summarise in the box how each was affected the other.