systems change — Our Blog

Evaluating 10 years of Early Years Systems Change: Insights from Lambeth Early Action Partnership

For 10 years, Lambeth Early Action Partnership (LEAP) has funded and supported more than 20 local services to meet the needs of families through pregnancy and the early years of childhood with the aim of giving thousands of children aged 0-3 a better start in life. Now, a decade on, Dartington Service Design Lab is proud to present this new report, sharing the findings from a comprehensive evaluation of the programme. This report explores how place-based systems change can improve outcomes for children and families.

Using eco-mapping to understand systems of social support for families

Led by the Dartington Service Design Lab’s Lambeth-based community research team, eco-mapping was used to explore how (and if) systems of social support (like LEAP) influenced families within the nuance of their local social, economic, and cultural contexts. We wanted to share the learning to help others looking to transform their services and community offers to better help families and children.

News, SystemsBLOG9 September 2024systems change, research, children, earlyyears, Young people, Evaluation, Megan Keenan, ecomap

Practicing power sharing in Community Research

As part of our commitment to sustainable and participatory approaches to evidence, we wanted to promote the learning from the work co-designed by our three Community Researchers living and working in Lambeth, working with us to evaluate the Lambeth Early Action Partnership (LEAP) systems change project. Using this method helps unpick complex, place-based systemic problems and can support tailoring services to better serve communities. We are sharing these insights to support others in the research and evaluation community who are thinking about or already undertaking community-led research, particularly in the early years sector.

News, SystemsBLOG21 August 2024systems change, research, children, earlyyears, Young people, Evaluation, Megan Keenan, ecomap

The AI revolution in children's services - what to consider

AI is all around us, from text prediction in WhatsApp to generating all kinds of things via ChatGPT and other such tools. It's certainly not going away and is playing a significant role in not just our lives but the lives of children and families. So, what does this mean for AI in the youth sector? And what could it do for your work and organisation? Dartington Service Design Lab has been at the forefront of progressive applications of research for over fifty years, and we’re intrigued by the advances in artificial intelligence (AI), which is already changing the way we develop, deliver and evaluate services for children, young people and families – bringing a wealth of opportunities and challenges to navigate.

Getting research ready for the messy world of systems change

As we began the year, we set out our strategic priorities, with a core focus on the early years, mental health and safety for children, young people and families. Our work is increasingly concerned with systems change; working with partners to challenge and disrupt the conditions, structures and power that uphold inequalities in outcomes and experiences for children and young people.

Catalysing systemic change to tackle inequalities in children and young people's health and wellbeing

This year we’re doubling down to catalyse systemic change and tackle inequalities in three main areas. One key strategic priority that we are committed to focusing on is to promote children’s and young people’s health and wellbeing, using our collective knowledge, skills, and resources to navigate and better understand the role of local partnerships in making the prevention of poor health outcomes a reality.

Looking ahead to our priorities for 2024

In 2024, you’ll hear less about the ‘how’ and a lot more about the ‘why’. As a team, we’ll be steadfast and focused on tackling inequalities in the outcomes and experiences of children and young people and doing so via equitable approaches to advancing systemic change.

News, SystemsBLOG15 February 2024Systems Thinking, systems change, Systems, Tim, Strategy, research, children, earlyyears, Young people, Youth work, Youth violence

Passing the baton of systems change

Throughout our partnership with Inclusion as Prevention we’ve engaged with 98 young people to design and improve services, and early intervention for young people with experience of the justice system. It is estimated that a further 300 also participated through surveys and attending workshops. We’ve tackled challenges, overcome barriers, and learned together as a team to understand the system in South Lanarkshire, to ensure young people aren’t just supported when they enter the justice system, but that the services are there to prevent them from doing so.

Systems Thinking: training, coaching and learning journeys

We are now delighted to bring these tools and ways of thinking to a wider audience via a new suite of training and learning opportunities. This includes an engaging, online introductory system thinking course; a bespoke, in-person training for teams or partnerships; and an applied, cohort-based learning journey programme where folks can bring a systemic challenge to be worked through in practice (in cohorts or teams, with training inputs, peer-to-peer learning, coaching, and learning resources).

News, Systems, TrainingBLOG8 November 2023Systems Thinking, systems change, Systems, training, Tim

Building systems change initiatives into practice

This blog is the first in our series on systems thinking. In this blog we explore one of the systems dynamics tools we use called goal-gap structures to help us understand people’s different motivations for change. We will be launching a systems training programme this autumn where you can learn more about these approaches!

Hard won lessons: A decade review bringing about systemic change in children's services

At the Lab, we’ve been developing and refining our approach to facilitating systemic change, by generating and integrating diverse evidence of what children and young people need and want. We have had varying degrees of success. We’re releasing our report from the Early Action Project in Renfrewshire to both reflect on our experiences of trying to bring about systemic change in children’s services and encourage others to learn from our approach, to support the long-term sustainability of systems change that is both wanted and needed.

News, Publications, ReflectionBLOG16 August 2023Kate, systems change, Early Action, Rachel Lily, Kate Tobin, Scotland, Renfrewshire

Incorporating youth voice into systems change in South Lanarkshire

Over the last five years we have been working to change the systems of support for young people who come into conflict with law in Scotland. We’ve been doing that through co-production with young people to re-imagine the kinds of supports that help keep them included in their communities and in the supports on offer to them. Too often young people are excluded from systems of support when they come into conflict with the law. This project fundamentally reframes the work of prevention and early intervention to be young-person centred and inclusive of their diverse experiences and needs.

Fed up with traditional Theories of Change? Try Dartington’s integrated approach.

There are many different approaches to producing a Theory of Change. It can be a tricky balancing act between bold ambition and feasibility. Go too big, and your Theory of Change feels unattainable and fails to become a useful tool. Get too boxed in by practicalities, and it feels uninspiring.

We’d argue for a Theory of Change to be useful, it must adopt an integrated approach. We talk about the strengths of an integrated approach in our strategy paper launched early last year. We have been attempting to further progress it ever since (with a lot of success, failure, and learning along the way).

Shaping the system to listen to children, young people and families with experience of cancer

We are delighted to announce that we are partnering with leading cancer charities, Young Lives vs Cancer, the Children’s Cancer and Leukaemia Group, the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust and Teenage Cancer Trust to codesign research and evidence measures, and apply an Integrated Approach to research and systems change with children and young people who have lived experience of cancer.

How we’re Changing Up the system to respond to what young people want and need

From training packs for teachers on how to respond to disclosures of abusive relationships, to resources for young people on how to recognise the signs of coercive control, there’s something for everyone to feel better educated on both topics and empowered to take action so that young people and families have their needs met. We’ll be celebrating and sharing the exciting work these young changemakers have been designing – in person – at the #ChangeUp Exhibition in Paisley. This exhibition, open to everyone in Renfrewshire and beyond, is packed with the innovations designed by and for young people and system leaders, to inspire all of us to educate, empower and equalise systems to tackle coercive control and take early action on mental wellbeing.

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