Internal Family Systems (IFS) offers invaluable tools for transformative work at both personal and collective levels, particularly in communities working on climate and sustainability issues. Developed by Dr. Richard Schwartz, IFS frames the mind as an ecosystem of “parts,” each representing unique motivations, emotions, and beliefs. Through the lens of IFS, we can explore how even those committed to climate action and social change carry parts shaped by the very systems they strive to transform.

This light-weight training hosted by the Cynefin team draws from complexity science and human knowledge to explore the theory and practice of working actively, on the ground, in the moment, with intractable problems.

We look at how we make sense of the world in order to act in it. Story and narrative will be core, both as a way of understanding and sense-making and as an activator of creative imaginations that take us beyond what we see around us, and into the “more-than-human” realms.

February 5 - March 5, 2026