The Social Labs Revolution

Current responses to our most pressing societal challenges - from poverty to ethnic conflict to climate change - are not working. Dominant responses are rooted in a planning-based paradigm ill suited to the complex nature of current challenges. Zaid Hassan builds on a decade of experience - as well [...]
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Current responses to our most pressing societal challenges - from poverty to ethnic conflict to climate change - are not working. Dominant responses are rooted in a planning-based paradigm ill suited to the complex nature of current challenges. Zaid Hassan builds on a decade of experience - as well as drawing from cutting-edge research in complexity science, networking theory, and sociology - to outline an exciting new approach to addressing complex social challenges: the social laboratory. Social labs have three key characteristics: first, their social character, where the primary work is conducted by teams of diverse stakeholders; second, their ongoing experimental nature, based on prototyping, not planning; and third, their systemic orientation, addressing challenges at a root cause level. Hassan explains the core principles and daily functioning of social labs, using examples of pioneering labs from around the world. And he describes a fast-growing global movement around a new generation of ambitious social labs.These next-gen labs are tackling big challenges such as dramatically reducing global emissions, preventing the collapse of fragile states, and improving community resilience. Hassan offers a new generation of problem solvers an effective, practical, and exciting new vision and guide.