Jose Antonio Gordillo Martorell is the founder of Cultural Inquiry, and Catalyst from the Catalyst Lab cohort 2023–2024. With this blog post, he shares his personal experiences that have brought him to where he is now, and how the Catalyst Lab has empowered his personal growth along his journey towards change.

26. Oktober 2023, Bern – Die vierte Ausgabe des Catalyst Lab startete am 30. September 2023 mit 17 engagierten Innovator:innen aus unterschiedlichen Branchen und Sektoren. Der Fokus des Catalyst Lab 2023-2024 liegt erstmals auf den Themen «Ernährung», «Bildung» und «Wirtschaft», wobei das Thema «Bildung» in Zusammenarbeit mit Intrinsic geleitet wird.

Im Jahr 2020 überstieg die Masse von Menschen geschaffener, unbelebter Objekte – die anthropogene Masse - zum ersten Mal das Trockengewicht allen Lebens auf der Erde, einschliesslich Menschen, Tiere, Pflanzen und Pilze und sogar Mikroorganismen. Dabei betrug sie im Jahr 1900 erst 3% der Biomasse. Sie hat sich seither alle 20 Jahre verdoppelt…

Gesellschaftliche Herausforderungen sind komplex und anspruchsvoll. Oft scheint die Möglichkeit einer Verbesserung unerreichbar. In diesem Beitrag berichte ich darüber, wie mich die Methode der Stakeholder Interviews bei einer schwierigen Thematik weitergebracht hat. Es ist ein einfaches Mittel, um sich einen Überblick zu verschaffen und potenzielle Entwicklungsschritte zu erkennen.

Having never founded my own NGO or worked in anything other than a commercially oriented company, I’m somewhat an outlier in this year’s Catalyst Lab. As collaboratio helvetica’s mission is to fundamentally change how we work together I was often asked what the difference is between working my day job and supporting the Catalyst Lab team in my communications role. Well then, let’s try to find out.

Along my participation in the Catalyst Lab, I have experienced an inner shift in the past months. The Catalyst Lab journey has provided me with valuable insights, a new understanding of my role in my system and deep connections with the most inspiring people. In one of the last modules one of the Catalysts mirrored back to me how he perceived me at the start of the journey and now. It resonated a lot and his correct assumption that I became more open towards other views and in some way more vulnerable allowed me to get into action and activate my ecosystem.

To achieve system change - a large-scale change that will affect everyone - funding the social innovation process itself effectively is key. Such an innovation process requires cross-sector collaborations that shift the focus from fighting the symptoms to addressing the root causes. Given the urgency for systemic change, foundations have been exploring new effective funding mechanisms that support system change.

During module 5 of the Catalyst Lab, the collaboratio helvetica’s team organised a one-day virtual prototyping workshop. The goal of the prototyping day was to support further the catalysts towards convening their systems and tap into the resources and knowledge of the community. The invitation was to get into a prototyping mindset and discover the benefits of experimenting with rapid prototyping tools, crowdsourcing, and co-creating with other changemakers working on diverse challenges, all while having fun. This workshop took place online due to restrictions linked to covid-19.

Unser Engagement und unsere Intention für eine andere Welt ist oft nicht messbar und doch deutlich spürbar. Dies erschwert die Kommunikation darüber und erfordert noch mehr Selbstvertrauen in unser Wirken. Mich interessieren mittlerweile genau solche, langsamere Prozesse für die noch kein Messgerät erfunden wurde und unsere innersten Werte, Menschlichkeit, Herzens-Intelligenz und Intuition die Richtungen angeben. Das Catalyst Lab hat mich in dieser Demut und Geduld bestärkt, um das Grössere, Verbindende schätzen zu lernen, systemische und strukturelle Verbindungen zu sehen.

„Ich denke an die Zukunft. Ich weiss, dass wir so längerfristig nicht weiter machen können. Wir brauchen einen Wandel. Unsere Zukunft und die der zukünftigen Generationen liegt mir unglaublich am Herzen. Irgendwie habe ich mir das alles besser vorgestellt, als ständig an diese nicht so vielversprechenden Aussichten zu denken. Ich habe dieses Gefühl in mir, dass das alles nicht gerecht ist, und wir das doch ändern können, auch wenn es nur kleine Erfolgsschritte sind...”

This blog is the first out of a series of my own journey into the 2nd cycle of the Catalyst Lab. This first part talks about learning how to listen to the echoes of the future through a collective network. It gives emphasis on the first step that preludes crystalizing a project - a step that is often overseen by society and the one that seems to be a must into real systemic change.

As we get closer to the unfathomable 1.5°C point-of-no-return it gets clearer that the way we are organized today is not working. But how do we solve this mess? Should we wait for scientists and engineers to innovate ourselves out of this crisis like we've done in the past?

Citizen Assemblies: A way for a participative deliberative decision-making process to find a pathway for solving complex problem.

Factory farming, animal suffering and agricultural practices that harm the environment shape my daily life, privately and at work. The Catalyst Lab presented me with the opportunity to open a dialogue space and expand my view on how others perceive the problem around these issues through a generative dialogue – a challenging and fascinating endeavour.

Since the first lockdown in March 2020 I was struggling with a challenge: how to transfer my activities into the digital world so I can continue to develop Let’s Talk Waste. Let’s Talk Waste is an entrepreneurial project I created in 2018 to cut plastic pollution at its roots. I offer team building activities to my clients who want to promote better team cohesion while creating a culture of caring for the planet and the environment. One of the tools I developed consists of two card games aimed at triggering discussions on the impact of littering and on challenging the relevance of recycling to promote sustainable behaviors.

Dedicated attention to a personal and ongoing practice is more of a necessity than a luxury in these times of navigating unprecedented changes. In this blog, we share a 5-fold approach to personal care in order to nourish our inner wellsprings and maintain a sense of groundedness and calm during these times.

Leslie Burkhalter is a talented networker and weaver. With her authenticity and genuine interest in other people, she creates connections that inspire and motivate others.

Eliane Kern from Sissach (BL) has dedicated herself to bring about a shift in conciousness on a personal and collective level.

A sustainable society with integrity. This is what Mario Stankovic dreams of. The religious educator has been committed for years to innovative ways of living together in the Lucerne region and in Central Switzerland.

"Far too often, political decisions are brought about that in the end are not really satisfying for anyone. But the way politics is debated today can hardly lead to a better result. We have to learn to really listen to each other across political parties and to work out solutions by thinking together," says Daniel Gut.