By Dominic Hofstetter, TransCap Initiative September 2022 This is the first article in a series that presents insights from an investigation into the challenges and opportunities of the urban climate finance movement. This investigation sits at the heart of a collaboration between the Centre of Public Impact (CPI), the TransCap…

Es ist Zeit, unser Verständnis von Innovation zu erweitern — Die Schweiz ist gut darin, neue technologische Innovationen hervorzubringen. Technologien allein werden aber nicht reichen, um die drängendsten Probleme des 21. Jahrhunderts zu lösen. Damit Innovation auch in den nächsten 30 Jahren einen wichtigen Beitrag zur gesellschaftlichen Zukunftsgestaltung leisten kann, muss die Schweiz dringend ihr Innovationsverständnis erweitern.

The challenge of designing synergistic investment portfolios across private and public markets — At the TransCap Initiative, we’re working on developing, testing, and mainstreaming a new investment logic at the intersection of systems thinking and finance practice. (→ You can learn all about the why, what, who, and how by browsing our website or reading our white paper.) One element of our theoretical…

(Some of) What I Learned at Climate-KIC — Today marks the end of my six-year tenure at Climate-KIC, an extraordinary organisation that I have been privileged to serve in four different roles. Here are 6 lessons I’ve learned. 1. It’s better to have 3 things going well than 30 things going nowhere. The first time people show up, they come for the promise of your story. The second time they show up…

This is the departure blog for the TransCap Initiative’s collaboration with EIT Climate-KIC and Dark Matter, CIVIC SQUARE, ThirtyPercy Foundation, and Lankelly Chase for civic-led systemic investing in the UK. It was written collectively by the team behind this collaboration. Finance at the Climate Crossroads Since the signing of the UNFCCC’s Paris Agreement in 2015…

Does the connective tissue between micro and macro hold the key to systems change? — This is the fourth article in a multi-part series that argues for greater appreciation of conceptual work in addressing climate change and other wicked societal problems. You can read Part I here, Part II here, and Part III here. The other parts are forthcoming. Over the past five years, while…

Es ist Zeit, den öffentlichen Raum neu zu denken. — Auf öffentlichem Grund in der Stadt Zürich stehen rund 62’000 Bäume, etwa ein Drittel davon an Strassen, der Rest in Grünanlagen. Gleichzeitig gibt es ungefähr 70’000 öffentlich zugängliche Parkplätze. Diese Zahlen stehen symbolisch für eine veraltete Vorstellung von Raumnutzung. Wie die meisten Städte ist auch Zürich um die Bedürfnisse des…

Why we need to move beyond projects and platforms and add a new model for organising work to our systems change toolbox — This is the third article in a multi-part series that argues for greater appreciation of conceptual work in addressing climate change and other wicked societal problems. You can read Part I here and Part II here. The other parts are forthcoming. Project /ˈprɒdʒ.ekt/ an endeavour that is carefully planned and proceeds…

If your innovation appeals to the mainstream, you’re not pushing hard enough This is the second article in a multi-part series that argues for greater appreciation of conceptual work in addressing climate change and other wicked societal problems. You can read Part I here and Part III here. The other parts are forthcoming. In 2007, two flatmates named Brian and Joe hosted…