,
Shaping impact on design, climate, and social justice together
Published on
October 14, 2025
In addition to offering project-specific feedback, we also created space for personal reflection on how our work in climate and social justice influences our mood, as well as our personal and design perspectives. This approach allows us to capitalise on our collective knowledge and experience in the climate and social justice arena. Furthermore, we discussed the best strategies for promoting this product.
International perspectives significantly enrich our insights, helping us connect this knowledge product with the realms of climate and social justice in various contexts. We share two important insights from the conversations on impact.
- We learned that the content on narrative building is extremely valuable to have an impact, as it aids in articulating one’s own story—particularly when collaborating with others, seeking investment, or writing project proposals.
- We found it to be essential to provide context and clearly communicate the significance and definition of design to non-designers, such as funders.
Similar Content
Explore our visual journey through this transformative project.
Evolving our offerings
As a global network of teams operating in so many different local and international contexts, we are lucky to be able to tap into a wide range of observations and reflections on how our practice and impact keep evolving. Understanding how our work with clients and partners is gradually changing in a world where so much is in transition is an important part of our ‘reflective learning practice’.
Cultivating Change: A Journey into System Transformation
In June 2025, seven studios from the Reach Network contributed stories and reflections on the engagements they have had with system transformations. Our journey into system transformation revealed a fundamental truth: it’s about looking beyond isolated problems to understand interconnected challenges. For those designing solutions, this means shifting from fixing individual parts to engage with the system as a whole. For everyone, it’s about asking: What are the hidden connections, and how do changes ripple through the whole? Working systemically demands a particular way of thinking. It's about embracing curiosity, humility, and a willingness to collaborate across diverse perspectives. We observed the value of going broad in our understanding before diving deeper into specific areas. One helpful analogy that emerged was that of a gardener, nurturing growth and working with natural systems rather than simply trying to fix broken elements.
Addressing Skill Gaps
Collaboration and learning are central to our work. A key part of growing is identifying our own skill gaps, which often surface in interactions with colleagues or clients and can trigger an internal, physical response of unease. In a recent Reach School session, we discussed these signals and the need to redesign learning models, especially with the rise of AI. We emphasised that human qualities like passion and listening are our crucial differentiation. By consciously acknowledging our limitations and taking action to address them, we can make a meaningful impact through our work. Addressing skill gaps is a powerful way to make a positive impact. By being aware of our limitations, accepting them and taking deliberate action, we can Make meaningful work together.