Shifting power relations through an eco-systems approach

Since 2020, we’re piloting the Collective Impact approach to create Inclusive Societies. Hear from Fernanda Drumond, Strategy Lead at H&M Foundation, why this is the next practice to reach systems change.

There’s a lot of talk about working in cross-sectoral ecosystems. Why is that important?

To reach systems change we need to change established ways of working and break the silos created when organizations are working in isolation from one another. We believe in the power of working collectively to achieve real impact at a scale beyond what any actor could achieve alone. This is the way to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

What does this mean in practice for the H&M Foundation?

Sprung from our entrepreneurial heritage, it is in the H&M Foundation’s core to use unexpected collaborations to disrupt traditional systems. Central to our strategy is to facilitate cross-sectoral partnerships to build holistic programs that look at the root causes of inequality and at the broader needs of the primary actors, who are the beneficiaries. We strongly believe their active participation along with the combined strengths of different actors are the key to achieving fundamental changes.

Being a small and agile foundation we at the H&M Foundation can be that catalyst of cross sector collaboration collecting the muscles of different stakeholders to reach change. We can also absorb the risk that comes with disruptive methods and solutions and we can invest in agile research and projects where beta versions are continuously released and tested. We are not afraid of trying, failing, learning and trying again.

What does Collective Impact approach mean?

The Collective Impact approach is a method that we believe can create the collaborative framework needed to reach holistic solutions to complex problems in order to achieve our goal – a world that is inclusive and fair for all. The method can be defined as a highly structured network of community members, organizations, and institutions that advance equity by learning together, aligning, and integrating their actions to achieve population and systems-level change.

We bring in a multitude of partners into our projects, partners that are all experts within their field, that are locally anchored and represent the beneficiaries to ensure local ownership. A true bottom-up approach. We also broaden our eco-system to involve more than just the social purpose sector and therefore invite social entrepreneurs and the private and public sectors as well.

In which projects are you working according to the Collective Impact approach??

Since 2020, the Collective Impact approach – with priority placed on equity – is being piloted in two programs in India and Bangladesh. In Bengaluru, India, Saamuhika Shakti is the first-of-its-kind initiative to improve the quality of life for waste pickers. Waste picking ranks lowest in the hierarchy of urban informal occupations in the country but are at the same time critical to its waste management system. Globally, initiatives that aim to improve recovery rates of for example plastics to reduce the burden on the environment often overlook the socioeconomic impacts on the informal labor force, which can further marginalize waste pickers. Our program aims to plug this gap.

In Bangladesh, the use of automation and digital technology is making its way into the textile industry, which has the potential to create new job opportunities, while simultaneously also creating a risk of unemployment for millions of Bangladeshis. Women are particularly at risk, as they represent the majority of the total workforce within the garment industry and are often employed to execute the tasks which are highly susceptible to automation. Hence, H&M Foundation is taking a long-term approach, involving important players from different sectors, to prepare and equip the female garment workers to work successfully alongside AI and automation, and by this safeguard their livelihoods.

Read the full article about H&M Foundation’s adoption of the Collective Impact approach.