In this episode of the Systemic Insight Podcast, Marcus talks with Chris Corrigan. Chris is a facilitator and an expert in complexity-sensitive facilitation techniques. He has been using similar methods and frameworks as Mesopartner, such as for example the Cynefin framework, developed by Prof. Dave Snowden. Chris describes himself as a process art…

Marcus is welcoming back Dr Toby Lowe to the show! The Covid-19 crisis has hit the world and so many things have changed in the short time since we talked to Toby last. Particularly, ideas on complexity and systems thinking have suddenly gained a lot of traction as people realise that the world is indeed an uncertain place and the certainty that we…

In this episode, Marcus is talking to Dr Toby Lowe, Senior Lecturer in Public Leadership and Management at Newcastle Business School, Northumbria University. Toby describes his purpose as an academic as helping improve the funding, commissioning and performance management of social interventions (across the public, private and voluntary sectors). H…

In this episode, Shawn and Marcus discuss the concept of competitiveness. The chat was inspired by some reading Marcus had been doing that condemned competition to be part of the driving force that makes our society so extractive and unequal. In particular, Marcus is using two quotes from Daniel Wahl’s book ‘Designing Regenerative Cultures’ to exem…

In this Podcast, Marcus Jenal interviews Kristin O’Planick from USAID’s Bureau for Food Security about the agency’s recent work on market systems resilience. Kristin is part of a team that has been developing a new framework to capture market system resilience, which is currently going through early field testing. The framework builds on similar id…

Jeanne Downing, Senior Enterprise Development Advisor, Office of Microenterprise Development, USAID talks about the discussions she and her colleagues have within USAID about the necessity of using a systemic approach in development. She mentions the need to switch away from linear approaches towards approaches that are better able to capture the c…

In this episode, Marcus Jenal interviews Dave Snowden. The podcast explores the recognition that development takes place in a dynamic, complex system and the resulting consequences for monitoring and evaluation frameworks. Current monitoring and evaluation frameworks are built around predefined outcomes and based on assumptions of causal, linear, a…

In this episode, Marcus interviews Dr Shamim Bodhanya. The podcast explores the origins of complex adaptive systems research and the application of its findings to development work. Bodhanya explains the characteristics of complex adaptive systems and their consequences in social systems such as the economy. He stresses the need to include multiple…

In this first episode, Marcus and Shawn introduce the podcast series. Some of the key issues of economic development from a systems perspective are discussed. For more information on our work on managing economic complexity and change, visit www.systemic-insight.com. This podcast is brought to you by mesopartner.com…

In this LEDCast episode Christian Schoen of mesopartner and Dr. Christian von Luebke of Stanford University discuss the political economy at the district level in Indonesia. Christian von Luebke is a political economist with particular interest in governance and economic development in Southeast Asia, particularly in Indonesia. The conversation foc…

In this episode, Frank Wältring of mesopartner interviews Dr. Göran Lindqvist on the learning experiences in cluster development since 2003. Dr. Lindqvist is an associate at the Center for Strategy and Competitiveness (CSC) at the Stockholm School of Economics. He is also a co-author of the Cluster Greenbook (2003) and several other publications on…

In this LEDCast episode, Frank Waeltring interviews Ifor Ffowcs-Williams on the role of a "cluster facilitator". The difference between cluster management and cluster facilitation is discussed. Different kinds of funding and its implications are also elaborated on and the roles of different cluster facilitators are described. The main challenges fo…

In this episode, Dr. Ulrich Harmes-Liedtke of mesopartner interviews professionals of the international NGO World Vision: Elvire Douglas, Humanitarian Emergency Officer in Haiti and Treganna Myrabo, Economic Recovery Coordinator at the International Center in Monrovia, USA. The interview highlights why it is needed to include an economic perspectiv…

This is the 2nd part of the interview between Shawn Cunningham and Natasha Walker on facilitation.

Shawn Cunningham interviews Natasha Walker on the essence of facilitation. During the conversation they share some practical tips and also agree on many pet hates. The issues discussed range from dealing with so-called difficult participants, balancing the role of facilitator and expert, and managing group work and feedback sessions. For more infor…

As many listeners are aware, Dr. Jorg Meyer-Stamer passed away on the 1st of May, 2009. In this short announcement Shawn Cunningham commit on behalf of mesopartner to continue publishing the LEDCast. To visit the condolonce page go to http://www.mesopartner.com/nc/dr-joerg-meyer-stamer/

Edmund Malesky explains the conceptual foundation and the impact of the PCI, an exercise that has been running in Vietnam for some years, unleashing significant sub-national government efforts to create a more business-friendly environment.

John Lawson, Geoff Ritson and Jorg Meyer-Stamer discuss the outcomes of a RALIS exercise, i.e. a quick diagnosis of the innovation system around the Downstream Chemicals Technology Station at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa.

Nigel Gwynne-Evans of the Department of Economic Development in the Western Cape, South Africa, shares his experience with ten years of cluster promotion.

Jorg Meyer-Stamer has a conversation with Jim Tomecko (GTZ, Thailand) on some of the main lessons learnt in value chain development initiatives.

Ulrich Harmes-Liedtke and Frank Waeltring interview Jorg Meyer-Stamer on the second part of his career, working as an advisor and trainer and founding mesopartner. This is the second of two LEDcasts which come as a companion to a book that Ulrich and Frank edited on the occasion of Jorg's 50th birthday. This "birthday anthology" with contributions …

Ulrich Harmes-Liedtke and Frank Waeltring interview Jorg Meyer-Stamer on the first part of his career, when he was working in academia and policy research. This is the first of two LEDcasts which come as a companion to a book that Ulrich and Frank edited on the occasion of Jorg's 50th birthday. This "birthday anthology" with contributions from a nu…

Shawn and Jorg explore the relevance of national, regional and sectoral innovation systems and discuss practical ways of changing the way in which they work.

Kicking off a new series, Shawn and Jorg have a conversation on some basic concepts and issues around innovation.

Clive Pegus tells Ulrich Harmes-Liedtke how the carnival in Trinidad is an important factor in the local economy, not only due to its growth and the tourism it attracts but also because it has spawned carnivals in other cities around the world.

In another presentation from mesopartner's Africa Academy on LED, Colin Mitchell presents a variation of the Boston Matrix, a simple tool to investigate promising areas of specialisation for a given territory.

In a presentation from mesopartner's Africa Academy on LED, Afia Darkwa-Amanor presents the Leaking Bucket, a tool that allows to leverage money and other resources that usually flow out of the local economy for local economic development. Afia is a Senior Advisor in the gtz-supported LRED program in Ghana.…

In a presentation from mesopartner's Africa Academy on LED, Shawn Cunningham presents the concept of polarity management, i.e. an approach to deal with opposing options to address a given issue in a constructive manner and avoiding extreme swings of a pendulum.

In a recording from mesopartner's first Africa Academy on LED, Sonja Ende uses the metaphor of a vegetable garden to explain the principles of an enabling environment and to highlight the appropriate role of government in LED.

Shawn and Jorg discuss why some people are uncomfortable with the notion of competition, what the upside and downside of competition is, and how to become competitive.

Michael Feiler, project manager at IBA See, explains their experimental, innovation-focused approach to the conversion of a region that has been shaped by decades of open pit lignite mining.

Jorg Meyer-Stamer and Grant McKenzie discuss what lessons Change Management has to offer for territorial development.

Zdravko Miovcic, director of EDA - Development Agency, Banja Luka, shares experiences and lessons learnt in many years of doing LED in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Shawn Cunningham and Jorg Meyer-Stamer discuss the origin and main messages of the concept of Systemic Competitiveness, an approach that helps in formulating a holistic perspective of a local economy. More information, including the Benchmarking Table that we mention in the show, is available here.

Michele Clara, industrial development officer in the Cluster and Business Linkages Unit of the UN Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) shares some of the lessons learnt over many years of cluster promotion.

Sonja Ende interviews Kasim Abdukadir, who is running a small business-oriented programme in a local radio station in Niger province, Nigeria, and Veronique Stolz, who is with a GTZ programme and promotes developmental radio in Nigeria. The publication she mentions is available at http://www.led.co.za/docs/362.pdf.…

Sonja Ende interviews Margaret Joshua who is working with GTZ's LED programme in Nigeria. Margaret shares the experience with Business Development Committees that have been created at a local level in order to improve the local business environment.

Jorg Meyer-Stamer and Colin Mitchell discuss why the management of expectations in development activities so often goes wrong.

Shawn Cunningham and Jorg Meyer-Stamer discuss the background, main characteristics and evolution of the Participatory Appraisal of Competitive Advantage (PACA) method.

Mpumi Fundam, responsible for LED in the Amatole district municipality (i e the region around East London) in South Africa, and Colin Mitchell, the author of the Genesis method, explain how Genesis helped Amatole to identify its potential competitive advantage, formulate a strategic perspective and identify catalytic projects.…

Jorg Meyer-Stamer interviews Zini Godden, a South African LED trainer and facilitator, on her experience with LED training courses for councillors, i.e. the elected representatives in local government.

Ulrich Harmes-Liedtke has a conversation with Andrea Schunk who is involved in tourism development in Colonia de Sacramento, a world cultural heritage site in Uruguay.

Shawn and Jorg explain the Compass, a performance management tool for LED that turns the Balanced Scorecard into a practical and exciting workshop format. You can find a detailed description of the Compass here.

Shawn Cunningham and Jorg Meyer-Stamer discuss the issue of market failure: What is it? How can you address it? And how does it relate to other modes of organising economic transactions?

Christian Schoen interviews David Walke on the subject of business registration. David explains the do's and don'ts in the introduction of one stop shops.

Jorg Meyer-Stamer interviews Peter Knorringa about social standards, the upcoming ISO 26 000 standard and the way in which local actors can respond to global standards.

Shawn Cunningham and Christian Schoen share insights from a PACA Exercise in the Marble Mountain cluster close to Da Nang, Vietnam. In particular, they discuss how slightly shady business practices impact on LED.

Mark Lundy and Jorg Meyer-Stamer discuss the middleman: Who is he, or she, why is s/he so important, why do local stakeholders often suggest to cut out the middleman, and why is this not necessarily a good idea.

Peter Knorringa (ISS, The Hague) explains what social capital is and how it can be addressed in LED.

Ulrich Harmes-Liedtke interviews Vinicius Lages of SEBRAE, Brazil’s small business promotion organisation. He explains how an SME-oriented supplier development project with Petrobras evolved into a value chain project, how SEBRAE approaches the issue of certification of SMEs, and the link to territorial development. -- Apologies again for the poor …