Societal
Transformation Lab
The future isn't waiting. Neither should we.
Around the world, people, communities and institutions are already shaping pieces of a better future. Yet too much of what we learn, build and invest in remains disconnected or gets lost between projects.
What if we stopped starting from scratch?
What if we connected what's already working, explored what's emerging and made every effort strengthen the next?
EXPLORE WHAT WE ARE BUILDING >>
JOIN THE FUNDING CONVERSATION >>
PEOPLE * PLACES * POSSIBLE FUTURES
After a decade of challenging how things work, we are changing how we work
01. WHY NOW / A NEW CHAPTER
From extreme environments to pioneering innovation projects, we've worked with diverse people and perspectives to explore complex challenges and possible futures. We've seen the power of collaboration. And we've seen what holds progress back: short funding cycles, silos and knowledge that doesn't travel far enough.
So we're opening a new chapter of MAD.
One that builds on what exists, looks ahead to what's possible and creates stronger foundations for lasting change.
PROGRAMS
SPACES
TOOLS
Not another project. A stronger foundation for whatever comes next.
02. THE AMBITION
The challenges ahead won't be solved by a single organisation, discipline or perspective. We need to see the bigger picture, connect different strengths and shape a shared vision of the futures we want to build.
MAD brings institutions, communities and leaders together to turn that shared understanding into collective action. So knowledge travels, relationships endure and progress builds rather than begins again.
UKRAINE 2027. building on
whats already there
03. COLLABORATION IN ACTION
Across Ukraine, people, communities and institutions are already shaping their future under extraordinary circumstances.
Our first collaboration will explore how existing knowledge, initiatives and resources can connect, strengthen local capacity and support what comes next.
A first opportunity to put our new way of working into practice, together.
FOR INSTITUTIONS & ORGANISATIONS
MAKE YOUR INVESMENTS GO FURTHER
Connect your knowledge, resources and programmes with pioneering
perspectives and local realities, so their value grows beyond individual projects.
04. BE PART OF SOMETHING BIGGER
What could we build together?
No one has the whole picture. Together, we can connect the pieces, strengthen the wider system and create impact that grows over time.
05 / HOW IT WORKS · MAKING IMPACT CUMULATIVE
See the whole picture.
Shape a shared future.
Build what lasts.
01 / EXPLORE & CONNECT
Bring different perspectives together. Understand the wider system and discover what already exists, what's emerging and what's missing.
02 / ENVISION & ALIGN
Explore possible futures, find common ground and develop a shared vision for what we want to make possible.
03 / BUILD & CARRY FORWARD
Turn shared direction into collaborative action, strengthening relationships, knowledge and capabilities beyond any single project.
The Goal? Every collaboration leaves a stronger foundations for the next.
The founding conversations are happening now. We'd love to hear what you could bring, and what we could build together.
06 / WHAT HAPPENS NEXT · THE FOUNDING INVITATION
Our Next chapter isn't ours to write alone.
We're bringing together a founding group of institutions, communities and leaders to shape this new way of working. To connect what already exists. Explore what's possible. And build the foundations for long-term collaboration.
07 / THE JOURNEYS THAT BROUGHT US HERE
some of the MAD
journeys that brought us here
MAD INITIATED PROJECTS:
- EARTH CITIZENS: Climate Refugge Camp Installations, Decentralized Democracy App, & Cli-Fi Film production. Exploring how financial and democratic incentives can be realigned with the underlying BioLogical Wellfare.
- PAID TO POOP: Exploring regenerative Water, Sanitation & Energy models. Seeking to shift the financial and operational burden, often placed on the most vulnerable sectors of society, preventing effective scaling - to an income generating source and engine for development.
- UTOPIA: Developing Video Game based interactive Human Rights tools, equipping agents of change in Ukraine. Showing how our individual everyday reactions and actions shape norms, narratives and overall societal development.
- ARCTIC FUTURES: Foresight Residency exploring pathways to democratize arctic futures
MAD DEVELOPED CONCEPTS
- SEEDS TO SPHERES: Framework for exploring how we can thrive within Planetary bounderies across Urban, Peri-urban and Rural contexts, co-created with 10 researchers, 3 regions, and a transsectorial pan European consortium.
- BRAVE Futures: Unpacking the need to be brave to shape more resilient futures through Blended Reality Approaches and Vehicles Equipping Futures; unlocking a value system from collecting Signals, co-creating Speculative Augmented and Virtual worlds to enabling Future tested design responses and be ready to order by neighbourhoods across Europe.
- DARK SIDE OF THE GREEN TRANSITION: Showing the dark side of the current narrative of the Green transition, risking indigenous culture and biodiversity extinction. Building Active and Informed Hope to drive next generation regenerative solutions.
MAD EXPEDITIONS:
- MALAYSIA: Business Model Innovation Sessions with the Malaysian Global Innovation & Creativity Center
- UGANDA: Transsectorial Development inspired and informed by a Youth Innovation Village, Sanitation, Water and Energy entrepreneurs
- KENYA: Staying with Maasai warriors, studying their current societal developmental trade-offs and successes
- EQUADOR: Exploring pioneering models for creating safe spaces for refugee youth through edutainment, working with local leaders, the ministry of education and visiting pioneering inidgenous projects in the amazon
- ARCTIC: Meeting Indigenous representatives, industry actors, public and civic actors to explore alternative future scenarios
MAD STRATEGIC ADVISING
- ECIU IMPACT FRAMEWORKS: European Consortium of Innovative Universities: Exploring what an Impact Framework that does not only Capture, but Communicate and Create compounding Impact can look like.
- COMMUNITY BUILDING: Bringing together learners, teachers, and researchers work with cities, communities, and businesses to solve real-life challenges – and foster change across 14 universities
- IM DEVELOPMENT PARTNER: Exploring & Advising the Strategic Transformation across it's organisation, incl Nepal, India, El Salvador, Guatemala, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Moldova & Ukraine
MAD CO-FOUNDED PROJECTS
- FUTURES SWEDEN: Foresight Network across Sweden with 500 transsectorial members, united under the mission to Democratize Futures
- NORDIC FORESIGHT: Leading the initation of collaboration between Futures Sweden and Futures Finland to form a joint initiative with Iceland, Denmark and Norway
- SIHI SWEDEN: Founding the a Social Innovation Hub in Health in Sweden in parallell with supporting their Global Secreteriat. Supported by TDR and WHO
MAD SUPPORTED PROJECTS
- GATHER: Conflict Transformation program bringing actors from Palestine, Israel, India and Pakistan together.
- SHE ENTREPRENEURS: Femal Leadership program based in the MENA Region
- IMPACT REVIEW BOARD: Bosnia based Eastern Europ Review to invest in impact Entrepreneurs
- ENPACT: Designing and facilitating Trustbuilding Multistakeholder Labs in Iraq
CHALLENGE BASED
Understanding shared root causes, not siloed symptoms. Seeing patterns, not just problems.
CROWD SOURCED
Transforming underlying forces of change.
Identifying tipping points and pooling resources.
FUTURES LED
Co-Design, Create & Use not just probable or possible - but truly prefferable Futures.
The MAD Method
EMPIRICALLY BUILT, TESTED & DEVELOPED THROUGH NEARLY A DECADE OF EXPEDITIONS
DEDICATED TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE
08 / THE METHOD
FOR COMMUNITIES & CHANGEMAKERS
MAKE WHAT YOU ARE BUILDING GO FURTHER
Connect your local knowledge and initiatives with new allies, capabilities and resources, while keeping ownership of what matters in your hands.