2026 portfolio at a glance

Our portfolio has been created to reflect the ambitions of our Theory of Change, serving both our short and long term goals as well as reflecting what the community of system change pioneers need in order to keep moving forward. Our current portfolio offering is diverse and ambitious – working across a range of themes, partners and aims. We aim to add to our programme and grow the portfolio through 2026 and into 2027. 

Understanding systems and how to measure change 

TWIST case studies: Exploring what it takes to invest in systems change

This research looks at how investors, foundations and other privately governed organisations attempt to contribute to systems change. Drawing on a set of diverse real-world examples from the TWIST Community Database, the research examines what these organisations are trying to change, the approaches they use, and the different ways they aim to influence the systems around them. The cases encompass venture investment, strategic philanthropy, sector development, catalytic capital, cultural production, advocacy, market formation and organisational intermediation.

The research highlights that systems change cannot be understood simply through the amount of capital deployed or the performance of individual investments. Instead, the potential for wider change depends on what happens around the investment: creating space for experimentation, building coalitions, generating and sharing knowledge, influencing institutions and shifting the expectations and practices of other actors. The findings offer a framework for thinking more critically about the pathways from individual interventions to wider systems change — and about what evidence we should look for if we want to understand whether those pathways are actually working. 

The report will be out soon – so watch this space!

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Metrics project: seeking to understand how we measure systems change 

How do we know when systems are actually changing?

As systems change investing begins to move away from the margins, a fundamental question remains: how can we tell whether an investment is contributing to actual systemic change, rather than simply delivering isolated impacts? This project is developing new ways to make these deeper shifts visible. Systems change is diffuse, long-term, and inherently complex, involving changes in networks of actors, shifts in norms and expectations, and the emergence of new patterns of behaviour and investment. Therefore drawing on the Deep Transitions framework, the research looks beyond conventional measures of outputs and outcomes to track changes in the structures, relationships and rules that shape how systems function. 

The project explores how these changes can be measured in a rigorous but practical way. We aim to bridge the conceptual and methodological gap between abstract systemic descriptions and tangible material outcomes. Through four interwoven work packages, we seek to develop a repeatable, scalable methods-set. One strand of the work uses network analysis to map actors, initiatives and rules, and track how their relationships evolve over time — helping to identify processes like new coalitions forming, alternatives spreading and incumbent systems beginning to shift. The ambition is to build a repeatable approach that can help investors and other actors understand whether their efforts are contributing towards transformative pathways, while also connecting these changes to material impacts and human wellbeing.

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Putting transformation into practice

CO experiment: How can investment create the conditions for regional transformation?

In the Gulf of California, there is no shortage of promising initiatives across the systems of food, fisheries, tourism, conservation and coastal development. The challenge is that many of these initiatives operate in isolation, while the wider systems around them continue to favour extractive models. Working with CO_, the Deep Transitions Lab explored what it would take to move beyond supporting individual projects and instead create the conditions for transformation across multiple interconnected systems and actors. 

Using the Deep Transitions approach, the experiment mapped the rules shaping these systems, identified vulnerable points where change could be accelerated, and explored emerging niches and opportunities for investment. This work led to the development of a transition bundle: a coordinated combination of actors, initiatives, investment, policy and learning organised around shared transition pathways. The work ultimately helped inform the Gulf of California Bioregional Platform, which brings together knowledge, collective action and blended finance to support a regenerative regional economy.

Read the full case study here. 

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ACT!: What would a circular society actually look like in the Netherlands — and how do we get there?

The Netherlands wants to be fully circular by 2050. But what would a circular society actually look like? How would we live, work, produce products, use raw materials? So far, the answer remains unclear. ACT! Accelerating the Circular Transition is a six-year research program. With scientists, policy makers and partners from practice, the project is working on a shared vision of a circular Netherlands, transition pathways, and models that calculate circular choices. 

The Deep Transition team contributes to the project through looking at pathways (using case studies) asking: what are the possible routes to a circular society, who needs to coordinate and enable those routes, and what business models and value chains are needed to make change possible. 

Watch this space as more will be published as the project develops but for now you can learn more here. 

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Learning programme: How do we turn systems thinking into practice?

At the Lab, our learning programme comprises three main elements. 

1. A Learning Hub with practical tools, case studies, and insights that bring the Deep Transitions framework to life, supporting the implementation of Transformative Investment for meaningful and lasting systems change. The hub is organised into four sections that guide you through the process of systems change. You’ll begin by building a foundation in Deep Transitions theory and Transformative Investment, before learning how to map existing systems, identify the rules that shape them, envision desirable futures, and develop pathways for accelerating transitions. As you go, you’ll find case studies, podcasts, academic papers, practical methodologies, and more to support your learning and application. The hub is designed to help you understand, navigate, and contribute to the long-term transformations needed for a just and sustainable future.

2. The Open Learning series is an online gathering bringing together policy makers, private investors, academics and those working at the frontier of systems change to examine a case study or initiative together. We choose a theme and present the topic, invite guest speakers working on this and give space for open dialogue with each other. 

3. Our student programme extends from BSc students all the way to professionals. We have had two CEL-based courses at the UU, hosted courses at UU’s summer school and we are currently developing a professional course designed for those working in systems change. 

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Changing the financial system itself

What can the history of finance teach us about creating a sustainable finance system?

The finance system doesn’t just respond to economic change — it actively shapes it. This project brings together historical research and engagement with investors to explore how we arrived at today’s financial system, how its rules and practices have evolved, and what history can teach us about changing finance for a more sustainable future. The project asks what changes are needed for finance to become a more effective agent of systems change in the real economy, and how public and private investment can help enable change across multiple systems.

We haven’t announced the next phase programme yet – so stay tuned for the announcement and all the following details. 

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Building the ecosystem for transformation

DT Hubs – expanding across continents

The move to open Deep Transitions Hubs is directly aligned with our Theory of Change and part of broadening and deepening our network and work. We will be developing two hubs – one in South Africa and one in Latin America.

TIPC – our sister programme in policy

The Transformative Innovation Policy Consortium (TIPC) is a sister project based at the University of Sussex, applying the Deep Transitions framework to questions of transformative policy and public-sector action. While TIPC and the Deep Transitions Lab remain separate organisations, they share a common intellectual foundation and a similar experimental approach to understanding and enabling systems change. Bringing these perspectives together creates an opportunity to connect the public and private spheres, recognising that deep transitions cannot be driven by either policy or investment alone – which is deeply reflective of the Lab’s Theory of Change. 

A key area of collaboration is developing more joined-up approaches to transformation, including through the idea of transition bundles (combinations of actors, initiatives, investments, policies and learning that work together around a shared transition pathway). The relationship also creates practical opportunities to share resources and knowledge, including through the shared Learning Hub, while building on the strong academic synergies between the two projects. Together, TIPC and DT are exploring how policy, investment, research and experimentation can be connected more effectively to support systemic transformation.

Building the future with the systems change community

DT is developing its work alongside a growing group of organisations working to advance systems change and systemic investing. Alongside the Lab Partners, a new group of Strategic Collaborators has joined, notably The TransCap Initiative and TWIST. These organisations share a field-building ambition to promote systemic investment practices. As a result, the DT Lab entered a three-year strategic, funded partnership (supported by the Good Investors, with the opportunity for other donors to contribute). With TWIST, the Lab is analysing a wide range of investment and project cases to develop new ways of assessing their potential to contribute to systems change. With the TransCap Initiative and MIT, DT is helping build the Systemic Investing Research and Knowledge Community, bringing researchers and practitioners together around a developing field of systemic investing. Together, these relationships give DT a way to connect different strands of research and practice — and to build on them through shared projects, learning and experimentation.