SDX 53: Agency & Hope in a Time of Societal Transition & Evolution

In Agency & Hope in a Time of Societal Transition & Evolution, we’ll explore how periods of breakdown, disruption, and uncertainty are not anomalies to be avoided—but integral phases in societal and systems evolution. The workshop invites participants to rethink how change happens during moments of decline, release, and transition, and how individuals and organizations can act with agency and purpose rather than paralysis.

About this workshop: Many change efforts are implicitly designed for times of stability, growth, and incremental improvement. Yet today’s context—marked by political polarization, institutional fragility, ecological stress, and social fragmentation—demands a different orientation. When systems enter phases of creative destruction, familiar tools, strategies, and assumptions often fall short.

In this session, Mark Cabaj draws on systems thinking, panarchy theory, and real-world examples to surface four core ideas that help participants better locate themselves in periods of disruption:

1. acknowledging the inevitability of disruption, transition and decline as part of renewal;
2. understanding the dynamics of disruption, transition and decline so we are not shocked into paralysis;
3. identifying ways to influence transitions by preventing harm and creating conditions for healthier and more equitable futures; and
4. upgrading and aligning practices—such as evaluation, philanthropy, policy advocacy, and leadership—to better fit moments of instability and change.

Rather than offering a single solution or framework, the session supports collective sensemaking about what kinds of actions, leadership, and practices are appropriate in different phases of systemic change—and what that means for participants’ own work and contexts. The workshop invites reflection on how we show up when systems are unraveling, how our roles may need to shift across phases of change, and how agency and hope can be cultivated through honest engagement with uncertainty, loss, and emergence.

Mark Cabaj is President of the consulting company From Here to There and an Associate of Tamarack - An Institute for Community Engagement. Mark has first-hand knowledge of using evaluation as a policy maker, philanthropist, and activist, and has played a big role in promoting the merging practice of developmental evaluation in Canada. Mark was the Coordinator of the Waterloo Region's Opportunities 2000 project (1997-2000), an initiative that won provincial, national and international awards for its multi-sector approach to poverty reduction. He served briefly as the Executive Director of the Canadian Community Economic Development Network (CCEDNet) in 2001. From 2002 to 2011, he was Vice President of the Tamarack Institute and the Executive Director of Vibrant Communities Canada.

📅 Date: March 5th

⏰ Time: 1:00 - 4:00 PM, doors will open at 12:45 PM

📍 Location: Action Lab, 10408 124 Street Edmonton, Suite #210

Note: You can't see Action Lab from the street but the YWCA is located on the bottom floor of the building and can be a helpful signal that you have found the right spot! The Action Lab is on the second floor of the building to the left as you exit the elevators.

More information about the venue including accessibility information can be found on the Action Lab website.

As SDX, we strive to make our gatherings as welcoming and accessible as possible. At the same time, we recognize that not every event will meet every accessibility need, and there may be barriers that prevent some people from fully participating.

We remain committed to doing our best within the resources and contexts of each event, while also being transparent about the limits of what we can provide. If you anticipate or encounter barriers to participation at an SDX event, please feel free to connect with us at [email protected] so we can work with you where possible.

• Web Page: https://www.actionlab.ca/sdx
• Twitter: @SDXCoP
• Medium: Blog @SDX

Great! If you have an idea you would like to explore with SDX or are interested in leading a session, we'd love to chat. We are happy to use our convening power to explore a suitable idea or challenge. Connect with us via [email protected].

There is a small charge for this event to help us cover the costs associated with hosting. We try our best to keep the cost of events minimal and we never want money to be a barrier for folks. If the ticket price doesn’t work for you, please contact us in confidence and let us know at [email protected].

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