The Collective Work of Ecosystems Building

​Social innovators cannot solve societal challenges alone. Addressing complex challenges requires innovation not just in solutions, but also in the ways that diverse stakeholders work together. In recent years, we have witnessed social innovators around the world using collective approaches—both new and ancient—to support, connect, and convene stakeholders across sectors with the aim of creating large-scale social change.

​Yet, even the organisations and individuals deeply committed to doing this work often struggle to identify the critical roles, capacities, infrastructure, and knowledge required to bring different actors together across shared issue areas or geographic communities. They also struggle to communicate these approaches to partners, funders, investors, and policymakers, who are instrumental in supporting these approaches.

​Drawing on learnings from the Schwab Foundation and Skoll Centre communities, this two-hour workshop-style session, delivered in partnership with ShikshaLokam, will unpack what it takes to do the collective work of ecosystem building, identifying key practices for practitioners, funders, and partners moving beyond isolated interventions and forging connections that drive large-scale social change.

​As part of this session, the Skoll Centre will launch the Building Social Innovation Ecosystems for Change Playbook (launching early September 2026), written by Cynthia Rayner and featuring a set of diverse case study organisations—SmartStart Early Learning, Peek Vision, Fairtrasa, Shikshagraha and WeRobotics—four of whom will be in the room to share learnings.

​Join us for an interactive conversation to exchange ideas, surface challenges, and explore how collective approaches can help practitioners, funders, and partners build the relationships, infrastructure, and shared capacity needed to create lasting social change.