We have tied ourselves in knots! 

Can systems-mapping help us start untangling the knot of government policies so that we can have a joined-up approach to the challenges of health, climate, and equity in way that creates a thriving economy? 

We cannot solve challenges in siloes, whether it be funding the NHS, affordable housing, cost of living, reducing carbon emissions, or climate change.  For example unless we tackle climate change, the costs to the NHS will increase from heat stress and mental health costs will rise following extreme weather events such as flooding. All these challenges are interconnected and we need to be more joined-up, particularly at central government level.

Can systems-mapping help? 

We have begun to systems-map central government policies and started to explore the synergies, conflicts, gaps and opportunities.  We are also starting to connect these to local government strategies. 

As we do so, it is becoming clear that by making the connections we can rationalise national government policies by focusing on joined-up ‘Shared Outcomes’ – and connect these to ‘Global Outcomes’, enabling us to connect the local to the global.   

We are starting to see how layers of government policies – international, national, regional, and local – can be aligned and reduce the ‘complicatedness’ which has tied us in knots and made our lives a misery.  By making the connections, we believe we can collapse complexity. 

We will be hosting a webinar to share our journey.  Join us to find out more and be a part of the journey, and you have a look at some of the initial insights below.