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Context & NarrativeLitepaperTerms & Definitions

Definitions

These terminologies enable us to define the contribution Prisma makes toward creating the conditions for systems-change initiatives to take root.

  • A transition-oriented project is defined as an intervention in and with place that is not only future-oriented, but also contains within it the essential elements required to endure and evolve authentically with unpredictable change.
  • Practice is defined as conscious participation and integration, as an ongoing process toward increasing capability of a given activity. 1
  • Liquidity is defined as the capacity of value to move between different organisational contexts without losing meaning.
  • Impact networks are defined as any organisation whose members work locally and simultaneously align and coordinate as one non-local whole.
  • Hubs are defined as an organisation and a physical node that has continually played a value-adding role in its region over an extended period of time (ideally >3 years).
  • Teams are defined as local task forces whose projects’ processes generate at least one stream of verifiable measurement (currency).
  • The term event is used as a short-hand to mean a convergence of intention among multiple stakeholders types to enact and evidence systems transformation.
  • Action-learning is defined as a quality of inquiry in which learnings and insight are generated through reflection from action-oriented programmes and methodologies. Within the context of our work, action can be interpreted as applying practice in place, and learning can be interpreted as understanding the place living as an example within the lineage of the practice.
  • An incubator is defined as an organisational structure that facilitates the formation and development of organisations.
  • Distributed systems are defined in an engineering sense as an information system which generates, processes and stores data across a network of nodes, as opposed to a monolithic or centralised architecture.

These definitions aim to create a starting point, and are not meant to be absolutely definitive. The reader is invited to intuit their own meaning of this system, especially after participating in one of our events.

Footnotes

  1. Fritjof Capra, 2023, referencing MacIntyre, 1985, p.186 ↩

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