The Change Agency and Friends of the Earth reflect on how they transitioned from an organisation with a narrow focus on environmental protection to one focused on broader, interdependent issues (social, personal) and how that helped them build a more inclusive movement for change in Northern Ireland.

Social Ecology; crafting a movement fo social change

Change in complex, social systems requires a relationship-centred approach. It needs to address both the structural barriers, as well as the interpersonal challenges; a focus and one but not the other will result in frustration and  power-imbalances which will make efforts for change ineffective.
The Social Ecology model for change addresses group culture along with 'how' things are done. 

The results are an enlivened group, flexible and responsive to change, with a strong understanding of how to mirror that approach in the work they do in the world.

An Experiment In Crafting A Social Movement

Keep Birth WIld Podcast by Indi Williams speaks with me, Kathryn Mc Cabe "I have the pleasure of speaking to Kathryn about the births of her two children.

Kathryn lives and birthed her babies at home in Ireland. We talk a lot about the differences and similarities in maternity care and how social and hospital systems work against people who choose to homebirth, and ultimately even more so against those who birth in hospital and experience unacceptable rates of intervention and birth trauma.

Kathryn shares beautifully how she navigated birth and family trauma handed down through her family, and what she identifies as a phobia of pregnancy and birth, to achieve two positive, pain and injury free homebirths.

Kathryn is a social ecologist and director at The Change Agency, and you can find her at https://www.thechangeagency.ie/."

Reclaiming birth; painfree and empowering at home in Ireland

The Change Agency

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