Deep mapping

A collaborative process for identifying and mapping elements and factors within a system, along with their interconnections and functions, which enables the identification of knowledge gaps, points for intervention and potential new solutions.

Emergent properties/qualities

Like any community, an organisation or an entire territory constitutes the emergent property of the interaction between a group of people, using the resources and information at their disposal to achieve something within a specific context. An emergent property therefore consists of those qualities that none of the elements of a system possesses on its own and which arise from the interaction between them.

Generative governance

The special issue of the Stanford Social Innovation Review entitled “The Future of Innovation Is Collective” (August 2025) argues that over 80 per cent of initiatives with systemic impact that bring about lasting change arise from cross-sectoral partnerships, rather than from individual organisations. Major transformations no longer stem from lone heroes, but from ecosystems of diverse actors who collaborate purposefully. Innovation today means building alliances between the public, private and third sectors and communities, because only collective action can rise to the challenge of the social, environmental and economic complexities of our time. Furthermore, specialist international literature on these topics has long highlighted the correlation between product, process or procedural innovations and a circular, non-hierarchical management structure.
From this perspective, the governance that generates innovation takes on the following characteristics:
decentralised coordination, in which the various stakeholders in a process act as catalysts for a shared strategic vision, guiding the direction of their actions;
exposure of the entire public-private partnership to a certain degree of uncertainty, which implies flexibility, freedom and responsibility rather than command and control;
the ability of each stakeholder to respond to any unforeseen events, as well as the skill to integrate the limitations and opportunities encountered during the process into their organisational DNA.

Innovation

A process in which innovative ideas relating to products, processes or regulatory and procedural matters are decoded, translated, negotiated and implemented within multi-stakeholder organisational trajectories towards a shared goal. The decision-making process underpinning this takes the form of a process of mutual learning that occurs within clusters of complex systems, such as a region (Battaglini, 2024).

Natural Intelligence

Plants account for 86% of all living things, and life flows alongside them. They create the soil. They drive the water cycle and exchange nutrients. “ Give me phosphorus and I’ll give you some nitrogen”: every plant leaves the soil in which it lives in better condition than when it first sprouted, nourishing, nurturing and restoring the soil in collaboration with other species.
Using systemic innovation techniques, the European Social Resonance method establishes and facilitates the enabling conditions so that human communities, too, can learn to collaborate towards a common purpose, just as happens in the plant world.
Mutual care, collaboration and mutual support are fundamental to tackling complex challenges: support enables the recognition of the other through oneself, co-evolution, as well as the reawakening of restorative feelings such as self-esteem and self-efficacy. This is the very ‘active principle’ conveyed by the Social Resonance method: mutual care.

Meta-skills

Self-reflective skills grounded in critical thinking that foster a vision of change open to the perspectives of the organisations or communities with which one works on projects.

Micro-narratives

A cluster or group of factors, often linked in a linear fashion, which helps us to tell a story about a particular problem identified within a system. When combined, these micro-narratives can give us an insight into why a system might be dysfunctional.

Natural Intelligence

Plants account for 86% of all living things, and life flows alongside them. They create the soil. They drive the water cycle and exchange nutrients. “ Give me phosphorus and I’ll give you some nitrogen”: every plant leaves the soil in which it lives in better condition than when it first sprouted, nourishing, nurturing and restoring the soil in collaboration with other species.
Using systemic innovation techniques, the European Social Resonance method establishes and facilitates the enabling conditions so that human communities, too, can learn to collaborate towards a common purpose, just as happens in the plant world.
Mutual care, collaboration and mutual support are fundamental to tackling complex challenges: support enables the recognition of the other through oneself, co-evolution, as well as the reawakening of restorative feelings such as self-esteem and self-efficacy. This is the very ‘active principle’ conveyed by the Social Resonance method: mutual care.

Organisation like Complex Adaptive System (CAS)

A system such as a business, an organisation or an entire region takes on the characteristics of a CAS if it meets the following criteria:
– Evolutionary worldview: actions, behaviours and practices reflect an understanding of the interconnectedness of life and maximise values and wider-reaching impacts.
– Mutualism: a system exhibiting this quality is characterised by interdependent connections in which humans and non-humans contribute to each other’s well-being.
– High diversity: diversity in ecological, cultural and social aspects strengthens the system’s resilience and adaptability.
– Continuous reflexivity: together with continuous adaptation, this property is necessary to ensure that the system evolves in response to new insights and challenges.

Regenerative economy

The regenerative economy is an economic model that goes beyond sustainability, aiming to actively restore damaged ecosystems and create positive value for the environment, the climate, society and the economy. It is based on the idea of ‘giving more than you take’, regenerating natural resources, promoting biodiversity, encouraging the exchange of ecosystem services and creating local production systems that not only minimise negative impacts – such as those typically faced by Italy’s inland areas – but also generate value and active benefits.
The three key principles of the regenerative economy are as follows:
Systemic vision: it considers the underlying processes, values, structures and patterns that shape a business or territorial ecosystem, going beyond mere economic profits.
Creation of positive value: the aim is not merely to avoid harm, but to actively create benefits, such as, for example, adopting environmental certification (typically, for instance, in accordance with ISO 14001 or ISO 50001 standards), ESG reporting tools that can benefit from the use of various emerging technologies ‘for good’, or voluntary reporting tools such as the Sustainability/Social Report (Social Report) and policy documents such as the Code of Ethics, to demonstrate companies’ ethical, social and environmental commitment through recognised standards and external audits.
Well-being: promotes the health, prosperity and well-being of human communities that co-evolve within wider ecosystems, recognising that economic prosperity is inextricably linked to social and environmental prosperity.

The perspective of social resonance, on which the regenerative economy is based, therefore emphasises the importance of integrating expert knowledge with local wisdom and practices, creating spaces that can resonate with living communities. Particularly in the face of crises and socio-economic challenges, the strengthening of community bonds at deeper emotional levels can, in fact, positively influence risk management and the implementation of regenerative economic approaches.

Resonance

Resonance describes the relationships between the self and the world, in which the subject and the world influence and transform one another. The term is borrowed from physics and refers to the vibrations between the receptive subject and the object; it was introduced by the German sociologist Hartmut Rosa (2016, English trans. 2019). The sociology of resonance and of the relationship with the world is therefore characterised by an examination of the quality and nature of the relationships that actually develop ‘between’ agents, between actors and things, and in the relationship that individuals have with themselves. ‘Resonance’ thus refers to the condition or nature of a dynamic relationship with the world, in which subjects, organisations, communities and ‘the other’ enter into synergistic synchrony and transform one another.

Sensemaking

Sensemaking is a collaborative process or activity aimed at deriving new meanings from the perspectives, interests and experiences of different individuals, businesses and organisations, thereby creating a shared understanding of what has been generated collectively, whilst accelerating mutual learning and transformation.

Social Resonance Design Systems Thinking®

The European Social Resonance method is applied as a framework to provide direction and meaning to decision-making processes and public policies. It creates infrastructure for generative spaces of experience, enabling the exploration of collective intelligence through:
– the research and experimentation with learning techniques and experiences aimed at self-organisation;
– the fostering of trust and collaboration within teams and communities through processes of engagement, freedom and responsibility that challenge hierarchical and centralised coordination;
– the clear and informed structuring of problem-setting contexts to facilitate problem-solving processes.

A space for learning

First and foremost relational, physical and bodily, it fosters an awareness of the difference between ‘skills’ – as an aptitude for something one has managed to master – and ‘resonance’ as the process of entering into a relationship with something. One example is school: this might relate to the possibility that a particular subject, taught as something ‘alive’, might move us, touch us, make our eyes light up or simply resonate with us. Without resonance, in fact, knowledge and skills remain mute, indifferent and have nothing to say (Rosa and Endres, 2013).

A space of trust

Resonance strengthens motivation through expectations of ‘self-efficacy’. It is a matter of fostering, for example in work and other activities, a disposition towards self-affirmation. In trust, in fact, a moment of mutual affirmation comes into play, which is the prerequisite for all responsive, creative and generative growth: I take on board, as a preliminary step, what will only manifest itself later. The more this space fosters respect and recognition, the more it encourages individuals to recognise its value for themselves, to appreciate it and to make it their own.

A responsive space

This can be designed, not as a static container of functions, but as a dynamic process within meaningful relationships.

Comprehensive or integrated Sustainability

Comprehensive sustainability differs from sustainable development: it does not consist merely of reporting activities in accordance with ESG standards, but rather refers to the implementation of actions, behaviours and public or corporate policies whose direction and purpose are geared towards bringing about change across an entire system.
From this integrated perspective, the principles of sustainability are essentially aimed at fostering a genuine regenerative ‘culture’, in which individuals, organisations and businesses can learn the value of actions, processes and policies geared towards adaptation (= managing the inevitable) and mitigation (= preventing the unmanageable) required by complex (global) challenges.

System

A system is a set of interconnected elements, organised coherently in order to achieve a purpose (Meadows, 2010). A system often consists of elements, interconnections and a function or purpose. Adopting a systemic approach to a problem means understanding the various elements, their interdependence and the underlying logic, rather than isolating and analysing them individually.

Systems Mapping

A collaborative process of identifying and mapping elements and factors within the system, along with their interconnections and functions, which enables us to uncover gaps in our knowledge, areas for intervention and insights.