To work at our best to deliver positive social impact, it is useful to build a solid foundation and this starts with mastering the core concepts at play. It may sound obvious, but before we can change a situation, we should better understand the situation. To have an impact on social issues, especially “wicked” ones, is difficult no matter how experienced one is; so, equipping yourself with a solid foundation of conceptual tools is critical.

Units 1-4 are designed to help with this conceptual foundation. They cover the following topics:

• Describing what social innovation looks like in different contexts.
• Navigating the systems in which social issues exists.
• Evaluating how changes happens in systems, i.e. in contexts in which complexity and uncertainty are high.
• Identifying the conditions in which change efforts will have the greatest impact.