This programme advances understanding of the theoretical foundations and real-world impact of civic ecosystems as a concept and set of practical approaches to social innovation. It draws on ideas and insights from complexity science, ecosystem thinking, and social change research and practice across multiple issues, scales, and geographies.
Civic ecosystems are complex adaptive systems that emerge and self-organise to address specific social problems. They do so by leveraging complementarity, a distinctive logic of social innovation reflected in three central characteristics:
- Diversity is about the actors, approaches, and different theories of change in the ecosystem such as institutional change, pre-figurative experimentation, and personal transformation.
- Interdependence draws attention to the ways in which ecosystem constituents interact, enable and constrain each other. And its value is in fostering complementarity.
- Civicness implies behaviour and values that prioritise the public interest. It is what holds the ecosystem together.
The programme investigates the role of civic ecosystems in driving social innovation on a range of issues including:
- Crises, Shocks and Disruptions
- Peace, Protection and Justice
- Climate, Nature and Sustainability
- Civic Space, Engagement and Mobilisation
- Philanthropy, Infrastructure and Resourcing
The programme offers complexity scholars, systems thinkers, and social innovation practitioners and researchers opportunities for sustained engagement and strategic experimentation. It catalyses collaboration and complementarity internally at the CCRG and across the LSE as well as externally with communities such as the Civic Ecosystems Initiative, the Civic Engagement Project and the Complex Systems Society.
Discover the full project here.
This project aims to catalyse academic-practitioner knowledge exchange and production about new, non-linear pathways to innovation in civic ecosystems addressing specific social problems. It draws on insights generated across LSE, the Civic Ecosystems Initiative, and the wider community of researchers and practitioners interested in the role of civic ecosystems in driving social innovation on a range of issues including:
- Compound Crises: Today’s crises, shocks and disruptions increasingly overlap, interact, and reinforce one another. How are civic ecosystems responding, adapting and learning across multiple co-occurring crises?
- Civic Space and Mobilisation: At a time whencivic space is shrinking, we are also seeing how civic mobilisation is surging. Are civic ecosystems creating novel pathways to change when established ones are blocked or inapt?
- Climate and Nature: Addressing climate change and biodiversity loss requires innovative, multi-dimensional solutions that tackle complexity head-on. Are civic ecosystems able to confront and respond to complexity by leveraging complementarity?
- Documentation and Justice: Rapid technological change has widened the gap between documenting abuses and delivering justice. Are civic ecosystems addressing that gap and using documentation to catalyse justice?
- Peace and Protection: The pursuit of peace is much more difficult today, and so is the protection of civic actors at risk. What new approaches, theories of change, and pathways to peace and protection are generated in civic ecosystems?
- Infrastructure and Resourcing: Political and economic pressures and legal and technological disruptions are upending traditional models of infrastructure and resourcing. Can ecosystem thinking and strategy offer viable alternatives?
I. Rangelov and M. Theros (2023) ‘Civic Ecosystems and Social Innovation: From Collaboration to Complementarity’, Global Policy 14(5): 797-804.
I. Rangelov and M. Theros (2025) Climate Emergency and the Future of Civic Space: Lessons from the War on Terror, CCRG, LSE IDEAS, LSE.
I. Rangelov and R. Teitel (2025) Insights from the Justice Archive: How Documentation and Justice Ecosystems Co-evolve and Coalesce, Civic Ecosystems Initiative.
M. Theros et al. (2025) Insights from Multilayered Peacemaking: Peace as an Adaptive Ecosystem, Civic Ecosystems Initiative.
Dr. Iavor Rangelov is Research Fellow and Director of the Civic Ecosystems & Social Innovation Programme at the Conflict and Civicness Research Group, LSE IDEAS. He is interested in the analytical and practical contributions of complexity science and ecosystem thinking for understanding how innovation occurs and how it can be catalysed and leveraged strategically across different sectors and challenges.
Dr. Marika Theros is Policy Fellow and Adaptive Strategy and Practice Lead at the Civic Ecosystems & Social Innovation Programme, Conflict and Civicness Research Group, LSE IDEAS and Founder and Director of the Civic Engagement Project (CEP). She focuses on experimentation and application of ecosystem approaches to civic mobilisation, adaptive peacemaking, and justice – working with diverse actors to activate complementary capacities and learning processes that generate shared insight and adaptive responses to conflict, disruption, and repression.