The practice of Systemic Action Research
This is a book launch recording from Wenesday 16th September 2026, hosted at the Institute of Development Studies.
From child labour to peacebuilding, some of today’s most urgent development challenges are also the most resistant to conventional programming, demanding approaches that can work with complexity at scale.
Drawing on more than 20 years of implementation of large-scale Systemic Action Research (SAR) programmes worldwide. Including detailed cases of two programmes IDS led or collaborated on: CLARISSA on the worst forms of child labour in Bangladesh and Nepal, and the Vestibule de la Paix peacebuilding programme in Mali, the book sets out how systems thinking, complexity theory, and participatory practice can be combined to design, facilitate, and evaluate change processes that engage large numbers of system actors as agents of change.
Speakers
- Danny Burns was until 2024 Professor at the Institute of Development Studies. He is now an activist, writer, and facilitator focusing on progressive social change.
- Marina Apgar is Senior Research Fellow and Head of the Knowledge, Technology, Power and Participatory research department at the Institute of Development Studies.
Co-Chairs
- Mariah Cannon, IDS Researcher
- Mieke Snijder, IDS Research Fellow