Beyond the Limits of the Past: Reimagining Impact Investment for Systems Change

Written by Zeynep Falay von Flittner.

Last week, during the energetic buzz of Slush, I had the privilege of co-facilitating a session at the House of Impact Event alongside the inspiring Josine Bakkes from Imaginal Cells. Together, we hosted “The Power of Imagination: Creativity as a Catalyst for Sustainable & Conscious Leadership”, a session designed to spark new ideas and provoke thought among impact investors eager to drive meaningful change.

In a world facing escalating environmental challenges, conscious leadership is no longer a luxury — it’s a necessity. This session explored how creativity and imagination can serve as powerful tools to navigate complexity, foster innovative solutions, and lead us toward a sustainable future.

Challenging the Dominant Paradigm

While creativity and imagination are critical tools for progress, we must also confront the core principles that hold our current systems in place. The dominant narrative, shaped by decades of extractive practices and short-term thinking, has led to profound ecological and social crises. To truly move forward, we need to question the assumptions that have guided us thus far:

• Why is perpetual growth prioritised over regeneration?
• Why is financial return valued more than social and ecological well-being?
• Why do we rely on old models to address unprecedented challenges?

The answers to these questions don’t lie in minor adjustments but in bold experiments — systemic shifts that reimagine the very foundations of how we live, work, and invest.

The Nordic Dialogues: From Thinking to Doing

The next day, I joined the Nordic Dialogues, organised by Amid Paul and his colleagues from Innrwrks. This gathering brought together an inspirational group of investors, changemakers, and impact entrepreneurs from around the world. The room was buzzing with ideas, filled with representatives from various layers of financial and investment structures. These were individuals willing to challenge the dominant paradigm and explore new models of impact.

Yet, as inspiring as the discussions were, it was clear that entrenched structures and mindsets continue to hold us back. The dominant narrative of risk-aversion still overshadows the courage to invest in bold, transformative visions emerging from niche activists and innovators. The question on everyone’s mind:

How do we shift from thinking to doing?

Shifting from Vision to Action

The courage to act — to step beyond conventional frameworks and into the unknown — is the missing link. Here’s how we can begin to bridge that gap:

1. Invest in Systems Change Interventions: Beyond climate tech startups, we must direct capital toward interventions that challenge the status quo and offer glimpses into a future paradigm. These initiatives may not yield immediate returns but hold the transformative potential to reshape entire systems.
2. Embrace Experimentation: True innovation comes from testing bold ideas, even when the outcomes are uncertain. We need financial and cultural support for projects that dare to imagine and build radically different futures.
3. Foster Collaboration Across Silos: Bringing together diverse stakeholders — investors, entrepreneurs, activists, and communities — creates fertile ground for co-creating regenerative solutions that address interconnected challenges.

What We Explore at Falay Collective

At Falay Collective, we are deeply committed to this work. We aim to shift paradigms by challenging three dominant notions:

1. We are ONLY human: We recognize ourselves as interbeings, intrinsically connected and entangled with the Earth and all its life forms.
2. We are ONLY today: We carry the wisdom and stories of our ancestors, and our actions today shape the possibilities for future generations.
3. We are ONLY one thing: We embrace multiplicity, complexity, and relationality, seeing ourselves as part of a larger, living system.

These perspectives guide us in formulating our interventions rooted in living systems approaches that move beyond the limitations of the past and into a regenerative, inclusive future.

An Invitation to Act

Both the House of Impact session and the Nordic Dialogues highlighted the growing willingness to challenge entrenched structures and experiment with new approaches. However, the gap between vision and action remains.

As investors, entrepreneurs, and changemakers, we must ask ourselves:

• How can we channel our resources and energy into systems change interventions?
• How can we shift from risk-aversion to courage, from short-termism to long-term thinking?
• How can we co-create the bold experiments that will define a sustainable, thriving future?

At Falay Collective, we believe the answers lie in embracing creativity, imagination, and collaboration. The future is not a fixed destination — it’s something we actively build through the choices we make today. Let’s commit to taking those first steps, together.

Warmly, Zeynep Falay von Flittner Founder, Falay Transition Design Collective