What if funding system change means investing differently?
Lessons from a global initiative to reimagine science and research systems in the Global South
What does it really mean to change a system?
In philanthropy and international development, the language of systems change is everywhere. Yet, when it comes to funding, we often return to familiar questions: Which projects should we support? Which interventions can be scaled? What results can we demonstrate?
These questions matter. But are they enough to transform the systems we want to change?
During 2025, five regional teams across Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Middle East and North Africa explored these questions as part of a global initiative supported by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC). Through conversations with researchers, policymakers, civil society, young people and funders, they imagined the research systems their regions need and mapped strategic options for getting there.
The resulting global synthesis, A Shared Future for Science and Research Systems in the Global South, brings together regional visions and identifies shared aspirations and levers for change.
[Download the global synthesis here]
The report offers more than a set of recommendations. It invites us to rethink how transformation happens—and what it takes to make it possible.
From funding interventions to nurturing the conditions for change
Across regions, participants envisioned research systems that are socially relevant, connected, equitable, open and capable. They also identified seven levers for change.
But perhaps one of the most important insights lies not only in what needs to change, but in how we work towards that change.
Systems do not transform simply because we introduce a new programme, replicate a successful model or fund promising innovations. Change depends on the relationships between actors, the rules and structures that shape their decisions, the assumptions that guide their behaviour, and the capacity to learn and adapt together.
This means paying attention to the process of transformation itself—not treating it as a temporary step before implementation, but as an essential investment in the future we want to create.
What if we invested not only in the content of change, but also in the processes through which people collectively understand a system, challenge established patterns and create the conditions for something new to emerge?
What do we mean when we say “systemic”?
The word systemic can become so familiar that we stop asking what it actually means in practice.
A systemic approach goes beyond supporting multiple organisations or coordinating a portfolio of projects. It means understanding how different elements influence one another, where power and resources flow, which formal and informal rules keep existing patterns in place, and where shifts could unlock wider change.
It also means looking beyond the visible: towards the mindsets, relationships, trust and institutional cultures that shape how people work together.
If we want to fund systems change, we need to become more precise about the mechanisms through which change happens. Which levers matter most in a particular context? How do they reinforce one another? Who can influence them? And what conditions would allow emerging alternatives to take root and spread?
There are no universal answers. Finding them requires contextual understanding, collective inquiry and a willingness to move beyond familiar funding approaches.
It also requires recognising that the levers of change rarely operate in isolation. Shifting incentives, strengthening capacities, building connections and changing institutional practices may need to happen together. The challenge is not simply to identify individual interventions, but to understand how they interact and where our collective efforts might have the greatest potential to make a difference.
The often-overlooked power of convening
One insight stands out: transformation needs people who can steward the process over time.
Funders can play a distinctive role here—not only by providing resources, but by helping create the conditions in which diverse actors can connect, question established assumptions, build trust and explore new possibilities together.
Convening is not simply bringing stakeholders into the same room. It is creating the space and continuity for people with different interests, forms of knowledge and levels of power to develop a shared understanding of the system, identify leverage points and act on opportunities for change.
This work takes time. It requires attention to relationships, the ability to hold uncertainty, and a commitment to learning and adapting as the system evolves.
It may not always produce the most immediately visible results. Yet, without it, promising initiatives can remain isolated, collaborations can be superficial, and the deeper conditions needed for transformation may remain untouched.
Funders are uniquely positioned to help make this work possible. They can support spaces for collective sensemaking, enable collaboration across institutional and sectoral boundaries, and sustain processes that no single organisation could advance alone. They can also reflect on how their own funding practices, incentives and relationships either reinforce existing patterns or open up possibilities for change.
What might become possible if funders invested more intentionally in these processes—and explored how to play this role collectively, rather than in isolation?
An invitation to explore what this means for funding
The global synthesis offers a starting point, not a blueprint. Its value lies partly in the questions it opens up for those who have the resources and influence to help shape the future of research systems.
At Purpose & Ideas, we would like to continue this exploration with funders: to share the findings and regional visions, but also to create a space for honest reflection and collective imagination.
What could we do differently, individually and together? Where are the leverage points that deserve greater attention? How might we move from funding projects to nurturing the relationships, capacities and conditions that make system change possible?
On November 3, 2026, we are hosting an online funders’ dialogue to explore these questions together. This will not simply be a presentation of findings, but a facilitated space to listen to regional visions, connect perspectives and imagine new possibilities for collective action.
We invite funders who are curious about these questions to join us in this conversation.
[Join the conversation — register here]
Because perhaps the question is no longer only what should we fund? but also:
What processes, relationships and conditions are we helping to grow through the way we fund?
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