Theories of Change: Change Leadership Tools, Models and Applications for Investing in Sustainable Development

Today, it has become strikingly obvious that companies no longer operate in an environment where only risk return and volatility describe the business environment. The business has to deal with volatility plus uncertainty, plus complexity and ambiguity (VUCA): that requires new qualities, competencies, frameworks; and it demands a new mind set to deal with the VUCA environment in investment, funding and financing. This book builds on a new megatrend beyond resilience, called anti-fragility. We have had the black swan (financial crisis) and the red swan (COVID) - the Bank for International Settlement is preparing for regenerative capitalism, block chain based analysis of financial streams and is aiming to prevent the "Green Swan" - the climate crisis to lead to the next lockdown. In the light of the UN 17 Sustainable Development Goals, what is required, is Theories of Change.

Written by experts working in the fields of sustainable finance, impact investing, development finance, carbon divesting, innovation, scaling finance, impact entrepreneurship, social stock exchanges, alternative currencies, Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), ledger technologies, civil action, co-creation, impact management, deep learning and transformation leadership, the book begins by analysing existing Theories of Change frameworks from various disciplines and creating a new integrated model - the meta-framework. In turn, it presents insights on creating and using Theories of Change to redirect investment capital to sustainable companies while implementing the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate Agreement. Further, it discusses the perspective of planetary boundaries as defined by the Stockholm Resilience Institute, and investigates various aspects of systems, organizations, entrepreneurship, investment and finance that are closely tied to the mission ingrained in the Theory of Change. As it demonstrates, solutions that ensure the parity of profit, people and planet through dynamic change can effectively address the needs of entrepreneurs and business. By exploring these concepts and their application, the book helps create and shape new markets and opportunities.

Karen Wendt holds an MBA of the Faculty of Social and Environmental Studies of Liverpool University. She is the Editor of the Springer book series "Sustainable Finance" and has published in the field of responsible investment banking, positive impact investing, and sustainable financial innovation. She has more than 20 years of experience in investment banking with UniCredit and has been introducing the first effective sustainability standard in investment and banking: the Equator Principles in two top tier financial institutions. Karen is passionate about co-creation and transformation. She is sitting on various boards in the financial industry including SwissFinTechLadies, Sustainable Finance Association and Female Founders Association. Today she is a serial entrepreneur, an internationally recognized expert for sustainable finance, transformation, positive impact investing and an inspiring lecturer at internationally recognized universities. She loves intelligence driven organizations, creating data driven change and helping others to connect their vision with the right data points. Karen is likewise a prominent Key Note Speaker. She has become a leading authority on impact investing, SDG investing and regenerative capitalism.