Copyright © 2018 by the author(s). Published here under license by the Resilience Alliance. Drimie, S., R. Hamann, A. P. Manderson, and N. Mlondobozi. 2018. Creating transformative spaces for dialogue and action: reflecting on the experience of the Southern Africa Food Lab. Ecology and Society 23(3):2. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-10177-230302 Research, part of a Special Feature on Designing Transformative spaces for sustainability in social-ecological systems Creating transformative spaces for dialogue and action: reflecting on the experience of the Southern Africa Food Lab Scott Drimie 1,2 , Ralph Hamann 3 , Annie P. Manderson 2 and Norah Mlondobozi 2 ABSTRACT. Addressing food insecurity in South Africa requires innovative responses that fundamentally reconsider its causes, particularly because challenges facing the food system cut across issues, sectors, and scales. We discuss our experience in the Southern Africa Food Lab, a transformative space for diverse stakeholders from across the food system to engage in dialogue, paying particular attention to the relationship between dialogue and action. We argue that dialogue gives rise to action not only because it generates new ideas but because it creates commitments and relationships for new action. A particularly important aspect of such dialogue is to proactively address power imbalances and to give voice to the marginalized in the system. Such efforts, when implemented vigorously, likely result in a new set of challenges, but such resistance is a signal that indeed we are having at least some success at addressing deep- seated, structural dimensions of systems transformation. Key Words: change; dialogue; experimental action; food systems; power imbalances; social-ecological systems; Theory U; transformative spaces INTRODUCTION The persistence of hunger and malnutrition in southern Africa relates to a range of complex and interrelated issues, spanning environmental, health, economic, social-political, and management domains. Ensuring that a growing population has access to a healthy, affordable, and environmentally sustainable diet will undoubtedly remain one of the greatest challenges facing the region. Reducing food insecurity requires innovative responses that fundamentally reconsider its causes, particularly as challenges facing the food system cut across issues, sectors, and scales (Bitzer et al. 2015). To date, initiatives have been fragmented, piecemeal, and difficult to scale (Pereira and Drimie 2016). The Southern Africa Food Lab (henceforth, Food Lab) seeks to respond to the recognition that “transformative spaces” are vital elements of more inclusionary and systemic responses to wicked problems (Westley et al. 2011, Moore et al. 2014; see also https://steps-centre.org/blog/coming-terms-messiness-transformation- lab/). The Food Lab is a multistakeholder initiative that seeks to foster long-term food security in the region. It brings together diverse, influential actors in the regional food system to respond to systemic challenges in creative ways and to inspire change in how we think about and act on complex social problems in the food system. The Food Lab facilitates dialogue between these actors to bring about collaborative learning and to foster innovation and experimental action toward a just and sustainable food system ( http://www.southernafricafoodlab.org). Different actors in the food system have widely different perspectives and interests, and challenging structural issues such as power differentials among them remain largely unexamined (Pereira and Drimie 2016). These challenges make rational discourse among actors from different disciplines, sectors, and levels difficult, and prevent them from working together effectively to find innovative ways to respond to food security challenges. A key argument of the Food Lab has been that a lack of engagement between civil society, government, and the private sector has exacerbated a fragmented food system that is vulnerable to current and emergent risks. These risks can be mitigated by increasing engagement among these sectors and by creating an effective platform for authentic communication and innovation. In essence, the Food Lab works to establish transformative spaces to support diverse actors in the food system to shift it in fundamental ways. These are spaces in which diverse actors can converge and “freely think without the weight of a disciplinary history or institutional commitments to a given approach that may constrain dialogue, co-create and prepare innovative ideas and interventions” (Pereira et al. 2015:6035). Social innovations are based on new ideas that have emerged along with the new relationships and commitments that lead to change in the system. Social innovation is a “process of learning and knowledge creation through which new problems are defined and new knowledge is developed to solve them” (Lam 2005:124). We discuss our experience in the Food Lab and in particular the facilitation of a safe space for diverse stakeholders from across the southern African food system to interact in three phases or movements of Scharmer’s (2009) Theory U: (1) “sensing” involves participants engaging with the system and each other’s perspectives of it; (2) “presencing” involves reflecting more deeply about their role and possible inspiration for change; and (3) “realizing” consists of participants engaging in experimental action to pilot innovations. We argue that dialogue is a prerequisite for effective and innovative action. We emphasize the need to proactively address power imbalances in all three phases. A new set of challenges emerges when moving from dialogue to action, which we reflect on and use to refine our approach. We argue that moving into action requires continual reflection through repeating the three phases to refine what emerges. We argue that there are signs that we are having some success at finding real solutions through social innovation than merely facilitating conversations about the challenges. TRANSFORMATIVE SPACES The southern African food system is unsustainable. Current trends are leading to adverse social and environmental impacts such as poor health outcomes and global environmental change 1 Centre for Complex Systems in Transition, Stellenbosch University, 2 Southern Africa Food Lab, Stellenbosch University, 3 Graduate School of Business, University of Cape Town