It resonates
The 7-Agenda works as a way of naming the core challenges and assessing their depth and interconnectedness. It is a valuable agenda to guide direction, and it can work in different contexts.
What we did
Mapping first, then long conversations, with an open invitation to tell us the idea was wrong.
We mapped the organisations already working on one or more items of the 7-Agenda, across civil society, government, business, philanthropy and academia, at every level from local to global.
Then we interviewed a deliberately diverse group of leaders. We asked them to reflect on the 7-Agenda, to name the gaps, and to say where, if anywhere, ReAlliance could strengthen what already exists. We also asked whether it should exist at all.
This is not a representative sample of society. It reflects who we could reach in a first exploratory phase, and we say so plainly.
194+organisations mapped across the 7-Agenda
68people mapped
26in-depth interviews with leaders
10months of exploration
One word came up more than any other. Fragmentation.
Not as an abstract diagnosis. As something almost everyone we spoke to had lived through. Knowledge does not travel across disciplines. Funding rewards isolated projects over the capacity between them. Leaders lack trusted spaces to work across sectors, cultures and generations. And divisive narratives tear through the very communities whose work depends on acting together.
Where there was strong convergence
Twelve things that came back again and again, across sectors and regions.
Fragmentation
A structural barrier, not a failure of goodwill. Initiatives that work well in one place struggle to connect to others. Too many parallel efforts, too much focus on individual projects, too little capacity to connect at a systemic level.
Local and global
Local action often fails to influence national or global dynamics, while global strategies rarely translate into meaningful change on the ground.
Knowledge
Knowledge does not travel easily across silos. It needs to.
Funding
Funding flows often reinforce fragmentation. That needs to change. We need to finance movements, not only projects.
Why silos exist
Siloing has a rationale. To bridge domains and produce real change it is important to understand why the silos are there, and where the friction and the trade-offs sit.
Complexity
Governments, international institutions, NGOs and businesses struggle to operate at the speed, scale and complexity the 7-Agenda requires, particularly globally, even where intent and expertise are strong.
Coordination
Coordination mechanisms are weakening. The multilateral system and other coordinating arrangements are under strain and in some areas breaking down, which raises the question of what can realistically replace them.
Leadership
Leadership surfaced in almost every conversation. Leadership pathways reward specialisation more than integration, and there is a lack of safe spaces for leaders to be open about dilemmas, vulnerability and loneliness.
Nature
Nature often emerges as a unifying entry point, one of the few places where people with very different interests or worldviews still recognise that they are connected.
Trust and facts
The erosion of trust and shared facts cut across almost every conversation, alongside the importance of the human story: meaning, belonging and dignity.
AI
AI is changing the operating environment fast. One expert cautioned that the lack of effective digital governance is a major transversal challenge across the whole agenda.
Where the hard questions sit
Not everything converged. ReAlliance creates space to hold tensions openly, so different perspectives can become part of better collective judgement.
01
People or institutions
Some of those we consulted stressed working with people rather than institutions, and meeting where action happens. Others stressed institutions, which is where change is anchored, funded, organised and scaled.
02
Global agenda or local legitimacy
The value of an overarching framework depends on national and local meaning, and it must avoid implicit framing from a single cultural tradition. Connective tissue has to be adaptable and usable across regions and traditions.
03
No more platforms, or different spaces
There was caution about creating yet another platform or convening. At the same time there was real appetite for different kinds of spaces, where unusual conversations can happen across sectors, disciplines and power structures.
04
Agency or power
Connective work cannot assume neutral relationships. In every partnership or transition, power shapes who decides, who benefits, who bears the costs, and whether cooperation feels meaningful or imposed.
05
Create or let it grow
Creating something gives movement, direction and speed, but can cost buy-in and surprising insight. Natural growth is built on buy-in and lets things emerge, but is slower and less decisive.
The advice we were given
Five things the people we spoke to told us to do.
01
IndicatorsThe 7-Agenda should, at some point, be fitted with indicators of success matched with timelines.
02
Open upLook for the unusual. This work only matters if it reaches beyond our own ecosystem. That implies a posture of persuasion rather than dogma, meeting people where material interests and lived realities shape decisions.
03
Find the first dominoFraming alone is not enough. You need a practical entry point that produces tangible outputs and can be tested, so the work creates traction rather than noise.
04
Connect what existsDifferent elements of the work of organisations already active on one or more of the seven could be connected to each other.
05
Show what worksShow where agency is still possible, with concrete examples of what is working, even partially, and why it can be built on.
The people we spoke to
Twenty-six leaders gave us their time and their candour. Several told us the idea might not be worth building. That was the point of asking.
Juan Carlos BoteroDean, School of Law, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana; former Executive Director, World Justice Project
Ramy BulanResearch Fellow and Head, Centre for Legal Pluralism and Indigenous Law, University of Malaya; Member, WWF International Board of Trustees
Giovanni CaccamoArtist and singer-songwriter; creator of Youth and Future / The Ark of Change
Juan Camilo CárdenasDirector, Center for the Sustainable Development Goals for Latin America and the Caribbean, Universidad de los Andes; Professor of Economics
Luigi de VecchiSenior Managing Director; Chair, Continental Europe Advisory Practice, Evercore
Thomas LeysenChair of the Board of Directors, Mediahuis; Chair of the Board, dsm-firmenich
Willy MutungaFormer Chief Justice and President of the Supreme Court of Kenya
Dan SmithPeace and conflict researcher; former Director, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
Titles are as they stood at the time of interview.
A small team, a growing network
ReAlliance was started by four people from business, civil society, governance and engagement, connected to many parts of the world, who kept arriving at the same uneasy feeling: the way we respond to connected challenges is not working well enough.
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We are looking for funding partners, knowledge partners, infrastructure partners, network partners, critical friends and first-mover organisations. Critical voices are as welcome as supportive ones.
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