February 20th, 2025

June Holley, 'grandmother of networks' and founder of the Network Weaver library, embraces the mess. A network researcher for decades, June explored how Transformative Networks Are Multiscalar in 2018. February 20th, 2024, she joined the Socialroots team for one of the monthly Network Coordination Commons calls to talk about - and invite collaboration on - her current inquiries on multiscalar networks.

Networks are messy. Multiscalar networks of networks are even messier.

It's so appealing to want to focus on a clear, attainable, near-term goal to get outcomes you care about. But for lasting systemic transformation, working in networks across multiple initiatives and goals is an unavoidable requirement.

Key Takeaways

• Though messy, connecting networks across scales can enable innovation and transformation when properly supported and amplified
• Effective multiscalar networks focus on learning, sharing insights across different perspectives, and building supportive ecosystems
• Networks are relational. Start small in 'twosies and threesies' by connecting people across networks and fostering collaboration to support the emergence of powerful and connected networks
• We need better technology and communication infrastructure - as well as social protocols - to support and scale learning across decentralized networks

Get involved!

June is working on co-creating a workbook on multiscalar networks - if you'd like to participate, let us know here!

Socialroots is building digital commons infrastructure for cross-group communication. Get early access to help shape connection and learning across networks at scale.

The recording of the entire call is also below, but here are some nuggets that stood out to us, along with relevant clips from the call. June's slides and the full event recording are also below.

Key Clips

On Systems

Networks are systems in which all the nodes are agents - human communities, computer networks, ecological food webs. Here's a one minute clip of June describing difficulties in the use of the word "system", and why networks are so important to those seeking transformative systemic change in areas like climate change, regenerative agriculture, and disaster recovery.

Types of Networks

Unless tightly defined and constrained, most networks act, in reality, as networks of networks. Here's an overview of June's working definitions of network types:

What does a multiscalar network look like in practice?

RE-AMP is in many ways the current gold standard for networks of networks. A coalition spanning eight states and working to create incentives for clean energy in the Midwestern US, this multiscalar network faces plenty of complexity.

Learn more about this case study:

Why do we need networks that are connected with each other?

External perspectives are key to learning. Good design research and agile companies understand this well. But networks need not only to share updates on what they are doing with funders and other stakeholders, they need to share what they are learning with each other.

Here, June talks about the importance of grounding in an outside perspective, and the critical role that cross-network learning plays. She also gives a couple of examples.

Five steps for an emergent network strategy

1. Find who's already out there and
   1. support network weavers and catalysts
   2. discover network-literate funders
2. Focus on relationship building
   1. listen closely
   2. create 'twosies and threeies' - small connections and learning groups to get self-organizing happening
3. Learn, synthesize your learning, and share with other networks. Learn again.
   1. practice healthy culture and peer interaction
   2. assess interests and opportunity spaces (network and system mapping can help!)
   3. Convene learning groups regularly
   4. Define and connect learning experiments and help them share and learn from each other.
4. Support ecosystems through enabling conditions
   1. We need to get better at this!
   2. includes training, funding, communication tech and social protocols (Socialroots sits here - Ana explains), knowledge curation, governance, and learning

Socialroots is sociotechnology purpose-built for multiscalar networks

Also included in the longer clip above, Socialroots product strategist and co-founder Ana Jamborcic explains in 3 min why we focus on the social and technical communication protocols that help create enabling conditions for self-organization within and across networks.

Network love ❤️ from the original network maven

Thank you, June! We agree.

Summary and Full Talk Videos

The short version

Here's an edited version of the call; see the full talk below.

The whole hour+ talk

Grab your popcorn and dig in!

The slide deck

Here are June's slides for your perusal.

Multiscalar Networks

1 Networks of Networks: Pathways to transformation June Holley, Network Weaver juneholley@nwinstitute.org February 20, 2025

Google Docs