Building Evidence for Investing in Systems Change
TWIST focuses on building evidence to support learning, credibility, and replication in the emerging field of systemic investing. To truly advance this field, a growing body of evidence is needed to document how this work is happening in practice.
Through research partnerships with the MIT Sloan Sustainability Initiative and the Deep Transitions Lab, TWIST is creating a platform to capture, analyse, and publish real-world examples of systems change investing. Members of our Community of Practice contribute directly to this effort by completing a detailed case study template, co-designed with our academic partners. These case studies templates are data-rich reflections that explore how systems-level strategies differ from traditional sustainable or impact investing approaches.
MIT SLOAN
How Can Impact Investors Enable Systems Change?
MIT Sloan is advancing the conceptual and empirical foundations of systemic investing, an emergent field focused on mobilising capital to transform complex socio-technical systems. Drawing on empirical material from TWIST case studies, the research report “How Can Impact Investors Enable Systems Change? Exploring the Theory and Practice of an Emerging Field” interrogates the theoretical underpinnings and practical modalities of systemic investing. Complementing this, the MIT Sloan article “Why Impact Investors Are Embracing Systems Change” synthesises insights from the study, positioning TWIST cases as instructive exemplars of how investors engage with the dynamics of systems change.
Why impact investors are embracing systems change
DEEP TRANSITIONS LAB
The Deep Transitions Lab (DTL) is a research consortium that brings together scholars, investors, and policymakers to explore how financial capital can be mobilised to accelerate long-term socio-technical transitions toward sustainability. Rooted in the Deep Transitions framework, which studies how large-scale systems such as energy, food, and mobility evolve over time, the Lab investigates how transformative investing can reshape these systems. In partnership with TWIST, DTL applies this lens to the TWIST case study database, generating comparative insights into how investors design, implement, and govern strategies aimed at systemic change. This collaboration not only advances academic understanding of transformative investing but also equips TWIST members with structured frameworks to situate their experiments within broader transition dynamics, demonstrating how individual practices can contribute to systems change at scale.
