Speaker

Alfredo

Del Valle

System thinker and Author

Foundation for Participatory Innovation

Biography

Alfredo del Valle is a systems thinker who works on high-complexity social and cultural transformations from the perspective of the Global South. He holds a Ph.D. in social systems sciences from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania; an M.A. in economics from New York University; and an industrial engineer degree from Universidad Católica de Chile. He has been member and consultant in international agencies, government agencies, business companies, universities and civil society organisations, and has authored 157 publications. He has created the “Participatory Innovation Praxis”, a trans-disciplinary, natural-intelligence method to conduct social transformations with effectiveness, legitimacy and low cost. It is grounded on eco-humanist values and deals with reality´s complexity with no reductionism. It has led to hundreds of social, institutional and technical innovations in varied fields and countries, at vaied scales, and has saved thousands of lives.

Dr. del Valle is president of the Foundation for Participatory Innovation (Chile) and founding member of the Ibero-American Community for Participatory Innovation (Spain). His most recent book is “The art of governing complexity. Thinking and action to build future in community” (2024, in Spanish).

Quote

I am thrilled to join the 2025 edition of UNDP’s IID, because of the deep significance of its theme –the polycrisis. I will show, on historical and philosophical grounds, that an ignored scientific law clearly explains why has humanity fallen into this tragic condition: it is a matter of complexity governance. And I will put forward, on the same grounds, a practical proposal to start building the alternatives we urgently need, from local to planetary scales.

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