Wasan Session: The ProSocial Approach with Paul Atkins

Summary

How do we consciously evolve a world that works for all? That’s the central inquiry of the organization ProSocial World and their science-based approach to foster trust and collaboration. In this month’s Wasan session, ProSocial World’s co-founder and psychologist Paul Atkins will walk us through the unique approach that they have developed, combining Elinor Ostrom’s work on the commons with research from behavior change and multi-level cultural evolution. In this session, Paul will introduce the ideas and methods behind the ProSocial model and together we will examine how Ostrom's 8 Core Design Principles can be used to diagnose the effectiveness of relations within a group or network.

About Paul Atkins

Paul Atkins is a facilitator, speaker, mediator, coach and researcher. He is co-founder and vice president of Prosocial World, a not-for-profit focused on enhancing cooperation and trust in mission-driven groups globally. Prosocial has been used to help improve group effectiveness in contexts as diverse as slowing the spread of Ebola in Sierra Leone, improving cooperation between United Nations organisations, enhancing performance in the Australian government and improving cooperation in public schools.Paul is a Visiting Associate Professor with the Crawford School of Public Policy (Australian National University). His research has focused on interventions to reduce stress while enhancing relationships, well-being, perspective taking and cooperation in groups and organisations. He is the lead author of the best-selling book “Prosocial: Using Evolutionary Science to Build Productive, Equitable, and Collaborative Groups”.Paul is a registered psychologist with a PhD in Psychology from Cambridge University and board endorsement as an organisational psychologist. He has had extensive experience teaching leadership, organisational behaviour and psychology at Masters and undergraduate level. He is the past President of the ANZ Association for Contextual Behavioural Science and a Fellow of the international ACBS.

‍

This event is hosted by the Wasan Network, a global network of practitioners from social impact and philanthropy who come together around a shared inquiry: How do we make relational and collaborative approaches mainstream?

‍