No project of this nature begins in a vacuum. The Many-to-Many System grew out of a rich ecosystem of prior thinking, parallel work, and, most importantly, a diverse community of collaborators, practitioners and thinkers. The map on this page is our attempt to honour that history and make the web of relationships and ideas that informed our journey visible. We invite you to explore this network to see the broader context from which this work emerged.
The Origin Story
The Wider “Beyond the Rules” Journey
The enquiry into Many-to-Many emerged from “Beyond the Rules,” a wider initiative launched in 2020 to explore the rules, norms, and laws underpinning our current systems. "Beyond the Rules" has experimented across various themes like grant-making in complexity, employment contracts and pooled funding options. Many-to-Many is a deep dive, drawing from the broader work, to specifically focus on the governance, organising, and legal architecture within complex collaborations. The image below illustrates the full ecosystem explored, providing context for Many-to-Many's development.
