Who We Are.
The Inner Development Goals (IDG) is a non-profit and open source initiative. We are a Global Learning Community with 800+ Hubs & Networks around the world, that advocate for inner development and enables its integration into society.
This living document gathers information about the IDG Foundation and its latest purpose, vision, mission, theory of change, guiding principles and strategy for 2025. You will also find here the IDG Framework and some graphics that are free to use.
If you want to get involved - join the IDG learning community an as a Corporate or Institutional Partner or one of many IDG Hubs & Networks to be part of our bi-yearly “ALL Stakeholders Meetings”. ��Welcome to co-create with us!
Sustainable Development Goals
A global agenda to address pressing social, economic, and environmental challenges
Inner Development Goals
Cognitive, emotional and relational capacities that enable collective action on challenges
Co-founding partners of the Inner Development Goals Foundation:.
INSTITUTIONAL PARTNERS
BUSINESS PARTNERS
VISION
MISSION
PURPOSE
We bring the power �of inner development� to global challenges �faced by humanity.
A world where inner development is unlocking our potential to build a flourishing future for people and planet
We are a global learning community that advocates for inner development and enables its integration� into society.
Purpose, vision, mission:.
OUTCOMES
PROBLEM
STATEMENT
MISSION
OUTPUTS
IMPACT
VISION
Prioritisation
An increased value placed on inner development increases time and resource investment
More prevalent knowledge about theory and practice aids rationale, design and resource allocation
Understanding
Connection
Closer communities of practice and support enable consistency and deepening of inner development
Access
Better, more affordable access to quality methods increases adoption and effectiveness
We are unable to effectively tackle the world’s ‘adaptive’ problems, like sustainable development, �in part because we lack the individual and collective inner capabilities and skills to do so.
We are a global movement that advocates for inner development and enables its integration into society.
The widespread integration of inner development enables society to more effectively work with adaptive problems.
A world where inner development is unlocking our power to build a flourishing future for people and planet.
A Narrative Shift Embracing Inner Development
Simplification, Translation & �A Global Language
Research �Co-creation Networks
Experiential Learning, Art & Co-creation
Advocacy for Structural &� Policy Changes
Field & Community Building
Prioritisation
Understanding
Connection
Access
LONG TERM OBJECTIVES (updated August 2025)
�A MINDSET
SHIFT
LEARNING COMMUNITIES
CATALYTIC �IMPACT
that support capacity building, deep self organization and exchange of best and emerging practices connecting inner and outer transformation - for the benefit of the future generations and the planet.
demonstrated through new multi-stakeholder coalitions, cases with regenerative benefits and change in policies. Open source tools, where inner development becomes catalytic for systemic impact.
where people see the psychological and cultural root causes of the polycrisis (that is, our interacting social, political and ecological crises) and are thus able to create more hope and agency by addressing challenges at a deep enough level.
STRATEGIC PRIORITIES (updated nov 2024)
Ensure organizational financial stability through collaboration with corporate and institutional partners, offering value creating initiatives and making the IDG Summit financially sustainable.
CORE FUNDING
RESEARCH CO-CREATION &
SHIFTING PUBLIC DISCOURSE
CONVENE, CATALYSE & MOBILIZE:
STRUCTURAL CHANGE & PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS
Bring together leaders and change agents to drive collaborative learning and sensemaking. Support decentralized learning to help communities of practice grow and adopt evidence-based approaches aligned with the SDGs and organizational needs.
Promote Inner Development practices linked to the SDG’s through programmes and promoting integration in organizations and institutions. Act as an enabler of others to tell the stories of inner development and share good practices. Empower Hubs/Centers to champion structural change and inner development approaches.
Build a thriving team, organisation, culture and put in place holistic and effective governance structures.
TEAM & ORGANISATION
Develop the IDG narrative and its link to adaptive challenges. Inspire diverse groups at large scale to reflect and see the value of inner development through a global dialogue, media campaigns, public policy formation and scientific collaboration. Seek input on and launch an updated IDG Framework.
WE ARE UPDATING OUR GUIDING PRINCIPLES - scan code!
We Are on a Journey of Co-Creation
01
02
03
04
We Are an Emerging Ecosystem
We Simplify
We Invite Joy
05
We Live as We Learn
01
We Are on a Journey of Co-Creation
The Inner Development Goals collects crowd-sourced wisdom of all ages and all cultures. We are building an open-source, nonprofit ecosystem where we listen, learn and connect the dots.
It is a continuous journey of co-creation with many participants.
02
We are an Emerging Ecosystem
We focus on working with and through organisations, harnessing their potential to drive inner development and collective learning. It is an effective approach to reach a critical mass of people to achieve systemic change.
The Inner Development Goals aims to be a dynamic and interconnected global community of individuals, organizations and institutions working towards sustainable futures.
02
03
We Simplify
Our work is backed by research, experience and continuous learning. The primary purpose of the IDGs is to communicate the findings in a relatable and accessible way. Our framework and tools must be easy to take to heart or they will not be used.
We are a communication project and simplifying is our core.
04
We Invite Joy
Art, music, and playfulness are integral parts of the human experience. They should always be part of our expressions. We are creative beings and celebrate our learnings and progress in every way possible.
Just because we are serious doesn’t mean
we need to be boring.
05
We Live as We Learn
Everyone working with the IDGs is invited to take the 23 skills and qualities to heart. We encourage open discussions about our strengths and weaknesses. Many of the skills can only be developed collectively and in a supporting environment.
We are on a journey of learning and developing together.
IDG SURVEY & Global Conversations
Outer What do you care
about and why?
Inner How can inner
development help?
Future What can we start
doing together?
Our Core Beliefs - of the co-founding organisations
Inner Development is Necessary — Though not Sufficient
Inner Development Should Be Accessible to Many
Simple Communication is Required for Widespread Awareness
Servant and Catalytic Leadership is Most Appropriate
We believe that inner development is not only possible but profoundly beneficial. It has the potential to enhance personal well-being, collaboration, strengthen societies, and contribute to planetary sustainability. It may even be a necessary—though not sufficient—condition for the survival of democracy and humanity as a whole.
In a democratic society, this understanding and practice cannot remain confined to a small intellectual elite - like in leadership development. Broad societal dialogue and widespread awareness and practice are essential to catalyze meaningful change and ensure a democratic process. Policymakers, institutions, and grassroots communities all have a role to play in ensuring equal access to inner development opportunities worldwide.
Achieving widespread awareness of the role of inner development for sustainability and related action-taking of the role of inner development for sustainability and related action-taking requires adaptable communication strategies that dare to simplify. These must connect with diverse audiences while complementing—not replacing—more complex, nuanced communication and understandings.
Our initiative must be a co-creative and bottom-up movement. We harbour no long-term ambition to lead this initiative. In fact, we believe that leadership should ultimately come from elsewhere. Our primary concern is the urgency of the work and the recognition that no other entity is currently advancing related shifts in discourses, approaches and collective actions at scale. Like any effective NGO, our ultimate aim is to make our efforts redundant.
Our Core Beliefs - of the co-founding organisations
The Nature of Inner Development is Complex
Embracing Tensions will Enable Collaboration
A Pluralistic Approach will Best Serve a Diverse Field
Inner development is inherently multidimensional, nonlinear, emergent, messy and complex. A common misconception is that inner equals individual, while it is rather collective and systemic. While it cannot be controlled, it can be supported and facilitated, by offering more people the opportunity to reflect and grow, especially through organizations, different institutions and with the help of policy work.
We acknowledge that the field of inner development is laced with tensions arising from differing methods, philosophies, and perspectives. Our role is not to take a stance or resolve these tensions but to provide opportunities for critical and constructive dialogue and collaboration to advance related knowledge and applications of inner development at large.
The IDG Framework was created to point more people toward the diverse field of inner development. However, we do not aim to privilege any single framework, model or method for understanding or nurturing inner development—whether psychological, spiritual, or cultural. In order to provide some guidance in a complex field, we support the dissemination of scientifically validated approaches while acknowledging the importance of integrating different knowledge systems, including indigenous wisdom traditions. We also support communities in sharing good and emergent practices, tools and innovations with each other using the IDG Framework as a sensemaking, reflection and communications tool.
5 DIMENSIONS WITH 23 SKILLS
…that can actively be developed (!)
IDG FRAMEWORK
1 Being
Relationship to Self
Inner Compass
Integrity and
Authenticity
Openness and
Learning Mindset
Self-awareness
Presence
2 Thinking
Cognitive Skills
Critical Thinking
Complexity
Awareness
Perspective Skills
Sense-making
Long-term
Orientation and
Visioning
3 Relating
Caring for Others�and the World
Appreciation
Connectedness
Humility
Empathy and�Compassion
4 Collaborating
Social Skills
Communication�Skills
Co-Creation Skills
Inclusive Mindset
And Intercultural
Competence
Trust
Mobilization Skills
5 Acting
Enabling Change
Courage
Creativity
Optimism
Perseverance
Cultivating our inner life and developing and deepening our relationship to our thoughts, feelings and body help us be present, intentional and non-reactive when we face complexity.
Inner Compass
Having a deeply felt sense of responsibility
and commitment to values and purposes
relating to the good of the whole.
Integrity and Authenticity
A commitment and ability to act with
sincerity, honesty and integrity.
Openness and Learning Mindset
Having a basic mindset of curiosity and a
willingness to be vulnerable and embrace
change & grow.
Self-awareness
Ability to be in reflective contact with own
thoughts,feelings and desires; having a
realistic self-image & ability to regulate oneself.
Presence
Ability to be in the here and now, without
judgement & in a state of open-ended presence.
Being
Relationship to Self
Developing our cognitive skills by taking different perspectives, evaluating information and making sense of the world as an interconnected whole is essential for wise decision-making.
Critical Thinking
Skills in critically reviewing the
validity of views, evidence and plans.
Complexity Awareness
Understanding of and skills in working with
complex and systemic conditions and causalities.
Perspective Skills
Skills in seeking, understanding and actively
making use of insights from contrasting perspectives.
Sense-making
Skills in seeing patterns, structuring the unknown
and being able to consciously create stories.
Long-term Orientation and Visioning
Long-term orientation and ability to formulate &
sustain commitment to visions relating to the larger context.
Thinking
Cognitive Skills
Appreciating, caring for and feeling connected to others, such as neighbors, future generations or the biosphere, helps us create more just and sustainable systems and societies for everyone.
Appreciation
Relating to others and to the world with a
basic sense of appreciation, gratitude and joy.
Connectedness
Having a keen sense of being connected with
and/or being a part of a larger whole, such as
a community, humanity or global ecosystem
Humility
Being able to act in accordance with the needs of
the situation without concern for one’s own importance.
Empathy and Compassion
Ability to relate to others, oneself and nature with kindness,
empathy and compassion and address related suffering.
Relating
Caring for Others
& The World
To make progress on shared concerns, we need to develop our abilities to include, hold space and communicate with stakeholders with different values, skills and competencies.
Communication skills
Ability to really listen to others, to foster genuine dialogue,
to advocate own views skillfully, to manage conflicts constructively & to adapt communication to diverse groups.
Co-creation skills
Skills and motivation to build, develop and facilitate
collaborative relationships with diverse stakeholders, characterized by psychological safety and genuine co-creation.
Inclusive mindset and intercultural competence
Willingness and competence to embrace diversity and
include people and collectives with different views and backgrounds.
Trust
Ability to show trust and to create and maintain
trusting relationships.
Mobilization skills
Skills in inspiring and mobilising others to engage in shared purposes.
Collaborating
Social Skills
Qualities such as courage and optimism help us acquire true agency, break old patterns, generate original ideas and act with persistence in uncertain times.
Courage
Ability to stand up for values, make decisions,
take decisive action and, if need be, challenge
and disrupt existing structures and views.
Creativity
Ability to generate and develop original ideas,
innovate and being willing to disrupt conventional
patterns.
Optimism
Ability to sustain and communicate
a sense of hope, positive attitude and
confidence in the possibility of meaningful change.
Perseverance
Ability to sustain engagement and remain
determined and patient even when efforts
take a long time to bear fruit.
Acting
Enabling Change
Being
Cultivating Our Inner Life
Inner Compass
Having a deeply felt sense of responsibility and commitment to values and purposes relating to the good and the whole.
Integrity & Authenticity
A commitment and ability to act with sincerity, honesty and integrity.
Openness & Learning Mindset
Having a basic mindset of curiosity and a willingness to be vulnerable and embrace change and growth.
Self-awareness
Ability to be in reflective contact with
own thoughts, feelings and desires;
having a realistic self-image and
ability to regulate oneself.
Presence
Ability to be in the here and now,
without judgement and in a state
of open-ended presence.
Thinking
Developing our Cognitive Skills
Critical Thinking
Skills in critically reviewing the validity of views, evidence and plans.
Complexity Awareness
Understanding of and skills in working
with complex and systemic conditions
and causalities.
Perspective Skills
Skills in seeking, understanding and actively making use of insights from contrasting perspectives.
Sense-Making
Skills in seeing patterns, structuring
the unknown and being able to
consciously create stories.
Long-term Orientation & Visioning
Long-term orientation and ability to formulate & sustain commitment to
visions relating to the larger context.
Relating
Developing our Cognitive Skills
Appreciation
Relating to others and to the
world with a basic sense of
appreciation, gratitude and joy.
Connectedness
Having a keen sense of being connected with and/or being a part of a larger whole, such as a community, humanity or global ecosystem.
Humility
Being able to act in accordance with
the needs of the situation without
concern for one’s own importance.
Empathy & Compassion
Ability to relate to others, oneself and nature with kindness, empathy and compassion and address related suffering.
Collaborating
Social Skills
Communication Skills
Ability to really listen to others, to foster genuine dialogue, to advocate own views skillfully, to manage conflicts constructively
& to adapt communication to diverse groups.
Co-Creation Skills
Skills and motivation to build, develop and facilitate collaborative relationships with diverse stakeholders, characterized by psychological safety and genuine co-creation
Inclusive Mindset & Intercultural Competence
Willingness and competence to embrace diversity and include people and collectives with different views and backgrounds.
Trust
Ability to show trust and to create
and maintain trusting relationships.
Mobilization Skills
Skills in inspiring and mobilising others to engage in shared purposes.
Acting
Enabling Change
Courage
Ability to generate and develop
original ideas, innovate and being
willing to disrupt conventional patterns.
Creativity
Willingness and competence to embrace diversity and include people and collectives with different views and backgrounds.
Optimism
Ability to sustain and communicate
a sense of hope, positive attitude
and confidence in the possibility
of meaningful change.
Perseverance
Ability to sustain engagement
and remain determined and patient even
when efforts take a long time to bear fruit.