We are facing perhaps unprecedented social change. Even a quick glance at something as prosaic as the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals gives the gist of it: If we wish to continue thriving as a species on this bounded planet, societies must learn to respect global equity, nurture regenerative ecosystems, and develop institutions and social norms to ensure peace on Earth. In other words, we require what is often called systems change.

However, a much more obscure question is how systems change might ever be instigated, and whose responsibility anything of the sort would be. This question is often framed as one between private and public responsibility. Either individuals should show the way, or politicians or decision-makers should be held primarily accountable. Frankly, I believe this is a harmful false dichotomy that pays very little attention to a pivotal process underlying the cultural evolution any human society: social learning in local communities.