Islands of Coherence are small groups, communities or networks within a larger system that develop sufficient trust, shared purpose and understanding to learn, adapt and act together.
They may form within organisations, professions, communities or wider social systems, often around a concern or opportunity that the larger system has not yet recognised or cannot adequately address. Through repeated interaction, people develop shared language, exchange experience, test ideas and build the relationships needed for collective sensemaking and action.
Islands of Coherence matter because large systems rarely transform everywhere at once. New understanding can emerge first within smaller social spaces where people have sufficient trust and coherence to question assumptions, experiment and learn. If those islands remain connected to the wider system, their learning can spread and contribute to broader adaptation and regeneration.
An Island of Coherence is therefore a place where people learn their way into a different future before the larger system is ready to do so.