Impact Trust • Working glossary

Hope spirals

Moments of crisis that create unprecedented opportunities for rapid, transformative change in virtuous cycles reinforcing ecah other.

Details

Our Take
The positive counterpart to the doom loop. Historically grounded: post-WWII saw welfare states, Bretton Woods, and international humanitarian law emerge from polycrisis. Not wishful thinking but documented precedent. The finding that 'resile' reveals the potential for transformation connects directly: resilience framed relationally already contains the seed of the hope spiral.
Examples of Use
Laurie Laybourn / SCRI
Synonyms/Variants
Virtuous cycles; Positive cascades; Transformative windows
Typical everyday wording
When crises open doors for positive change that feeds on itself