Kumu

We create tools for tackling tough problems. We have a suite of products designed to reduce complexity and make sense of a messy world.

Whether you're mapping people, systems, or concepts in general; if you’re focused on relationships we've got you covered! Whether you’re mapping people, systems, or concepts in general; if you’re focused on relationships we've got you covered. Kumu: http://kumu.io/
Kumu makes it easy to organize complex data into relationship maps for sensemaking. Easily import your data to create beautiful visual

izations, ranging from stakeholder mapping to system mapping, and everything in between. Weavr: http://weavr.app/
The Weavr app provides an online home for your community to connect, grow and collaborate. It helps you build more impactful communities by weaving meaningful connections and sharing the work that’s being done in the community. Sticky Studio (beta): http://sticky.studio/
Sticky studio is a real-time collaborative mapping tool with “sticky notes”, designed to help your team flush out concepts fast and easily. Undercurrent: https://undercurrent.io/
Easily create surveys that deliver deep insights with Undercurrent. Let us build you the perfect survey to harvest the insights you need to tackle whatever issue you’re facing. System Effects: https://systemeffects.com/
Drawing on soft systems, fuzzy cognitive mapping, and graph theory, The System Effects platform can be used to create a survey about a given issue, and focus on how different impacts, barriers, and enablers exist, and are perceived within the system that surrounds it. We're redefining how to approach complex issues and develop solutions that last. Join us in building a better future.

02/26/2026

Kumu Project Showcase: 100 Years of Black History

It was in February of 1926 that Dr. Carter G. Woodson launched a week for Black history. He saw and wrote about a history that supported a system of disenfranchisement for African Americans, and built his life around shifting the system through education and storytelling.

Woodson understood that systems are shaped by what people are taught to see as normal, writing, “When you control a man’s thinking you do not have to worry about his actions.” Yet one of his most-cited quotes is: “You must give your own story to the world.”

What stories are being told on the Kumu platform? For the past couple of years, to honor this month, we have showcased some really creative visualizations around Black culture. This year, we wanted to pull these together as well as some powerful systems projects coming from the Kumunity. Projects and Stories we highlight in this video:

• 100 Prominent Black artists in the history of African American art
• Abolition Project: Systems Mapping for Abolition
• Top Black History Month Playlists and Tracks
• Milwaukee Roots
• Linked Jazz
• Leaders in the Struggle for Civil Rights
• U.S. Civil Rights Movement
• Racial Discrimination in the U.S. Housing Market
• Black-Owned Businesses
• Celebrating Juneteenth by Supporting These Black-Owned Businesses
• Networks of Catholic Enslavement
🔗 Check the link in bio for access to these projects!

Here’s to the brilliance of Black leaders, past and present, and to the historians and storytellers whose guardianship shift systems toward freedom and truth.

10/17/2025

🌊 Project of the Week: Mapping Life Below and Above the Surface

When we talk about ecosystems, we’re really talking about relationships — between species, habitats, people, and the forces that shape them.

This week’s featured work from BlueLinked turns that idea into two Kumu maps: one showing the ecological web beneath the water, and one showing the human web working to restore it.

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1️⃣ Borkumse Stenen

📍 A reef and sandbank on the Dutch–German border of the North Sea, among Europe’s most biodiverse seabeds.

BlueLinked integrated data from Oceana, Greenpeace, Wageningen Marine Research (Joop Coolen), and GEMS environmental studies—combining decades of species, habitat, and substrate data into a single network view.

It reveals:
• which species act as structural “keystones”
• where habitats and food webs overlap
• where data gaps remain

The result: an ecosystem seen not as a list, but as a living network, helping restoration planners strengthen the whole, not just its parts.

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2️⃣ Marine Sector NL

If the Borkumse Stenen map shows the underwater web, this one maps the above-water network—the people and organizations shaping a regenerative blue economy in the Netherlands.

It visualizes connections among:
• companies innovating in seaweed, shellfish & fish farming
• NGOs restoring coasts & nature
• research institutions & projects driving circular aquaculture
• policy & funding bodies enabling change

Together they reveal how knowledge, funding, and innovation circulate through an emerging ecosystem of collaboration.

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Systems mapping reminds us:
🌱 Ecological networks show how life sustains itself.
🤝 Human networks show how collaboration sustains change.

Where conservation stops damage, Active Nature Restoration restarts living systems—seeing the unseen connections that make regeneration possible.

02/26/2025

"Back in 2018, after several years of working on sustainability, I had a stark realisation: what were considered sustainable approaches to business were merely preserving the status quo. We were focused on the wrong objective — minimizing harm — while operating within an already overshot planet and society. Following decades of extractive business practices, it was time for a fundamental reinvention of the corporate world..." 🌱

Keep reading our latest In Too Deep blog on The Regenerative Business Compass by Niels de Fraguier through the link in our bio or visit blog.kumu.io 🤓

02/14/2025

Happy Valentine’s Day ❤️

11 years ago today we officially launched Kumu. True to tradition, we’ve written you a poem 🥰

Find previous years' V-day poems through the link in our bio!

11/18/2024

If you’ve ever stared at a blank page wondering how to start mapping a system, you’re not alone. Creating a meaningful map from scratch can be daunting, especially if you’re looking at an existing systems map, wondering how the heck they got there 🤔

Don’t fret! With the right guidance and tools, systems mapping becomes an achievable task that you’ll use over and over again in tackling tough problems. In our newest In Too Deep blog, we’ll provide insights into various exercises and terminology that will help you lay the foundation for creating your very own systems map. We’ll also offer you some handy templates to get started. Access the blog through the link in our bio 💡

10/18/2024

Project of the Week!

We love seeing projects from all sorts of sectors, including sports! This week , a sailing competition, is happening in Barcelona.

Hex Digital recently shared how they used a systems thinking lens to understand how team New Zealand dominated the 2017 cup despite their tiny budget! The system they describe includes factors like materials, budget, and training, and how one person shifted the dynamics in adapting a new technology (the cyclor system).

They did a great job isolating and describing different aspects of the New Zealand team’s success from a system’s lens, and we think it’s pretty cool they used Kumu to do it!

08/19/2024

Did you know Kumu has a podcast called In Too Deep?

After a long hiatus, we're excited to return and bring you the voices of those tackling tough problems!

In this episode, Kumu Founder Jeff Mohr sits down with Cassandra Gould van Praag, PhD, Senior Community Manager at The Alan Turing Institute.

Cassandra plays a key role in fostering and growing a dynamic community of researchers, practitioners, and enthusiasts, and recently launched a captivating Kumu project that visualizes her community. She is now sharing with us what she learned from the process and what she thinks the future of AI will bring.

Listen to the episode through your favorite podcast app or read the full transcript on the In Too Deep blog: https://blog.kumu.io/

Note: This podcast was recorded on June 11th, 2024. Opinions expressed by Ms Gould van Praag are solely her own and do not express the views or opinions of The Alan Turing Institute. For more information, please visit The Alan Turing Institute website for updates on their organization.

08/16/2024

Wow. What an incredible example of a collective impact, systems-change effort in action!

In 2022 and 2023, the Early Childhood Action Strategy with their network of partners set off on a participatory systems mapping process to reflect on their progress and learning in their work bringing together government and non-governmental organizations to strengthen and integrate the early childhood system in Hawai`i.

The question they asked is: what forces are supporting us in our efforts to nurture thriving children and families, and what are the barriers we face to achieving our desired impact?

Through spending time in workshops, collecting and connecting people’s stories and wisdom to see the current system, and using Kumu visualizations to foster discussion and build alignment, they built a strong foundation for finding leverage points and designing impactful action to shift the whole system to a healthier place.

They’ve documented their process incredibly well and for those looking to see what systems change work looks like in practice, we highly recommend checking it out! We grabbed a few slides from Engaging Inquiry to give you a quick snapshot, and you can dive in at the link in bio!

The process and map development was facilitated by Engaging Enquiry in partnership with Kanoe Enos of ʻAʻaliʻi Alliance.

07/25/2024

This week we’d like to showcase a Kumu project Reimagined Futures created in collaboration with – an interactive visualization exploring how Catalonia’s knowledge creation system can contribute to accelerate the transition towards a green, resilient and just socio-economic model.

Explore on your own here at the link in bio!

Following the Systems Practice methodology developed by the Omidyar Group, the mapping team gathered academic research provided by the Generalitat de Catalunya, as well as expert input gathered through interviews and workshops, and mapped out interrelations between the different elements and actors that collectively make up the system and how everything interconnects in a more holistic picture.

Besides the deep structure of the system, the visualization also allows for users to explore four themes stemming out of the deep structure using a filter!

These are:
- Evaluation methodology and incentives
- Education and social engagement
- R&D organisations
- Market dynamics

The coolest part? Based on the dynamics identified, they identified six areas where there is leverage for impact (these are identified as loop titles on the map).
- Transformative innovation to strengthen a green, resilient, and just socio-economic model.
- New business models, products, services, and value chains.
- Engagement of civil society in processes of systems change.
- Transformation of higher education.
- Evaluation based on transformative outcomes.
- Recognition of non-expert knowledge and gap between knowledge creation spaces and society.

Reimagined Futures has done other great systems visualizations you can check out to get ideas for your own systems mapping processes!
- Transformative Investing Systems Map in partnership with Deep Transitions Lab Lab
- Childcare Systems Map in partnership with the Early Childhood Development Action Network (ECDAN)
- Humanitarian Systems Map in partnership with the Moving Minds Alliance

07/09/2024

8.1 billion people exist in the world today, and the world’s population is expected to increase by nearly 2 billion people in the next 30 years!

This Thursday marks World Population Day; a global event aimed at raising awareness about population issues. Initiated by the United Nations, it highlights the challenges and opportunities presented by population growth.

This year's theme focuses on "Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights", emphasizing the need for access to healthcare and education around the world.

Our Project of the Week explores the system of Sexual and Reproductive Health & Rights for all, with a specific focus on the importance of access to education, healthcare and safe abortion.

**Check out this map through the link in our bio.**

Over the past three decades, societies around the world have made remarkable progress in improving population data gathering, analysis, and use. These advancements have significantly enhanced the delivery of health care globally, leading to substantial improvements in sexual and reproductive health and the ability to exercise rights and choices. However, the most marginalized communities remain underrepresented in data, profoundly affecting their lives and well-being.

World Population Day 2024 is a moment to ask who is still going uncounted and why – and what this costs individuals, societies, and our global efforts to ‘leave no one behind’. It is also a moment for all of us to commit to doing more to ensure that our data systems capture the full range of human diversity so that everyone is seen, can exercise their human rights and can reach their full potential.

Join us in recognizing World Population Day and advocating for a balanced and healthy future for our planet!

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