Dignity
Explored through Ubuntu and social cohesion.
Our Approach
A repeatable method for turning shared values into everyday practice.
Values shape how we live together
Values are guiding principles. They shape what we prioritise, how we decide, how we relate, and how we engage with the world.
Values are shaped by beliefs we hold, some formed consciously through reflection and choice, others unconsciously through culture, upbringing and society. Over time, shared values become visible in our behaviours, habits and language, and shape the culture we build together.
In a world marked by inequality, fragmentation and rapid change, values offer a shared language for engaging difference, rebuilding trust and shaping more just, inclusive and sustainable futures.
Why Values Matter
Navigate complexity
Clarify what matters when choices are hard.
Build trust
Strengthen respect, co-operation and belonging.
Enable inclusion
Support participation, dignity and shared responsibility.
Guide leadership
Embed ethics, accountability and care in decision-making.
Strengthen society
Build cohesion across difference and advance the common good.
Three human values
Integrity
Explored through ethical governance.
Accountability
Explored through conscious behaviour and values-based leadership.
A reinforcing cycle
Living Values creates impact by combining two mutually reinforcing pathways—research and advocacy. Research helps us understand how values shape behaviour, leadership, institutions and social change. Advocacy turns these insights into dialogue, storytelling, learning and public engagement.
Together, they create the conditions for values to become visible, consciously practised and embedded in systems; helping to shape how we relate, lead, participate and build a more just, inclusive and sustainable society.
Visibility
Public dialogues, events, storytelling, media and digital engagement, campaigns.
Awareness
Research articles, position papers, case studies, webinars, practical guides.
Embodiment
Cohorts, structured reflection, values-in-practice workshops, action learning.
Institutional embedding
Governance and policy frameworks, curricula, decision guides, accountability mechanisms.
The work continues beyond 2025
Living Values carries forward the multi-year trajectory mapped out by V20 South Africa, extending its work well beyond the 2025 G20 presidency year.
