Tools for Systemic Transformation
Thinking systemically is now widely recognised as an essential competence for our shared future. The European Commission positions “Embracing Complexity” as one of the four core sustainability competencies of the GreenComp framework.
Systems approaches help us tackle “wicked problems” – complex challenges with no clear right or wrong solutions due to their interdependent nature.
Systems Thinking
Systems thinking was developed as a practice to improve our understanding of complex problems, giving us tools to explore relationships between as well as individual parts of a given situation. This approach helps us anticipate the consequences of implementing solutions that could affect other parts of the system.
Systemic Design
Systemic design is a growing field that combines systems thinking with human-centred design and design thinking methodologies. It involves sequences of activities familiar from traditional design approaches, but differs in key ways, including an increased emphasis on problem identification, and centering impact on people and the planet while designing ‘interventions’ rather than ‘solutions’.
Systems Thinking and Systemic Design in the UK Learning Venture
In the LEVERS project, systems thinking and systemic design are central to the framework for creating our ‘Learning Ventures’, the ecosystems we’re creating as vehicles for learning for climate justice. All partners have had to master the fundamentals of these skills in order to design and develop our initiatives. Some partners have additionally included systems thinking and systemic design in our curricula as our Learning Ventures progress to delivering learning programmes.
The UK Learning Venture, led by Forth, undertook a systemic design process to develop our Learning Venture and climate learning programme, improving its relevance and potential to impact.
In early July we initiated our programme, called First Hand, with a climate skills workshop at the historic Thames Tunnel in London. Our learners were drawn from industry, local government, advocacy groups, and education.
We highlighted the skills used in the Thames Tunnel design and construction and drew parallels with the transformative change we face today.
Introducing Systems Thinking
The skills workshop drew on the Thames Tunnel engineering project as a case study to engage participants with some simple creative, critical and reflective activities. We’re sharing one of the activity instructions below to show that systems thinking, a skill that can seem daunting at first, can be taught and adopted in simple and effective ways.
| Activity: We Create Our Own Challenges
We started by explaining what a problem boundary is: an imaginary line that defines what a problem is. Examining problem boundaries is a good way to start thinking systemically. We supplied a problem statement which might describe the challenge set to Marc Brunel (the famous engineer who led the construction of the tunnel) and asked participants to evaluate it in groups. Steps 1: Identify and underline key words in the problem statement provided 2. Examine each key word for hidden assumptions and discuss as a group. 3: What would happen if you widened it, tightened it, rephrased it? 4: Share your thoughts with the wider group. |
|
|
After the workshop, one of the participants said: “Learning to understand the problem is currently my top [skills need]… if I don’t understand the problem, how can I then go on to what the next step is, what actions I’m going to take next.”
Conclusion
Incorporating some degree of systems thinking and systemic design into education for climate justice is essential. These tools enable us to navigate and address complex challenges in all areas of the world we live in. Building a generation of thinkers and doers capable of driving systemic transformation is necessary to achieving the sustainable future we want.
Read more about our skills workshop and launch event.
