Why a Systems Thinking Practicum?
This initiative emerged from an October 2013 North American workshop on Accelerating and Amplifying Change: Transforming Consumption and Production Towards Sustainability. The October meeting built on an earlier systems mapping workshop held in Berkeley in March of 2011. The participants at the 2013 convening workshop expressed great interest in gaining applied systems thinking capacity for sustainable consumption and production change makers, organizations and networks.
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To “think about systems ”means we pay attention to interrelationships, patterns, and dynamics as well as to the parts. The field of systems thinking has evolved over the past 50 years as a set of methods and tools that focus on systems – rather than fragments –as the context for defining and solving complex problems, and for fostering more effective learning and design. At its best, the practice of systems thinking helps us to stop operating from crisis to crisis, and to think in a less fragmented, more integrated way. |
From August 2014 to July 2015, we are engaged in developing and delivering a systems thinking pilot practicum that aims to be immediately useful and impact focused, and that supports the development of ongoing practices and habits for sustainable consumption and production change makers.
This is not just a practicum -
This is a community
As we build our systems capacity and apply it to problems we are passionate about, we also learn about and interact with other parts of the community of actors, organizations and networks who share our interest in sustainable and just consumption and production systems.
We can support each other in taking our next steps, amplify our work by aligning on leverage points, attend each other’s events, collaborate on projects, and find new partners.
We also gain a better sense of how we fit into and advance the broader movement toward sustainable consumption and production.
We can support each other in taking our next steps, amplify our work by aligning on leverage points, attend each other’s events, collaborate on projects, and find new partners.
We also gain a better sense of how we fit into and advance the broader movement toward sustainable consumption and production.
The practicum engages participants through four key thematic areas: learning, applying, practicing, and connecting.
Practicum Development and Delivery
Linda Booth Sweeney, Systems Educator
Linda Booth Sweeney is a systems educator, researcher and author of several books including The Systems Thinking Playbook (co-authored with Dennis Meadows) and Connected Wisdom: Living Stories about Living Systems (Chelsea Green, 2009). She supports systemic change on a variety of complex issues including childhood obesity, food systems, climate change and production/consumption patterns through systems dynamics maps, visuals, stories and interactive engagement. (See: www.lindaboothsweeney.net)
Linda Booth Sweeney is a systems educator, researcher and author of several books including The Systems Thinking Playbook (co-authored with Dennis Meadows) and Connected Wisdom: Living Stories about Living Systems (Chelsea Green, 2009). She supports systemic change on a variety of complex issues including childhood obesity, food systems, climate change and production/consumption patterns through systems dynamics maps, visuals, stories and interactive engagement. (See: www.lindaboothsweeney.net)
Vanessa Timmer, Executive Director, One Earth
Vanessa Timmer is the Executive Director of One Earth, a Vancouver-based “think and do tank” focused on sustainable consumption and production across scales with partners including The Sustainability Funders. One Earth is facilitating the New Economies theme of Cities for People, initiated by The J. W. McConnell Family Foundation – a national experiment in taking collaborative action to create more resilient and livable cities. Vanessa is also an Associate with Harvard University's Sustainability Science Program focused on innovation. She teaches sustainability and systems thinking, and co-hosts the television show, The Sustainable Region. In 2013, Vanessa was named one of Business in Vancouver’s Top Forty under 40. Locally, the team advises the City and Metro Vancouver and promotes eco-industrial networking through the National Industrial Symbiosis Program - Canada. One Earth is also co-leading a global campaign to create positive and compelling visions of life in sustainable futures.
Vanessa Timmer is the Executive Director of One Earth, a Vancouver-based “think and do tank” focused on sustainable consumption and production across scales with partners including The Sustainability Funders. One Earth is facilitating the New Economies theme of Cities for People, initiated by The J. W. McConnell Family Foundation – a national experiment in taking collaborative action to create more resilient and livable cities. Vanessa is also an Associate with Harvard University's Sustainability Science Program focused on innovation. She teaches sustainability and systems thinking, and co-hosts the television show, The Sustainable Region. In 2013, Vanessa was named one of Business in Vancouver’s Top Forty under 40. Locally, the team advises the City and Metro Vancouver and promotes eco-industrial networking through the National Industrial Symbiosis Program - Canada. One Earth is also co-leading a global campaign to create positive and compelling visions of life in sustainable futures.
Dwayne Appleby, Program Manager, One Earth
Dwayne is a researcher dedicated to squaring the circle of development, poverty reduction, and sustainability. His work is focused on technological innovation and economic development in the global South. In addition to his work with One Earth, Dwayne delivers courses on industrial ecology to business and engineering students at the British Columbia Institute of Technology. He was the Funding and Resources Director for We Canada, a nation-wide, youth-led initiative towards the United Nations' Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio +20 Earth Summit 2012). Dwayne recently completed his post-graduate at the London School of Economics and Political Science, graduating with an MSc. in Development Studies
Dwayne is a researcher dedicated to squaring the circle of development, poverty reduction, and sustainability. His work is focused on technological innovation and economic development in the global South. In addition to his work with One Earth, Dwayne delivers courses on industrial ecology to business and engineering students at the British Columbia Institute of Technology. He was the Funding and Resources Director for We Canada, a nation-wide, youth-led initiative towards the United Nations' Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio +20 Earth Summit 2012). Dwayne recently completed his post-graduate at the London School of Economics and Political Science, graduating with an MSc. in Development Studies