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Many of today’s challenges are uncertain, ambiguous and complex. Whether you’re facing a professional challenge or personal situation, systems thinking can take you beyond conventional problem solving and equip you with new perspectives on complexity.
In this online UTS Open short course, we’ll introduce you to the concepts, tools and philosophies of systems thinking and practice – an exciting approach to untangling the wicked problems of today.
Guided by leading practitioners from the UTS Institute of Sustainable Futures, you’ll learn to:
Whether you’re new to systems thinking or you’re an experienced practitioner, this course will prepare you to tap into your systemic sensibility, build your systems literacy and apply systems thinking in practice.
The course has been designed to build your systems sensibility, literacy and practice capabilities.
Through these levels of learning, we intend the build six specific skills including:
Full price: $650 (GST-free)*
Early bird price: $585 (GST-free)* This early bird price is available until 15 July 2022.
*Price subject to change. Please check price at time of purchase.
COVID-19 response
The course consists of 4 modules, delivered over a 4-week period including in-depth online content and case studies, a moderated discussion forum and four live Zoom sessions with the lead academics. You will get to collaborate with other course participants to experiment with some of the systems thinking tools in your context. There is also plenty of time for interactive discussion and questions.
The course is structured around the three themes of awakening our systems sensibility, strengthening our systems literacy and cultivating our systems thinking in practice.
We begin by (re-) discovering an innate but often dormant talent that many people have - systems sensibility. It is a tacit appreciation that the nature of the world is relational, meaning we are aware that life's events and phenomena emerge because of many things happening in concert together rather than independently of each other. We start discovering or recovering this talent in module 1 and continue strengthening it throughout the course.
Throughout the course, we develop systems literacy and the knowledge of systems characteristics and their behaviours. Particularly in module 2 we expand systems sensibility by introducing key systems concepts and thinkers with the intention of developing your systems literacy. This will equip you with the language and knowledge of important approaches to and interpretations of systems thinking.
Finally, modules 3 and 4 are designed to give you tools and ways of thinking and reflecting to engage with complex situations and challenges that can't be solved with a strategic plan or generic problem-solving approach. We will explore what it takes to use systems thinking in practice in the real world and within your context. As many systems thinkers and practitioners can confirm, mastering systems thinking in practice is a life-long learning journey.
Throughout the four modules you will learn to:
By the end of this course you will be able to:
Mandatory
To complete this online course, you will need:
Desired
You should be able to commit to participating in the four live Zoom sessions (2 hours per session) and spend at least 3 hours a week engaging with the online content and discussion forum.
This course is open to anyone with an interest in going beyond quick fixes and learning what it takes to create positive systems change. It offers value to people with and without systems thinking experience and has particular application for:
START DATE |
29 August |
MODE |
Online |
DURATION |
20 hrs |
Isabel spent a decade working in Asia where she experienced how different cultural worldviews lead to vastly different approaches in stakeholder engagement, decision-making and problem-solving. She felt inspired to learn about Eastern philosophies, many of which view the world and all life as interconnected. This exploration led her to the art and science of systems-thinking and its potential for accelerating sustainability practices and behaviours. She has a professional background in tourism and environmental management with more than 20 years of experience in natural area management, business sustainability and an interest in Eastern cultures.
Chris Riedy is Professor of Sustainability Transformations and Associate Director Learning and Development at the Institute for Sustainable Futures (ISF), University of Technology Sydney. In this role, Chris leads ISF’s strategic focus on transformative lifetime learning to support sustainable futures. Chris is a transdisciplinary action researcher with a focus on sustainability transformations. He uses sociological and political theory, narrative theory, futures thinking, and systems thinking to design, facilitate and evaluate practical experiments in transformative change towards sustainable futures.
Chris is an Advisor to the international Transformations Community (www.transformationscommunity.org), a Senior Research Fellow of the Earth System Governance project (www.earthsystemgovernance.net), and is on the Editorial Board of Futures and Action Research. He is currently leading an Opportunity Assessment of Australia’s energy foresighting and planning capability for the RACE for 2030 Cooperative Research Centre.
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