WORLD SYMPOSIUM ON SUSTAINABILITY SCIENCE AND RESEARCH IMPLEMENTING THE 2030 UNITED NATIONS AGENDA FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT Manchester, United Kingdom, 5th-7th April 2017 The role of systems thinking in the practice of implementing sustainable development goals Martin Reynolds Senior Lecturer and Qualifications Co-Director Applied Systems Thinking in Practice (ASTiP) Group The Open University, UK ( with) Christine Blackmore Ray Ison Rupesh Shah Elaine Wedlock Date: 6 TH April 2017 Plenary Presentation
[H]umanity remains on largely unsustainable development trajectories. Partly, this is due to the failure of sustainability science to engage with the root causes of unsustainability [ ] We propose a research agenda inspired by systems thinking that focuses on transformational sustainability interventions (Abson et al., 2017 p. 30). Transforming to sustainability through cultivating capabilities in systems thinking in the practice of SDG implementation A couple of influences Learning cannot be designed Learning happens, design or no design. And yet there are few more urgent tasks than to design social infrastructures that foster learning. (Wenger, 1998 p225) I do not think it too much to hope that an understanding of systemic relations may bring us a better understanding of our limitations and even our possibilities. (Vickers 1978, p.81)
Hopefulness Sustainability in turbulence?: Nexus Network Annual Conference London 16 th March (Nexus between food energy water) (Turbulence famines in north Africa, Brexit, USA administration, etc.) Keynote speaker: Archim Steiner (Director Oxford Martin College) Resilient features (antidote to despair) Paris 2015 Climate agreement: ratified to limit warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius; alternative energy sources SDGs shift from MDGs inclusive in design: multiple partners inclusive in application: (High, Medium and Low Income Countries Integral in application eg. SDG 17 Conference break-out session -skills and capabilities for transformative transdisciplinarity - and workshop (17 th March) - Transforming Innovation: addressing nexus challenges with radical change. Social sciences science and technology studies (STS) tradition: resonance with systems thinking in practice Creative spaces Post-truth or post-trust Autonomy Nexus of practices Alternative political narratives (re) framing policy Inextricable pathways Policy and politics Mixed methods social learning Experimentation Harmonising vs integrating Use of laboratories Systemic failures/ systems change
Systems thinking (in practice) and sustainability? Action research undertaken by the Applied Systems Thinking in Practice Group at OU Systems thinking is too elusive, abstract, vague. Language is obscure. How do you put it in practice? Overview 1. Transdisciplinarity?: systems thinking and sustainability science 2. Systemic sensibilities (re. competences, and capabilities) and sustainability 3. Systems thinking competencies (re. transformation to sustainability) 4. Developing systems thinking in practice (STiP) capabilities 5. Developing STiP capabilities for implementing SDGs Systems thinking in practice provides a way of rendering real-world complex issues of sustainability into conceptual constructs or systems. These can be used to understand relationships better, and to bring multiple perspectives together to design systemic interventions that create sustainable development.
Transdisciplinarity and interdisciplinarity? Andy Stirling (SPRU Sussex) distinction between policy and politics Two cultures dilemma (C. P. Snow) Policy making (sustainability) Natural sciences Humanities Systems science Sustainability science as Interdisciplinary science Social sciences Complexity science Systems thinking approaches as an Interdisciplinary tradition Societal agencies and individuals Systems thinking approaches as a Transdisciplinary tradition Systems thinking in practice (STiP) as interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary traditions informing other disciplines and practices influencing policy on sustainability
Nurturing systemic sensibilities getting the bigger picture; fostering joined up thinking What is missing are the contexts for a systemic sensibility to flourish, to be recovered and/or fostered. Investment in systems literacy [competency] and then systems thinking in practice capability is missing in education as well as organizational life. The shift from sensibility to capability is needed if purposeful action is to be pursued with some prospect of altering the current and anticipated human condition, our co-evolutionary trajectory with the biophysical world, with other species, and with each other. This is the challenge of Governing the Anthropocene which, as a profoundly existential crisis, is also the greatest challenge for systems thinking in practice (ibid p.589) e.g.sdg 17 an integrated, holistic, multistakeholder approach (adapted from) Ison, R. and Shelley, M., (2016). Governing in the Anthropocene: Contributions from Systems Thinking in Practice? Systems Research and Behavioral Science, 33(5), pp.589-594.
Teaching systems thinking competencies postgraduate qualifications in STiP at the OU Three significant challenges in Higher Education that hinder systems thinking for sustainability entrenchment of existing disciplinary boundaries pedagogic traditions that fail to engage learners existing work experiences institutional assessment strategies based on summative as against more formative or developmental evaluation Three key features of STiP core modules at Open University Epistemic understanding: disciplines as systems of interest Active pedagogy: practice systems thinking at workplace Design praxis : develop action plans as systems of interest These attributes aim to complement rather than replace existing skill-sets amongst professionals from different sectors working in the field of sustainable development. Three core competencies in STiP 1. Understanding inter-relationships 2. Engaging with multiple perspectives 3. Reflecting on boundaries OU STiP heuristic..
From competencies to capabilities 2-year esteem action research inquiry: OU Centre for STEM Pedagogy Mind the Gap: exploring post-study experiences of STiP alumni at the workplace* Some core capability challenges 1. Traps Mind-forged manicles I hear (Blake, 1794). Thinking about systems vs systems thinking 2. Silent practice customising practices in working with colleagues under the radar 3. Experimentation enabling safe-fail spaces as against prevailing failsafe spaces *Reynolds et al., (2016). Enhancing Systems Thinking in Practice at the Workplace: esteem final report. The Open Universiity, UK
Coaching systems thinking in practice capabilities Two emergent action research activities Developing effective SDG implementing partnerships Three capability challenges for supporting SDG implementation 1. Praxis support: translating systemic (holistic) awareness into good systematic (pluralistic) practice 2. Acknowledging (or not discounting) existing practices to build trust in cultivating harmonious adaptive practices amongst SDG partners including planners, funders, decision makers, business, NGOs, 3. Working creatively with existing agendas, goals, targets fixed by prevailing institutions (norms and rules) Two action research co-inquiry endeavours 1. Developing a STiP competency framework for better external recognition and legitimacy of skills needed for integrated/ harmonious SDG implementation (esteem phase 2 inquiry) 2. Developing a learning laboratory specific for supporting practitioners involved with implementation of SDGs. Research work with UNDP Reynolds et al., (2017). The Role of systems thinking in the practice of implementing SDGs. WSSSR
Learning laboratories Supporting capabilities for SDG implementation OU tradition: Third Mission (teaching + research +) work of The Open University as HE provider outreach / social and community development ASTiP tradition: academics working with practitioners in supporting health care, environmental management, local communities, indigenous community groups etc. in co-inquiry endeavours ASTiP Learning labs provide interactive space, support (tools, methods, concepts, experiences), and facilitation in (re) framing public policy issues and devising action strategies for research, education, and decision making. OU resources: Open Media Unit 1. FutureLearn MOOCs (massive open online courses): platforms for social learning (OU-lead consortium) 2. OpenLearn Create (Works) platform for designing interactive learning UNDP and OU partnership 1. Meeting the challenge of SDG 17 2. Drawing on experience of systems thinking in practice and development policy and practice (DPP) practitioners UNDP OU MOOC-Plus initiative Two components 1. MOOC - core: 4 week course (12 hours total) based on core principles of STiP competences 2. MOOC wrap around: series of additional bespoke (closed) learning spaces enabling specific engagement amongst stakeholders
Learning laboratories with UNDP support Systems thinking laboratory for SDG implementation Two components MOOC Plus. 1. MOOC - core: 4 week course (12 hours total) based on core principles of STiP competences 2. MOOC wrap around: series of additional bespoke (closed) learning spaces enabling specific engagement amongst stakeholders
There is no quick-fix to the challenge of integrating SDGs the particular concern of SDG 17. Acknowledging the need for developing an integrated, holistic, multi-stakeholder approach is an expression of systemic sensibility; an appreciation that implementing any one of the SDGs will have effects on other SDGs. Is it enough for higher education institutions to help develop systems thinking in practice (STiP) skills and competencies? Introducing and cultivating STiP competencies in (i) understanding inter-relationships, (ii) engaging with multiple perspectives, and (iii) reflecting on boundary judgements, are not in themselves guarantors for enabling capability. Transdisciplinarity requires more effective innovative spaces for praxis Martin Reynolds, PhD Senior Lecturer and Qualifications Co-Director Systems Thinking in Practice School of Engineering and Innovation Applied Systems Thinking in Practice Group The Open University
(for open resources on systems thinking in practice see) Applied Systems Thinking in Practice (ASTiP) Group School of Engineering and Innovation, The Open University Certificate, Diploma or Masters in Systems Thinking in Practice