2024
Seminar 1: 27 March 2024 @18h00 (UTC +02:00)
“Design thinking or systems thinking – that is the question!”
This exciting presentation was by Dr Greg Tosen, the Da Vinci Faculty Head for Management of Technology & Systems Thinking. Dr. Tosen’s insights shed light on the differences between design thinking and systems thinking, prompting us to reevaluate our approaches to problem-solving in complex environments. We’re grateful for his enlightening presentation and the engaging dialogue it encouraged among our participants! Here are some of Dr. Tosen’s thoughts shared during the session:
“Design thinking, as we all know, it’s all about a human-centric approach. It’s about empathizing, defining, ideating, prototyping, and testing, and it’s very much a nonlinear process. But when I look at this, it’s a nonlinear process within a linear paradigm.
I’ve observed that when complexity arises, design thinking facilitators and educators often attempt to move complex problems to complicated or simple domains.
I think systems thinking moves from the myopic human-centered approach to understanding that humans are in the middle of an extremely complex system. And so it moves to a nonlinear complex circular model.”
Seminar 2: 5 June 2024 @18h00 (UTC +02:00)
“Opportunistic systemic behaviour: a useful tool to be added to existing system insights” Join us for an insightful presentation by Hanns Jürgen HODANN, a retired accountant who has been in the systems thinking space since the 1990’s.
The presentation will cover cogent arguments to show that opportunism is a behavioural characteristic of all goal-seeking systems. It is argued that this characteristic should be accepted on par with other behavioural insights obtained from archetypes and system dynamics patterns. The process of justifying the claim that systems behave opportunistically necessarily involves an explanation of the concept ‘gradient’ and its function as a universal driver of dynamic behaviour. Gradients are not part for the usual vocabulary employed in systems thinking, however, they lead directly to ‘opportunistic’ behaviour. For this reason, although gradient is not a precise equivalent for the phrase ‘opportunistic behaviour’, the use of opportunism is recommended as a suitable proxy. When systems thinking is considered as a lens through which to examine and understand the world, the behavioural adages distilled from archetypes and system dynamics patterns are extremely useful. An example is the systems thinking adage that ‘the harder we try, the less we seem to succeed’. As many of these insights can be explained by system archetypes, the most relevant ones are indicated in this context. Regarding systems as being opportunistic can similarly lead to useful insights and a reason is suggested as to why opportunistic systemic behaviour has not yet been adopted as an explicatory tool. Finally, the potential practical advantages of adopting the view that opportunistic behaviour is a characteristic of systems are discussed and it is suggested that systems thinking could be enriched by adding this systemic tool to the insights that are presently used to guide much of systems thinking.
Seminar 3: 14 August 2024 @18h00 (UTC +02:00)
How can income can be reinvested in Distributed Renewable Energy and in the Productive Use of Energy (using System Dynamics)
Join us for an amazing presentation by Edvin Andreasson from KnowlEdge Srl!
Investments in renewable energy and in equipment that can improve the productive use of energy are essential for local livelihoods, resulting in income creation potential while at the same time supporting climate mitigation and adaptation. A System Dynamics model was developed to inform the estimation of employment and income creation from investments in Distributed Renewable Energy (considering power generation, transmission and battery storage) and in the Productive Use of Energy (e.g. electrified mills for rice milling). This model includes flows of investment, stocks of power generation capacity, and local feedback loops that allow to explore how income can be reinvested in both DRE and PUE to generate a lasting, positive change for local communities.
Edvin is a System Dynamics modeller with experience in low carbon development and circularity, from a technology and policy perspective. He works on the Green Economy Model (GEM) and its applications. Edvin holds a M.Phil in System Dynamics from the University of Bergen, complemented by a B.Sc in Political Science from the University of Amsterdam. Prior positions include research and teaching positions for the University of Bergen and a research partnership with DNV.
2023
Seminar 1: System Dynamics academic or practical for students, beginners and practitioners
Date: Wednesday, May 10th, 2023
Time: 6:30 PM (GMT +2)
Venue: Virtual
Presenter: Dr. Andries Botha
2022
