CONTENT + SKILLS GAINED

WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT

This advanced systems thinking course teaches you tools to uncover practical approaches to applied systems thinking to affect positive change. In this class, you will learn to see critical relationships, understand feedback loops, and conduct consequence analyses. You will also establish causal relationships and gain radical insights into systems dynamics. In the previous courses you will have gone through different approaches to identifying, understanding, and mapping systems and problem arenas, in this one, you will gain a deeper synthesis of how all the components fit together. The tools gained in this course will prepare you to identify where and how to intervene in a system, build effective systems interventions, plus design systems in which these interventions can exist.

WHAT YOU WILL UNCOVER IN THIS COURSE

  • Develop advanced systems perspectives and the ability to develop tactical tools for affecting change.

  • Unpack mechanisms, models, and mechanics of making change, specifically developing a theory of change and deeper systems thinking.

  • Gain skills in deeper synthesis of all the components of the identifying, understanding, and mapping systems and problem arenas.

  • Create a strong foundation for building effective systems interventions, and design systems in which these interventions can exist.

CERTIFICATE OF COMPLETION

Available for this course

Certificates are issued by the UnSchool (using third party certifier Accredible.com) upon successful and demonstrable completion of all course elements. Accredible uses bank-level encryption and blockchain logging to ensure legitimacy and verification, and offers easy to share credentials that you can receive as a downloadable PDF, share on LinkedIn and other digital platforms. Accredible also allows you to control your own data via their credential portal, accessible for free when you receive any certificates or badges.

Dr. Leyla Acaroglu

Instructor Bio:

Sustainability provocateur, award-winning designer, 2016 UNEP Champion of the Earth, and creative changemaker pioneer, Dr. Leyla Acaroglu challenges people to think differently about how the world works. As the founder of the UnSchool and creator of the Disruptive Design Method, Leyla weaves together her skills as a designer, sociologist, and social entrepreneur to create highly immersive educative experiences. She is a renowned international expert on systems thinking and sustainability, running workshops around the world and designing activating experiences, gamified toolkits, and unique educational experiences that help equip people with the tools to intervene and change systems to make the status quo obsolete. Sought after for her unique approach to activating positive social change by design, Leyla's main-stage TED talk on sustainability has been viewed over a million times, and she is the author of several handbooks, as well as an op ed contributor for major publications like the New York Times.

Dr. Leyla Acaroglu

UnSchool Founder + Global Change Maker

COURSE CONTENT

  • 01

    Welcome

  • 02

    Part 1: Advanced Systems Thinking

    • Read: An Introduction to Thinking in Systems

    • Read: Developing a Systems Mindset

    • Watch: Adopting a Systems Perspective

      FREE PREVIEW

    • Read: Summary of the Fields of Systems Thinking

    • Read: A Quick History of Systems Thinking

    • Watch: Advanced Systems Thinking

    • Read: What Defines a System?

    • Read: Seeking Insights

    • Read: The Iceberg & Mushroom Model

    • Read: Reductionism

    • Read: Emergence

    • Read: Soft Systems Methodology

    • Read: How to do Cluster Maps

    • Download: Cluster Mapping Instruction Sheets

    • Knowledge Check: Advanced Systems Thinking
  • 03

    Part 2: Systems Modeling Tools

    • Read: Systems Modelling Tools

    • Read: Introduction to Systems Dynamics

    • Watch: Systems Modelling Tools

    • Read: Feedback Loops

    • Read: Systems Boundaries & Sub-Systems

    • Watch: Systems Mapping

    • Read: Analog Systems Maps

    • Read: Stocks and Flows

    • Read: How to do Causal Loop Diagrams

    • Download: Causal Loop Diagrams Worksheet

    • Read: Behavior Over Times Graphs

    • Do: Behavior Over Time Graph Worksheet

    • Watch: Systems Archetypes

    • Read: Systems Archetypes

    • Explore: Systems Archetypes

    • Activity: Tragedy of the Commons

    • Read: Digital Mapping Tools

    • Knowledge Check: Systems Modelling Tools
  • 04

    Part 3: Developing a Theory of Change

    • Read: Introduction to Theory of Change

    • Watch: Developing a Theory of Change

    • Read: How to do a Theory of Change

    • Watch: Why use a Theory of Change

    • Download: Theory of Change Worksheet

    • Knowledge Check: Theory of Change
  • 05

    Part 4: Intervening in Systems

    • Read: About Systems Interventions

    • Watch: Intervening in Systems

    • Read: Designing Systems Interventions

    • Read: Leverage Points

    • Watch: Designing Interventions

    • Activity: Design a Systems Intervention

    • Read: Delays and Rates of Change

    • Read: Dealing with Delays

    • Read: System Behaviors

    • Download: Systems Observation Worksheet

    • Knowledge Check: Intervening in Systems
  • 06

    Part 5: Tactics for Activating Systems Change

    • Read: Tactics for Activating Systems Change

    • Watch: Tactics for Activating Systems Change

    • Watch: Mastering Change

    • Read: Ladder of Inference

    • Download: Ladder of Inference Worksheet

    • Read: Force Field Analysis

    • Read: Storytelling for Making Systems Change

    • Read: Interconnected Circles Maps

    • Download: Interconnected Circles Map Instructions

    • Knowledge Check: Tactics for Activating Systems Change
  • 07

    Conclusion

    • Read: Tying It All Together

    • Additional Resources & Links

    • A Message From Leyla

  • 08

    Completion Certificate

    • Systems Intervention Final Knowledge Check Quiz

    • Get your certificate of completion!

  • 09

    Next Steps

    • Continue Your Learning Journey

WHAT PEOPLE SAY ABOUT UNSCHOOL PROGRAMS

“Coming to the UnSchool was mind-blowing. It was so exciting to look at things through a different set of eyes and to see how I could apply what we learnt to my professional and personal life.”

Craig Scott

“The design process reinvigorated me. Visualizing systems integration reminded me of the solutions, and peer-to-peer collaboration reinstalled a sense of trust, vulnerability, and cohesion that completely redefined the possible.”

Jason Sandman

“I learned to understand what I need to accomplish in my work, in finding an alternative to the education system I want to create. Things I will always remember from my experience at the fellowship are: the toolkit, mentors, partners, processes, products, games, systems and experiences.”

Marcela Zetina

DESIGN SYSTEMS INTERVENTIONS

ACTIVATE YOUR AGENCY AND START TO

Where and how do you intervene in a system to create change? If you have been taking the previous classes that unpack the Mining + Landscaping phases of Disruptive Design, then by now, you should have a much deeper understanding of the dynamics of the various systems in the world around us. 

So now, the goal is to identify the non-obvious elements, connections, and aspects of the systems that you have been exploring, in order for you to begin building interventions that leverage change. 

In this advanced systems thinking knowledge session, we give you the tools to go deeper into the system's dynamics, to gain a more granular understanding of the phenomena that are at play in the systems, and to decipher interventions points of leveraging change. 

Through then identifying some critical insights, you can start to move into a rapid ideation phase.

Through this session you will get to explore where and how to intervene in a system to create change. This advanced systems thinking class teaches you tools to uncover practical approaches to applied systems thinking to affect positive change. In this class, you will learn to see critical relationships, understand feedback loops, and conduct consequence analyses. 

You will also establish causal relationships and gain radical insights into systems dynamics. Taking all of the new knowledge covered in the first series of classes, you will learn to apply them to project design as a critical part of the Disruptive Design Method.

While you would have been going through different approaches to identifying, understanding, and mapping systems and problem arenas throughout the previous classes, in this knowledge session, you will gain a deeper synthesis of all the components put together. 

You will be able to identify and build really effective systems interventions, plus design systems in which these interventions can exist. We will also unpack mechanisms, models, and mechanics of making change, specifically developing a Theory of Change. Let’s do it! 

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