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build capacity 

 

 

 


join us for virtual courses and learn with peers. all programs are hosted in an online learning portal with ongoing access to resources, recordings and slides.

'the ability to think and act systemically is the greatest intellectual and practical challenge of this century.' ~ geoff mulgan

VIRTUAL COURSES TO BUILD CAPACITY

learn with us in three systems informed courses

1.

introduction to systems thinking 

build a foundation in systems and systems thinking

2.

systems

practices

deepen your capacity to think systemically

 

3.

power

in the system

a deep dive power from where you stand in the system

 

1.

introduction to systems thinking

in this courses we build a foundation for your learning journey with systems and systems thinking.  

*this is a shortened version of the previous course

 

weekly session topics:

  1. overview of the development of the academic discipline of systems thinking and systems thinking from a First Nations perspective

  2. exploring the basics of 'systems' and their key characteristics and behaviours

  3. what is it we do, when we do systems thinking? 

 
details

  • weekly 2 hr virtual sessions for 3 weeks
  • short lectures on key ideas and concepts
  • small group discussion and short reflective activities
  • readings, slides and recordings shared via learning platform

next session starting wednesday april 19th (AEST) 2023. 

  • offered in both australia, asia, americas time friendly 
  • sliding scale pricing starting at $175.00 AUD
  • tickets available for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.  please get in touch for more details
register
what folks have said about the course

'this series has been such a rich learning experience. seanna so skilfully and passionately breaks down and shares about complex and difficult concepts around systems thinking.  highly recommend both for those starting out on their systems thinking journey and for those who think they already know everything about systems thinking.'

'seanna's extensive knowledge was astounding and the way she kept the whole group engaged was really great. the information was pitched just right and included enough time to interact with others, self-reflect and ask questions.'

1.

systems practice

 

we are very excited to share our new course on systems practices which we will be co-teaching with our colleague dana shen.

in this course we’ll explore what we do, when we do systems thinking. the course will be framed by our newly developed systems practices framework, which will be introduced in week 1. in each week following we will introduce a practice, and then working in small groups you’ll have the opportunity to apply the systems practice to a system of interest. to complement our 'doing', dana will also lead us through a 'being' exercise, a mindfulness practice that complements the systems practice introduced in the session.

the course is highly participatory and will invite you to engage with learning about a system of interest in a small group with others, and to reflect and evolve your practice as we move through. you will also have the opportunity to engage with a self assessment at the start and end of the course to mark your own progress.

this course if for you if you:

  • want to hold time to ‘practice’ systems thinking and develop your own capacity
  • enjoy learning with others and appreciate diverse perspectives
  • value a learning and growing mindset over having the ‘right’ answers quickly
  • you are open to mindfulness practice and how it can support you to think and be systemic
  • you can attend all sessions live 

this course is NOT for you if you:

  • prefer reading and figuring out problems on your own
    don’t see your own role and perspective in a 
  • expect the course to make you an expert in systems thinking
  • plan to watch recordings at a later date and not participate in live sessions 

 

 
outcomes

  • build capacity to apply over 10 systems thinking methods
  • gain insight on key systems concepts including complexity, boundaries, power, agency, time and scale, systems purpose
  • engage in group sensemaking processes including visual modeling
  • develop a baseline of your own systems capacity and evaluate change over time
  • practice mindfulness with peers to support your own journey working in complex systems
  • gain insight and understanding into a system of interest as part of a collective learning inquiry
  • learning how to integrate systems thinking tools and practices into your everyday work
     
details

  • weekly 2 hr virtual sessions for 9 weeks
  • short lectures on key ideas and concepts
  • small group work,  personal reflection, mindfulness 
  • practice guides, readings, slides and recordings shared via learning platform

next sessions starts may 10th 9am AEST check your timezone

  • offered in australiasia and americas friendly time zones
  • sliding scale pricing starting at $725.00 AUD (incl. gst)

*tickets available for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. please get in touch for more details.

*juggling your finances? let us know, we can offer instalment payment options

register

weekly session topics:

  • week 1 - we'll begin by exploring the question ‘what are we practicing when we practice systems thinking?’ we’ll introduce the systems practice framework and form small groups to select a system of interest.
  • week 2 - we’ll begin building our learning space together. first we’ll mapping our individual systems learning journeys and later surfacing and reflecting on our mental models of our system of interest.
  • week 3 - we’ll recall the properties of complex systems and some of the truths that systems thinking offers us in understanding a system. we’ll then focus on defining some of the system boundaries for our system of interest
  • week 4 - we’ll return to our system of interest and interrogate the systems purpose supported by insight from applying the ‘6 conditions of system change model’.
  • week 5 - we’ll bring the lens of time and scale to our system of interest by building a journey map to consider how the system has arrived to be what it is. reflecting across the learning of the past weeks we’ll then seek to define a systems purpose that supports a collective good.
  • week 6 - we’ll turn to understanding power in the system, where and how it might be showing up and influencing different dynamics of the system.
  • week 7 - we’ll dig deeper into system dynamics to ask how we might move towards better system outcomes. what system relationships need repair in order to move towards the collective good? what enabling conditions are required in order for this relational repair to be possible? what agency and influence we do have to support these shifts?
  • week 8 - we’ll turn to explore what it means to ‘sensemake’ as a cognitive process in systems thinking and then introduce developmental evaluation as a tool to support sensemaking. we’ll then apply this process to our systems learning so far in the system.
  • week 9 - we’ll explore how we might visually model what we’ve been learning about our system of interest to support creative ways of engaging and communicating about systems. we’ll close our time together by returning to our self-assessments to mark progress and engage with reflection on the learning journey as a whole.

1.

power in the system

in this weekly virtual learning series, we've teamed up with lina patel from revma consulting to bring you this very special offering.  we will explore and unpack issues of power within the practice of systems thinking 

weekly session topics

  • how and why is power so critically important to our work in systems?
  • how can we examine power in systems thinking?
  • how can we explore power through boundary judgements?
  • how is power showing up in OUR system? how can we adapt and become more power literate?

this learning activity will be valuable to you if you:

  • are planning, or actively practicing purposeful engagement of diverse perspectives
  • have an interest to better understand how different aspects of power, frame and influence your capacity for purposeful engagement of diverse perspectives
  • are open and willing to examine your own experiences with power in the system
details

  • weekly 2 hr virtual sessions for 4 weeks
  • sessions are designed with a deep focus on personal reflection and peer learning 
  • readings are shared via learning platform
  • session are NOT recorded

​importantly, this learning activity will require you to engage in personal reflection about your role in the system, your personal power and your experience of power in the system. you will be guided by expert mentors in this process and should consider your capacity to engage in this nature of discussion before registering.

 

 

 

 

 

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what folks have said about the course

'i really appreciated the space you both created for the group. Aunty Di's Welcome was incredible and i found the resources you sent out very helpful too. i took away some lasting key messages from the sessions. thank you both for a deep learning opportunity that i hope will continue to inform my practice.'

'love the safety of the space you held and the invitation to look at power on a personal level not just as something 'out there' to be managed.'

we recognise and pay respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, their ancestors, the elders past, present and future from the different First Nations across this country. we acknowledge the importance of connection to land, culture, spirituality, ancestry, family and community for the wellbeing of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and their families. (ref:  https://emergingminds.com.au)