Paul Tucker speaks with Prof. Simon Bell about what systems thinking in regards to sustainability.

With media and political attention given to systemic failure, systems thinking is increasingly advocated as an alternative way of managing human interventions associated with socio-economic and environmental development. So what is systems thinking? Why might systems approaches provide better support for strategic planning? Moreover, how might such approaches support systemic success?

This free course, Understanding systems thinking in practice (STiP), is divided into two parts – Part 1 Understanding concepts of STiP, and Part 2 Understanding approaches to STiP. The two parts of this course complement each other by way of introducing elements of systems thinking in practice; with understanding threshold concepts of STiP coupled with understanding principles of practice associated with conceptual tools from five resilient approaches to STiP.

The course complements the OpenLearn course Practising systems thinking in practice (STiP) and its context is described in the OpenLearn Systems Thinking Hub.

Mo Vernon speaks with Prof. Simon Bell about using systems thinking, diagramming and rich pictures.

Dr. Rupesh Shah, a Staff Tutor in Engineering and Innovation at The Open University, speaks with Prof. Simon Bell about what systems means to him.

Martin Holt speaks with Prof. Simon Bell about the way he sees the world, and about his understanding using systems approaches.

Wendy Gregory speaks with Prof. Simon Bell about what systems means to her and her work on green spaces.

STiP@50 celebrates fifty years of distance learning at The Open Univeristy along with Systems Thinking. Find out more about systems thinking in practice with these podcasts and videos. 

Explore the reasons why the Systems Thinking in Practice hub was created.