Systemic Thinking, Thursday 17 October 2024, 13:00-14:30

Overview:

Increasingly complex, interdependent global and national economies and societies, give rise to research challenges with societal, economic, environmental, historical and technical characteristics.  Few, if any, research problems are 100% technical in nature.

Selection, prioritisation, framing and scoping of research challenges now demand greater systemic scrutiny.  Assumptions regarding problem characteristics, system characteristics, and the wider societal, economic, environmental and historical context from which research challenges emerge; need consideration.

Systemic perspectives should be integrated into all research projects regardless of discipline or topic, leading to higher quality, more impactful research undertaken by increasingly skilled researchers.  Systemic Thinking is essential as the UK strives to remain a global hub for world-class research.

The ability to adopt a systemic perspective when: framing research challenges; developing research proposals; designing research methodologies; undertaking research activities; communicating research outcomes; peer reviewing research and critiquing the validity of established approaches in your field of research (and beyond); is rapidly becoming an essential skillset for a successful research career. Postdocs who develop these skills early are likely to be in demand.

This workshop aims to help postdocs develop a systemic mindset, adopt systemic approaches and develop a systemic skillset. The workshop aims to guide participants through a step-by-step process, designed to help researchers integrate systemic perspectives into their current and future research.

Participants in this workshop will:

• Gain insight into the value of regularly viewing research, and discipline, through a systemic lens.
• Consider and apply a step-by-step approach to apply systemic thinking.
• Discuss with peers how systems thinking is already being or should be, applied in their specialisms.
• Have the opportunity to participate in, or contribute to, developing a collaborative interdisciplinary review paper assessing how different disciplines apply or could benefit from applying systems thinking principles.

Biography:

Dr Tom Dolan is an holistic, ecologically minded, systems thinking researcher, with a penchant for asking awkward questions.

Simultaneously a Senior Research Fellow for UKCRIC and Postgraduate Fellow for C-DICE, Tom’s research is focused on:

• The Climate Emergency as a Wicked Problem of problems comprising 3 deeply interdependent wicked problems
  • i) achieving global net zero by 2050.
  • ii) enhancing systemic and societal resilience to the disruptive impacts of at least 1.50C and
  • iii) enhancing global sustainability.
• The potential role that infrastructure system transformation can play as globally replicable leverage points at the heart of a transformative climate emergency strategy.
• The importance of outcome-oriented infrastructure governance frameworks and decision-making processes closely aligned with current social priorities.
• The societal and economic value of establishing a Net Resilience Gain culture across the infrastructure industry.

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tomdolanukcriccdiceucl