Talking About Systems: looking for systems in the news (and not)

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Linda Booth Sweeney

Thinking About Systems

About Linda:

As a systems educator and award-winning author, Linda works with people of all ages to develop systems literacy, or a deeper understanding of living systems. In much of her work, Linda translates complex systems theory into accessible materials and programs for innovation in organizations, schools, museums, public television and communities.

Combining complex systems theory + systems mapping + story telling, Linda also works with organizations to move beyond bullet points and matrices, to language and visuals that more closely match the interdependent, dynamic, complex reality of their work.

 

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NEW SYSTEMS VIDEOS

What Are System?


In this Just-in-Time video from WGBH, systems educator Linda Booth Sweeney considers what is a system and what’s not, what systems do, and why understanding systems is important.

Understanding Causal Loops


In this Just-in-Time Professional Development video, systems educator Linda Booth Sweeney describes how systems thinking supports the Next Generation Science Standards and provides an example of how to use diagrams to help analyze systems behavior.

Teaching About Systems


This STEM professional development module for teachers guides you through the basics of systems thinking and shows how you can integrate systems literacy across the grades and across disciplines, including STEM and social studies.


Living systems are everywhere. These systems elements and processes interacting to form a whole shape us and surround us. When we look closely, we see living systems on all scales, from the smallest plankton, to our own body, to the planet as a whole. When we understand what constitutes a living system, we also see that our watersheds, families, communities, organizations, and nations are all living systems.

To think about systems means we pay attention to interrelationships, patterns, and dynamics as well as to the parts. The field of systems thinking has evolved over the past 50 years as a set of methods and tools that focus on systems rather than fragments as the context for defining and solving complex problems, and for fostering more effective learning and design. At its best, the practice of systems thinking helps us to stop operating from crisis to crisis, and to think in a less fragmented, more integrated way.

 

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projects

These are some of my latest projects. Click on any of them to see an in-depth project page, or choose to view the full collection.

Systems Leadership

 

Systems Leadership

 

Metaverse Studio

 

Metaverse Studio

 

Systems Thinking Books and Resources

 

Circular World

Rebranding 3D design assets for freelance UX Designer

Children’s Books

 

Children’s Books

 

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