At Aalto University — the institution resulting from the merger of the former Helsinki University of Technology, Helsinki School of Economics, and University of Art and Design Helsinki — there’s a new master’s program in Creative Sustainability. I’m here to launch a pair of new courses: Systemic Thinking of Sustainable Communities (CS0004) in October 2010, and Systemic Thinking for Planners and Designers (CS0005) scheduled for February 2011.
The design and delivery of this course has been in the agile Finnish style. I’ve been working with Aija Staffans and Katri-Liisa Pulkkinen in transforming the reading list into a learning style suitable for a class of 24 to 30 students.
As an alternative to creating content in the traditional Powerpoint style, I’ve been putting content directly on the web. Visual maps help to reduce confusion. Here’s a map outlining the course.
The details are available in a course outline in long form text. (This continues to evolve over the duration of the class).
The first lecture is on Foundations for a systems approach.
The second lecture is on Perspectives and diversity.
The students will be encouraged to join the Systems Community of Inquiry, where access and visibility will be extended from this classroom in Helsinki to the larger world of systems thinkers. The style of education is open and fluid, appropriate for bringing new people into the systems movement.