Understanding Systems

The Understanding Systems module (English download pdf 4.9 MB; French download; Spanish download) contains advanced tools for assessing the relations between different elements.

Domain Analysis helps you to tap into local knowledge systems. The method is used to describe how people view a domain or topic area, and create new learning opportunities based on this understanding. The theory underlying Domain Analysis is our social adaptation of Personal Construct Psychology, a well-known theory in Psychology and the Cognitive Sciences developed in the 1950s by George Kelly. The method can be applied to any topic including things in nature (Ecological Domain), activities (Activity Domain), problems (Problem Domain), stakeholder profiles (Social Domain), and options for action (Option Domain).

System Dynamics helps you to identify entry points into a system based on an assessment of how elements in the system interact to create specific behaviors and situations. The method is our adaptation of the input-output matrix used in economics to depict the interaction of sectors in an economy. The method can be adapted and applied to any topic, including systems in nature (Ecological Dynamics), activities (Activity Dynamics), problems (Causal Dynamics), skills (Skill Dynamics), stakeholder behaviors (Network Dynamics), values (Value Dynamics) and social systems involving the interaction of actors, problems and actions (Social Dynamics).