Source: Nourish
Year: 2017
Presenters: Melanie Goodchild, Turtle Island Institute; Jen Reynolds, Food Secure Canada; Hayley Lapalme, Nourish; Beth Hunter, McConnell Foundation

This discussion-based webinar will explore the potential of systems mapping as a tool to understand systems and to design better interventions. We will introduce the basics of beginning to draw your own systems maps. The Nourish team will share the maps drawn to interpret the (dis)connection between food and health/care, and will explore the insights and opportunities that emerged from those maps. Participants will be invited to respond to the maps and discuss patterns they observe in their work.

For some background, Donella Meadows' Thinking in Systems: A Primer is a wonderful resource - and we just discovered, is available online! If you want to cut to the chase, Chapter 6: Leverage Points (p.145) packs a good punch and is one of the most practical chapters.

Learning Objectives

Discuss the potential of systems mapping as a tool to understand systems and to design better interventions.
Introduce some basic concepts of systems thinking and systems mapping. (Note: Done well, systems mapping is hard! This will be an introduction.)
Apply the concepts of mapping to an existing map produced by the Nourish team.
Encourage participants to engage with the maps by sharing insights, surfacing assumptions, and contributing new interpretations.