System dynamics education: becoming part of anticipatory systems

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to present an overview of deep issues flanking the ideas of system and complexity, and an overview of the mentioned course as a proposal for systems thinking.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper provides a discursive overview of systems and philosophical concepts related to the described course.

Findings

The review offers a perspective of a super-system that includes the students, the lecturers and the context of their interaction, in which one may recognize a relational framework for social learning of a systemic sustainability.

Research limitations/implications

The overview concerns only the actual intervention in the University of Trento.

Practical implications

The described concepts and related philosophical discussion may contribute to the integration of system thinking in the future studies.

Originality/value

The described intervention is a new Italian context and the integration of systems concepts with futures studies seems not to be commonly established.

Citation

Scolozzi, R. and Poli, R. (2015), "System dynamics education: becoming part of anticipatory systems", On the Horizon, Vol. 23 No. 2, pp. 107-118. https://doi.org/10.1108/OTH-02-2015-0008