Examining Grand Challenges Through a Systems Thinking Lens: An Innovative Multi-Day Case Study Approach to Exploring Sustainability

In this article, we present an innovative 4-day intensive course which responds to the urgent need to explore issues related to the grand challenges of our time. The course was iteratively designed and developed over a 14-year period. It is designed to utilize systems thinking ideas within a management education domain to deepen student capabilities of collaboratively dealing with complex socio-ecological challenges. The aim is to encourage development of practical capabilities to transform multifaceted problems. To provide evidence for the efficacy of this approach, we draw learning themes from student feedback and faculty members’ reflections from the most recent iteration of the course. We highlight three key student learning themes related to a holistic systems thinking approach to understanding the complex issues within a selected sustainability issue in one of today’s grand challenges: (1) interconnectedness, (2) conceptual modeling as a basis for intervention, and (3) dialogic and participatory action planning. The information and materials we share are those used in recent iterations of this course, which focused on reducing poverty through an analysis of issues related to informal settlements.