The world is becoming increasingly complex. International organizations such as the UN, WHO, OECD, and EU now point to the need for systems analysis to correct policies that have failed to produce sustainable developments. Laboratory experiments have revealed that people misunderstand nonlinear, dynamic resource systems and opt for quick fixes that often fail to produce the expected welfare. Due to this lack of understanding, electorates easily fall prey to fake news and misleading advice. Organizational and social scientists lack the conceptual tools to analyze dynamics.
Since System Dynamics (SD) is problem oriented, it is by default interdisciplinary and thus contributes to transversal competencies that are not job or sector specific. The objective of our strategic international partnership is to produce a set of MOOCs that will enable a comprehensive education in System Dynamics with a focus on sustainability transformation.
The Methods group at the Nijmegen School of Management of the Radboud University develops the MOOC for Group Model Building as a part of the System Analysis MOOCs for Sustainability Transformation. Our group has a long tradition in applying and researching Group Model Building, the participatory approach of System Dynamics.