Develop the mindset and methods required to shift complex systems away from unsustainability, toward regenerative futures. Explore system dynamics and practical intervention strategies that equip you to design impactful, lasting transformation.
This short introductory course helps you build the practical skills required to rethink linear processes and design for regenerative, circular outcomes. Designed to intentionally provide hands-on experience, you’ll learn how to apply systems thinking directly to your projects or organizational challenges—whether you’re designing products, shaping strategy, or leading social impact initiatives. By the end, you’ll be equipped to take meaningful, sustainability-focused action in your professional context.
By taking this course, you’ll be able to:
Understand what systems thinking is and how it fits within the broader practice of systems change
Define systems, identify delays, and recognize where and how to intervene
Explore the invisible forces that shape our world, including social norms and status quo dynamics
Map systems to reveal relationships, behaviors, and leverage points
Compare different approaches, including Soft Systems Methods
Begin designing your own systems interventions and change initiatives
Access additional resources to continue expanding your practice
Curriculum
What’s inside this course
In this course, you will be introduced to leveraging systems thinking as a tool, identifying its core techniques and exploring different ways to apply it.
Advance your learning
Ready for the next level?
Take your skills further with the full Systems Thinking course. This comprehensive five-part learning experience helps you break free from linear thinking, uncover hidden interconnections, and understand the complex social, industrial, and environmental systems that shape our world. Equip yourself to design smarter, more effective solutions.
“Being part of the UnSchool is not just about finding a connection with a global group of individuals eager to do good. It’s about finding a way to activate your own agency, knowing that that’s the only real way to change your world.”
“The content has given me a practical way to delve into complex problems, exploring thinking far beyond my normal lines of inquiry, and to surface new areas for intervention and innovative ways of designing those interventions. Everyone who is tackling systems should learn this.”
Catriona McLagan
Refreshing
“As someone operating in the nonprofit sphere, it was refreshing to branch out and learn a new way of thinking. I’m going to take this new learning to become an agent of cultural change in my circles.”
Michael Paone
World renowned expert training
Your instructor
Sustainability provocateur, award-winning designer, UNEP Champion of the Earth, and creative changemaker pioneer, Dr. Leyla Acaroglu challenges people to think differently about how the world works. Leyla’s main-stage TED talk on sustainability has been viewed over a million times, she is the founder of the UnSchool and creator of the Disruptive Design Method. As as a renowned international expert on systems thinking and sustainability, she runs workshops around the world and designs unique educational experiences that help equip people with the tools to intervene and change systems to make the status quo obsolete. Leyla is sought after for her unique approach to activating positive social change by design.
Options and Pricing
Three payment options:
Full price: This pricing level is for those who have the resources to contribute the full price in one or twosplitpayments. Your full price payment helps support those who otherwise would have a hard time accessing the course.
Supported price: This pricing level is for those who can contribute to the course cost, but not at the full level, however are still relatively comfortable with the cost. The supported price is equivalent to approximately half price.
Emerging price: This price level is for those who have either currency conversions that are distinctly unfavourable, are students, or are experiencing other hardships or circumstances that are impacting their ability to pay the full or supported fee.
What you get
A clear introduction to systems thinking and mapping as essential tools for designing meaningful change
A deeper look at the social norms and status quo forces that shape system behavior
Step-by-step guidance for crafting systems change initiatives that create sustainable, long-term impact
You will have access for 90 days from the date of purchase.
We recommend a few hours over the course of a week.
If you need more time, please send us an email. There may be a small fee depending on how much more time you need. These are granted on a case by case basis.
Find out if you are eligible for our Equity Access Scholarships
As part of our goal to make our programs equitable, we offer both partial scholarships and payment plans. Our limited number of scholarships are awarded based on demonstrated need to certain select courses and programs. We fund these to promote equitable access to our programs. We are committed to offering our scholarships to community members who would otherwise be unable to access a program at all.
