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For those of us working in education for sustainable development (ESD), the term “systems thinking” has probably become increasingly familiar. Over the past few years, it has been promoted as an approach that can better equip students to engage with the sustainability challenges facing humanity. This growing interest is partly a result of a long-standing critique of higher education itself. Universities have historically educated students within disciplinary silos, supporting narrow perspectives and limiting understanding of the interconnections between organisations, societies and the socioecological systems on which they depend.

As a result, scholars across disciplines have called for systems thinking to become a core principle in higher education curricula. Today’s challenges are complex and do not lend themselves to straightforward solutions. Systems thinking encourages us to sit with this complexity. It invites us to consider the implications of actions across interconnected systems, geographies and timescales and to recognise that interventions in one part of a system can have consequences elsewhere.

What I value most about systems thinking is that it also acknowledges the diversity of people engaging with sustainability challenges. We all bring different experiences, values and perspectives to these issues, and systems thinking invites us to see this diversity not as a barrier but as a strength and an opportunity for learning. It asks us to step into someone else’s shoes and to appreciate that our own understanding of a problem is one of many possible ways of seeing the world.

Getting started with systems thinking 

The first time we encounter systems thinking, it can feel challenging and even overwhelming, particularly if we are unfamiliar with systems analysis within our own discipline. Here’s how to begin.

Treat systems thinking as a competence 

This is the approach that worked for me when I first engaged with the concept. Sources such as and Advance HE’s describe competencies in ESD. Both include systems thinking. 

These frameworks offer specific guidance on the knowledge, skills, attitudes and values that a learner developing systems thinking should be able to demonstrate. For example, the ability to identify both positive and negative environmental changes arising from economic growth and to assess a problem from different perspectives. In my module on supply chains, I reflected on how the content was prompting these attributes and skills and how the knowledge I was offering incorporated a systems thinking perspective. Where I identified gaps, I started by revising learning activities.

Treat systems thinking implementation as a journey: small steps, continuous improvement

You might want to start by designing a couple of learning activities and seeing how your students react to them. Keep in mind that they will want to see relevance to their course. Inspired by the knowledge and skills identified above, I designed activities that would resonate with my supply chain students. For instance, I ask them to identify environmental and social issues for different stakeholders across the supply chain to encourage them to assess problems from different perspectives. When devising a course of action to address these issues, students must think of different scenarios resulting from possible interventions to consider alternative futures.

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As a next step, reflect on your module design. Consider: is the current pedagogical approach the best way to encourage the type of reflection and discussion that develops systems thinking? Keep your audience in mind: who are your students? How different are their backgrounds and cultures? Active learning supported by a flipped classroom approach has proved particularly useful in my module, especially with international cohorts, because it allows students to engage with the content in advance while reflecting on their experiences.

As with any teaching innovation, things might not work perfectly the first time, and that is okay. Take note of what could be improved and adjust the next time around. After all, this is a journey for educators too – we learn, adapt and improve along the way.

Assess systems thinking development

You will need evidence of your students’ development of systems thinking, so design assessments that capture the knowledge, skills and attributes that it requires.  Select between two and five characteristics of systems thinking particularly relevant to your discipline and start from there. In our class, the group assessment asks students to consider how different socio-environmental regulations affect a supply chain and its operation and to identify non-traditional stakeholders who might be impacted. Recommendations to the organisation must consider these parties or individuals and seek to improve their circumstances in both the short and long-term. These tasks aim to increase awareness of how a system’s constituent parts interact and operate at different scales and across time.

ESD also encourages self-awareness and reflection, so incorporating reflective components in the assessment can be valuable. At the end of the module, our students submit a 400-word individual reflection on their understanding of systems thinking, how it has developed throughout the module, and how this connects to the activities they completed. This gives us a picture of their journey and whether key characteristics we aimed to develop stayed with them – if not, this information influences future adjustments.

Encourage interdisciplinary exchanges 

One of the aims of systems thinking is to challenge siloed perspectives and raise awareness of relationships and implications across systems. So, where possible, incorporate elements of interdisciplinarity into your teaching. This might involve inviting colleagues from other disciplines to show how their work connects with yours or bringing your students together with those from other fields. These initiatives enrich the student experience and, more importantly, show students that addressing complex challenges requires interdisciplinary collaboration.

A final piece of advice: you will hear that ideally, systems thinking should be developed across a programme rather than in one module. Don’t let that prevent you from getting into it! Big changes start from local actions.

AI use statement: The author used Microsoft Copilot for proofreading and language editing. All ideas, arguments and content are the author’s own, and the author takes full responsibility for the originality and integrity of the final work.

Fatima Lopez Castellanos is a lecturer in sustainability and operations at the University of Bristol Business School.

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Additional resources to support you in embedding systems thinking across your curriculum: .